A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I will try and get the next chapter out much sooner.
"You called for me, sir?" Drake asked as he stepped into Fleet Admiral Van Dyke's office at the Alaska base.
The bearded man looked up from his paperwork. "Yes. Take a seat."
Drake did so and waited for the fleet admiral to finish writing. A minute passed before Van Dyke looked up at him again.
"How has your time on this base been, Rear Admiral?" Van Dyke asked.
"It's been fine, sir," Drake replied, then continued. "But I think I would be of more use on the battlefield."
"Oh? So you're not afraid?"
"Sir. It's been several months now since I've been assigned to this base," Drake said firmly, knowing what Van Dyke was getting at. "You told me that this would only be temporary, and that I would be able to return to my post in Japan eventually. I think I'm ready now."
Van Dyke smirked at him. "You don't get to make that decision, Rear Admiral. And what makes you think you're ready to go back now?"
Drake's dark eyes were unrelenting. "The whole time I've been here, I've been training with you and the ship girls. Don't you think my skills have improved?"
"Well, I never really had a problem with your skills to begin with," Van Dyke admitted. "That is not the issue. And though you're acting confident right now, I wonder if you will be saying the same thing when you're actually on the battlefield."
Before Drake could respond, Van Dyke switched course.
"But that's not why I called you here," he told Drake. "I'm sending you on a brief mission out of the base."
"A mission?"
"Yes, but it's not a combat mission," Van Dyke added, quickly shooting down his hopes. "I need you to go to Germany to represent the United States at the logistics meeting for this month."
Seriously? Though the monthly INFCOM logistics meeting sounded like it was a big deal, it was actually fairly meaningless. The real logistics and supply work had already been done earlier in the month, and the meeting was just there to repeat and summarize the resource costs and purchases. There was no actual decision making or changing done there, so most countries just sent lower ranking officers to represent them.
"Why am I being sent there, sir?" Drake asked, not liking this assignment very much.
"Why not? Aren't you bored of sitting around here in Alaska?" Van Dyke pointed out.
"But…"
Van Dyke scratched his beard idly. "Come on, don't you have friends in Germany? That ship girl, Bismarck, right?"
Bismarck? Drake had almost forgotten she was supposed to be in Germany right now. Would she even be stationed where he was being sent? He doubted she would be at an inconsequential meeting like this.
"Don't you remember her?" Van Dyke pressed. "She even tried to attack me after I flipped you over that day. I think she really liked you."
"Yeah… I haven't seen her in a while, though," Drake said forlornly.
"Wasn't she the one who sunk the European Princess?" Van Dyke asked.
"Technically our DDGs sunk her, but yes, they wouldn't have been able to do so without Bismarck," Drake replied.
"Hm… Was this Bismarck your secretary ship after you lost Kaga? She was alone with you when I saw you at the base," Van Dyke then questioned.
"No, I didn't set a new secretary ship."
"Why not?"
Drake didn't respond. He didn't know how to.
"You don't like her?" Van Dyke asked after Drake didn't answer.
"No, that's not it…"
"Then you do like her?"
Drake frowned, unsure of why Van Dyke was asking these types of questions. That was very uncharacteristic of the older admiral. "I guess I like her, yes. What do you mean, sir?"
Van Dyke leaned back in his chair with a mysterious look in his eye. "Nothing in particular. Don't you want to see her again?"
"Is she going to be there in Germany?" Drake immediately wanted to know. I can't get back to my fleet right now, but if I can at least see Bismarck…
"There's a good chance that she might be," Van Dyke offered. "You can see her again if you go."
Drake nodded. "I understand. I will go, then."
"Good. I will let you know the specifics later on, but expect to leave this week," Van Dyke said. "Also, while you're gone, the ship girls here will be undergoing a remodel procedure."
"A remodel?" Drake repeated. "What sort of remodel?"
"The Japanese call it the Kai Ni program," Van Dyke told him. "Apparently some engineers in Tokyo drew up blueprints to enhance the capabilities of their ship girls. They shared the information with us, so we're going to be remodeling our own ship girls now too."
"Really? I know we are allies with Japan, but I'm surprised they gave us that information so easily. Did they ask for anything in return? And how did the engineers figure out the remodel process by themselves? I thought humans didn't know a lot about the biology of ship girls," Drake said.
Van Dyke put out his cigarette. "Those are all good questions. Do you know how our engineers even know how to repair the equipment and uniforms of ship girls in the first place?"
Drake thought back. "... I heard it had something to do with the Fairies? I wasn't told much about it, even when I first joined the Kancolle program. I don't know how microscopic beings within the bodies of the ship girls could possibly communicate so easily with humans, but…"
"You're on the right track, I'll tell you that much," Van Dyke smiled slightly. "Anyway, that information is classified for now, so that will be all. You're dismissed."
Drake saluted and left the room, and Van Dyke remained in his chair as he kicked his feet up on the desk.
I do wonder how Bismarck managed to hold off a Princess by herself for so long, Van Dyke thought. She did have help from another battleship for a brief period of time according to the reports, but it looks like the tide of the fight only turned when Admiral Drake started helping her. He's a good commander, but not good enough to inject that much stamina and power into a ship girl who was on the brink of collapse… If the Council's findings are correct, then I may be onto something here…
Drake got off the train at the station in Lubeck, Germany. He was by himself, and he was wearing a long, dark blue military coat to cope with the northern temperature.
This is a bit more gothic than I imagined Germany to be, he thought. This was his first time in the country. Guess I should head to the meeting place first. They're supposed to have my accomodations for me there.
As he walked through the city, occasionally looking at his phone to help him with directions, he noticed that he was glancing about at the people who passed by. I'm not just going to see her walking the streets… Why am I so jittery?
He supposed some of that could be explained by the fact that he and Bismarck had not exactly left each other on good terms. Would she even want to see him? How should he act when he meets her again? Should he pretend like nothing ever happened? No, that would make no sense…
As Drake was distracted by these thoughts, he didn't notice his phone ringing. When he finally saw it, he hurriedly answered after looking at the caller ID.
"Yes, hello, sir?"
"Rear Admiral. Have you made it to Lubeck all right?" Van Dyke asked.
"Yes, sir. I am heading to the Reichspolizei headquarters now."
"Good. Well, things are good here in Alaska too, though it's the same as ever. Bring Iowa back a souvenir or something, will you? She's been pestering me nonstop about how she didn't get to go to Germany with you."
"Understood."
"Aside from that, there is one more thing I wanted to ask you, just out of curiosity. You're not too busy right now, are you?"
"No, sir," Drake answered, unsure of what Van Dyke wanted.
"Then I've got a question for you," the fleet admiral started. "Which do you think is a better soldier: the one who completes all his missions successfully but ends up with many battle scars, or the one who completes all his missions and comes out without a scratch?"
Drake wasn't sure why Van Dyke was asking him this, but he supposed he had to answer anyway. "The one who comes out without a scratch, assuming that they both took on the same missions, of course. If he never got a scratch on him, then that means that he's more skilled than the soldier who took damage every mission."
"I see. Then let's say you're the general. You need to complete a very difficult mission, harder than any of the ones that came before, and you can assign it either to the soldier who has the scars or the one who has a spotless record. I assume you'd give it to the one who took no damage?"
"Yes. Since he's never been injured despite taking on the same types of missions as the other soldier, he would be the more reliable pick." Drake felt like this was some sort of trick question, but his logic made sense to him, so he saw no reason to go with a different answer.
"Hm… Well, I'd disagree with you," Van Dyke countered. "I'll admit, the spotless soldier is undoubtedly more skilled than the scarred one. However, you failed to take into account experience."
"But… Both soldiers went on the same missions. They have the same exact experience, but my soldier just did it better," Drake argued.
"That's not the experience I'm talking about. Remember that this new mission is harder than all the ones that came before it. What if your spotless soldier gets injured on this mission? Yes, he's more skilled than the other soldier when it comes to completing missions, but which soldier is more skilled in dealing with adversity? The scarred soldier still managed to complete all the missions despite his injuries, but this is the first time that your soldier is ever being hurt on a mission. How will he react to it? Can he complete the mission while being injured?"
"Yes, but if even the spotless soldier gets injured, then the other one will definitely be injured or worse on this mission," Drake pointed out, though he had to admit that he didn't look at the question from this angle.
"Of course. But remember, he's been injured many times before. And guess what? He's had the chance to practice how to deal with injuries many times before on much easier missions. The spotless soldier, however, is just now learning that. It's like teaching a kid how to ride a bike but taking his training wheels off for the first time on the highest hill you can find."
Drake was silent. He couldn't think of a comeback to that at the moment.
"But anyway, there is no right answer to this question," Van Dyke admitted. "It's entirely possible that the scarred soldier just ends up dying because the mission is too hard for him… But it's also possible that the spotless soldier can't deal with this adversity, and that he's the one who dies instead. The scarred soldier is going to come out banged up like never before, but he's still going to come out."
"I see. I didn't think of it like that," Drake conceded.
"I was just curious to hear your answer. Don't think too much of it," Van Dyke finished dismissively. "All right, good luck with the meeting."
Van Dyke hung up, and Drake stared at his phone. I know he said not to think too much of it, but why would he just randomly ask me about that? Is he really that bored sitting there in that frozen wasteland? Or was that some sort of test? I hope it wasn't…
Either way, it didn't matter now. Putting that to the back of his mind, Drake walked through the streets of Lubeck until he reached the Reichspolizei HQ building. Red banners adorned with the iron cross hung from the bannisters, clearly demarcating the building from the surrounding structures.
Looks fearsome, Drake observed. Snow had begun falling from the sky as he walked up to the building. There were armed guards in overcoats standing by the doorways, but they made no move to stop Drake as he entered.
Hm, it's a pretty building, at least, he thought as he entered the lobby. The space was bustling with activity, and it seemed like a lot of the INFCOM representatives were also arriving at this time. The Reichspolizei hosts had people standing around to help direct the visitors to their rooms, but since it looked like most of them were busy, Drake just walked up to the front desk itself.
"Willkommen," one of the receptionists greeted him with a smile. "Are you here for the INFCOM conference, sir?"
"I am, yes," he nodded.
"Understood. If you would please present your name and ID, then we will get you to your room right away."
Drake did so, and a few minutes later he was given the key to his room on the third floor. The receptionist offered him an escort to help him find his way, but he declined, opting to head there straight away rather than wait around for someone to become available.
He found his room easily enough, and was pleased with his accommodations. It reminded him of a hotel room, and since he was only staying there for two nights at most, that was more than enough for him. He rolled his luggage beside his bed and then went over to the large glass windows which overlooked Lubeck.
Is Bismarck really here? He wondered. I don't see why she would be at the Reichspolizei building. Maybe I should have asked the receptionist if she's around? Nah…
Perhaps he would see her at the meeting itself. It was possible that the German representative would bring her, but still, it would be weird to take a ship girl to this sort of unimportant meeting. Fleet Admiral Van Dyke technically didn't promise that she would be here, so maybe he wouldn't see her after all? The thought deflated him, and he sighed sadly as he sat down on the bed. He debated just sitting there and watching TV until nighttime, but then he stood back up.
This is my first time in Germany, so I might as well get a look around. No need to be depressed over something like this, Drake convinced himself.
When he opened the door, he was met with the sight of a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a Reichspolizei officer uniform. She had been walking by the door at that moment, but she glanced over when it opened, and her blue eyes went wide.
It's Bismarck… Drake realized with surprise. The two of them were frozen, staring at each other without saying a word. Though Drake had been hoping to see her again, now that he he had, he did not know what to say.
Bismarck spoke first. "A-Admiral Drake?"
"Bismarck… What are you doing here?" he asked. It looked like Van Dyke had been right, but he still had no idea why Bismarck would be up on the third floor and dressed in a Reichspolizei uniform.
"My room is on this floor," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for the INFCOM meeting," he answered. "So… What's with that uniform? Don't tell me you quit the navy?"
"Of course not!" Bismarck immediately denied. "This uniform is… I've just been working for the Reichspolizei for a while. That's all."
"A ship girl is working for the military police?" Drake was confused.
She frowned. "We don't always get to pick where we are assigned. I'm sure you know that, sir."
They fell into an uncomfortable silence as that topic reminded them of their last day on the Tokyo Bay Base when they were all assigned to different locations.
Shit. What should I say next? Drake asked himself. He had finally come face to face with one of his old comrades from Japan, and he didn't want to let her go again. But what could he do? Ask her to join his fleet? What fleet?
Bismarck looked away. "W-Well, I should go now. I have duties to attend to."
"Wait!" Drake called out as he began walking away. She stopped and looked at him with those mesmerizing eyes, refreshing and as sharp as icebergs.
"After the INFCOM meeting… Will you be available?" he asked.
"Um… I don't know. Why?" Bismarck replied.
"Oh, I, uh, just wanted to talk to you for a bit," Drake told her. He didn't actually know what he wanted to say or why he asked her to meet him, but he did know that he couldn't let her walk away like he did last time.
Bismarck gave him a look he couldn't read, but then nodded. "Okay. I will meet you in front of your room afterwards, then."
She then left, and Drake felt both happiness and apprehension. He had finally found one of his ship girls again, but what should he do now? He bought himself some time to think about what he was going to say to her, but he still had no clue where to start. Right now, he was nothing. He had been stripped of his status as a Kancolle admiral, and he had no fleet and no base to command anymore. Furthermore, Bismarck was back in the service of her native country, and it would be near impossible to get her back under these conditions.
But I have to do it.
Ever since he had left the Tokyo Bay Base, Drake had been in a limbo. On one hand, he felt intense shame and helplessness at being removed from his command, and he wanted to get back on the battlefield and prove himself. But on the other hand, he was afraid of failing again. If his tactics couldn't match up to the Abyssals this time, it could very well mean his life as well as the lives of all his subordinates. So what was he supposed to do?
That was why he needed to talk to Bismarck. He was hoping that if he got her back, it would finally provide the spark he needed to return to the fight for good.
"All right. That concludes today's meeting. Thank you all for coming," the German officer in charge of the INFCOM logistics meeting concluded.
Before he even finished speaking, the rest of the officers in the room were already packing their things or getting out of their seats and heading for the door. As expected, the meeting had been boring and uneventful, and no major changes had been made to any of the planning that had already been done beforehand.
The wonders of bureaucracy, Drake thought sarcastically to himself as he shuffled out of the room. He began making his way back up towards the room he was staying in, though he had to admit that he was a bit nervous.
When he arrived on his floor, he saw Bismarck standing in front of his door, waiting.
I still don't know what to say, he sighed to himself. Walking towards her, he took in Bismarck's appearance. Her long, blonde hair was as alluring as ever, and her sparkling blue eyes and pretty face would leave a man breathless if he stared at them for too long.
Even more so than the first day he met her, she seemed so intimidating. Of course, things had changed since then; Drake was no longer in charge of a Kancolle fleet, and he wasn't the admiral that everyone was counting on anymore. Now he was just another sailor, no different from the faceless, nameless officers who were at the meeting today. Nevertheless, he steeled himself. She was the last thing that tied him to the Kancolle program, and though Drake never imagined that he would be in command of a bunch of cute girls when he joined the navy, for better or for worse, his career was now intertwined with them. He could not falter now.
"Excuse me! You there, from the American navy," a German-accented voice called out from behind Drake.
Annoyed at the interruption, Drake turned around. "Can I help you?"
The man who had called out to him was wearing a Reichspolizei uniform, and he was shorter than Drake by a few inches. He appeared to be a good number of years older, but his bright blue eyes held an air of childish exuberance to them.
"Yes. You are Rear Admiral Richard Drake, are you not?" the man asked. "I am Obergruppenfuhrer Thomas Mann. A pleasure to meet you."
Oh shit, this guy's in charge of this place, Drake realized as he shook Mann's hand. "Nice to meet you too. How do you know my name?"
"Isn't it the Reichspolizei's job to be knowledgeable about these things?" Mann smiled. "But I know about you specifically because you were the admiral of Bismarck's fleet, were you not?"
Drake glanced over at Bismarck, who had walked over after seeing Mann approach Drake. "Yes, that was me."
Mann nodded. "I thought so. But - my question is - why have you been sent here, then? You are a rear admiral, and you held such an important post. Why would your navy send someone like you to attend a relatively insignificant meeting such as this one?"
Drake frowned. Is he making fun of me? "Don't ask me. I'm just following my orders."
Mann tapped his chin with a gloved finger. "Right, that is so… And yet, something does not add up here. Is it a coincidence that a rear admiral who used to be Bismarck's superior be sent over here where Bismarck is stationed even though a meeting such as this one is typically only attended by junior officers?"
Now Drake himself was confused. "So what are you saying? That I was sent here to kidnap Bismarck or something? That's ridiculous."
"Sir, I don't think that's plausible…" Bismarck said to Mann.
"Kidnap? I'd hope not," Mann chuckled, though there was no mirth in his tone. "I am just posing some questions to you, that is all."
"Then I'm afraid I don't have answers," Drake responded gruffly. "Now, will that be all?"
"Oh, please, Rear Admiral, don't be so brusque," Mann said, apparently unbothered. "Surely you must agree with the basic facts here. If this INFCOM meeting is normally meant for junior officers, then for the US Navy to send a rear admiral, they must have some other expectation of him, no?"
Drake couldn't help but acknowledge that Mann had a point. The navy normally would have sent an LTJG or something to this meeting, so Van Dyke must have had to put in a specific order to send Drake instead. And now that he thought about it, Van Dyke did ask him about Bismarck before he left. Did he really have some sort of other mission that he was supposed to accomplish here?
Before the conversation could go any further, a Reichspolizei officer suddenly came running up the steps on the far end of the hallway. He swiveled his head around as if he were looking for someone, then spotted Mann and ran over to the group.
"Obergruppenfuhrer!" the officer hurriedly saluted. "Reports of an Abyssal fleet sailing towards the city!"
Bismarck and Mann both wore expressions of alarm after hearing that, leaving Drake, who couldn't speak German, clueless.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Mann laughed. "I see it now… We were just informed that there is an Abyssal fleet heading towards Lubeck."
"The Abyssals?" Drake repeated in shock. "Are you going to stop them?"
Man gave him a look. "I'm the head of the Reichspolizei, not a naval officer. What could I possibly do in this scenario?"
"Excuse me for the interruption, but Miss Bismarck, you are needed," the Reichspolizei officer who had run in said. "Please come with me to the naval base."
"Right," she nodded. She then turned to Drake. "I'm sorry, Admiral, but this will have to wait."
Bismarck followed the Reichspolizei officer out as Mann and Drake watched.
"Are you just going to stand here?" Mann asked him.
"W-What do you mean?"
Mann shook his head and sighed. "I thought you were supposed to be intelligent, Rear Admiral. Your superiors obviously knew that this Abyssal attack was coming, and they sent you here to stop it along with Bismarck."
They knew…?
Even with that in mind, Drake was hesitant. He had been convincing himself that he needed to get back on the battlefield, but now that the Abyssals were this close, he didn't know if he could handle them. His last battle had ended in failure, and he almost died. He still remembered his brush of death with the Ne-class, and, of course, the Battleship Princess' eyes from all the way back at Tangier still haunted him. Though he had been out of action for a while, that also meant that he had been out of the Abyssals' grasp. Was he really willing to put himself right back into their path of destruction?
As Bismarck and the Reichspolizei officer headed back down the stairs, Drake's eyes met Bismarck's for a brief moment. He suddenly recalled the moment when she had sailed back to the ship after defeating the European Princess, and how bloodied and beaten up she was. A picture of Bismarck's broken corpse slipping beneath the cold waves of the northern seas forced its way into his mind.
Wait… What am I doing?
This whole time, he had only been thinking about how the decision to get back into the fight would affect him and his career. But he was not the only one affected by this… All the ship girls who had been under his command deserved a say in this too.
Drake remembered how Bismarck had tried to cheer him up after the Battle of Okinawa. When he needed someone to help him after Kaga's death, Bismarck had taken on that role. Now, when Bismarck needed someone to help her protect her country from the Abyssals, would he do the same?
He started running and immediately took off after Bismarck and the Reichspolizei officer. He sprinted down the steps and lunged into the lobby, where he caught sight of Bismarck and the officer speedily making their way towards the door. He ran over to them, causing them to turn around in surprise.
"Admiral?" Bismarck blinked. "What are you -"
"Take me with you!" Drake panted. "I… I can still fight!"
The Reichspolizei officer was dumbfounded. "Er… Excuse me, sir, but who are you?"
"I'm Rear Admiral Richard Drake of the United States Navy!" he declared, regaining his breath. "I fought at the Battle of Okinawa. Put me in!"
The officer looked supremely confused. "I, uh… Scheisse…"
"Let's take him with us. No harm in doing so, right?" Bismarck said.
"I don't know… Fine! Don't blame me if this isn't allowed!" the officer finally relented as he hurried outside.
Bismarck and Drake followed, and the three of them entered a black Mercedes-Benz that was waiting for them at the entrance.
"Admiral… Are you sure you want to do this?" Bismarck asked him once the car took off.
Drake gave her a firm nod. "Yes. I have to do this."
"This is the Kriegsmarine. They probably won't let you take command," Bismarck warned.
"They'll have to. I'm the only one here who is qualified to command ship girls," Drake argued. "Hopefully they'll be able to understand that."
Bismarck gave him a worried look. "I appreciate that you're trying to help, sir, but you don't need to do this. This isn't even your country."
"That doesn't matter," he said, resolute. "This isn't about me or my country. I want to help you, Bismarck."
She blushed and looked away. "O-Okay. Do as you like, then."
Drake was too nervous to wonder about her reaction. Now that he had committed to battle, he would have to get over his fears of failure and somehow pull off a victory… But he didn't even know how many forces the enemy had, nor how many ships Germany had. He didn't know how their navy did things or how to coordinate with them. The only familiar thing in this situation was Bismarck.
He recalled how he and the German ship girl had sunk the European Princess together. If they could pull that off, then he was sure that they would be able to defeat whatever Abyssal force was attacking Lubeck right now.
The only issue is that I haven't even spoken to her in months, he thought, glancing over at Bismarck, who was still looking out the window. To make matters worse, our parting was fairly hostile too. Will we be able to work together like we did on that day?
The car arrived at the naval base and was hurried through the checkpoints at impressive speed. When they entered inside the base itself, a group of sailors were awaiting them, and they rushed Bismarck and Drake out of the car and towards the docks. A few of the sailors gave Drake a weird look, but they apparently didn't have the time to ask questions.
Drake and Bismarck were brought to the docks and found a battleship standing by, its big railguns swiveling and preparing for a fight. Standing in front of the ship as sailors hurried inside was an elderly man in a naval uniform. He saluted the two of them, then looked at Drake.
"Who is this?" he asked in German.
"This is Rear Admiral Drake from America," Bismarck informed him. "He was my commander in Japan, and he has fought the Abyssals multiple times before. He says he can be of use."
The man didn't seem convinced.
"I am Konteradmiral Schumann," he introduced. "I am in charge of the base here. You say you want to help us, Rear Admiral Drake?"
"Yes. Give me command of Bismarck and I can stop the Abyssals," Drake stated.
Schumann frowned under his thick white mustache. "You're telling me to give command of my best naval asset to a foreigner whom I don't even know?"
"If you want to prevent everyone in this city from being killed, then yes," Drake insisted.
Schumann glanced over at Bismarck. "Are you all right with this, Bismarck?"
"Yes, sir. I believe he can help," Bismarck answered.
"Fine. We are wasting time here, so I will allow you to come on board as an advisor, Rear Admiral Drake," Schumann decided.
That was probably the best he was going to get in this situation, so Drake just nodded and followed Schumann into the battleship. The name on her side read 'KMS Konigs Tiger,' and it looked like she was the most powerful ship docked in Lubeck.
Shouldn't they have an aircraft carrier here for some airpower? Drake wondered. Well, I guess human aircraft won't help very much anyway…
Drake was led to the bridge by Schumann as Bismarck went off to get outfitted in her rigging. With remarkable speed, the crew readied Konigs Tiger for departure, and they were underway to meet the enemy shortly afterwards. At the very least, it was clear that the Kriegsmarine was well trained.
"How many ships do you have?" Drake asked Schumann as the German admiral got a brief break from issuing orders.
"In addition to Konigs Tiger, we have three light cruisers and a destroyer," Schumann said. "Reconnaissance says the enemy fleet is composed of ten Ro-class destroyers, two Imp packs, three chi-class torpedo cruisers, and a Ta-class battleship flag."
"The numbers are against us, then," Drake summed up with a grimace. It was sixteen against six, and five of those six were human-manned ships. This wouldn't be an easy fight to win.
"Yes, though I don't plan on admitting defeat just yet," Schumann firmly replied.
"What is your plan, then? I don't speak German, so I couldn't understand the orders you were giving."
"I have ordered all escorting ships to break off from the formation and surround the Abyssals," Schumann said. "We will encircle them and trap them in the middle, then shell them from a long distance. If the Abyssals start going after one ship in particular, I will order that ship to retreat and the rest of our vessels will continue the attack until we can reintroduce that ship to the battle. We will keep this up until the Abyssals have been defeated."
That's a terrible strategy, Drake thought, but he didn't voice it out loud. He could tell that Schumann was already annoyed with his presence, and he seriously doubted that that the Germans would consider changing their plan just because he told them to.
"What did you plan to do with Bismarck?" Drake asked next.
"I will use her where she is needed," Schumann answered. "If one ship in particular is not drawing the Abyssals' attention enough, I will send Bismarck over there to assist the ship in shelling the enemy."
Drake sighed internally. Yep, this guy has no idea what he's doing. Bismarck is our best weapon against the Abyssals. She shouldn't be treated as a member of the supporting cast!
Luckily Drake had been given permission to act as an "advisor," so he was going to make sure that Bismarck could be used to her full potential. Stepping off to the side a bit, Drake switched the ear mic he had been given to Bismarck's private channel.
"Are you out on the water yet, Bismarck?"
"Yes, sir. I am to the aft of the Konigs Tiger right now," she replied. "I was briefed before I sortied. It seems we are outnumbered."
"Yeah. We can still win, though," Drake assured her.
The loudspeakers on the ship began announcing something, and though it was in German, Drake could pretty much guess the meaning by how everyone on the bridge was tensing up and getting to their battlestations. It appeared that they were rapidly approaching the enemy fleet.
With his hands in his pockets and an even look on his face, Drake tried to give off a calm appearance. However, this was the first time in several months that he was returning to the battlefield, and his heart was pounding in his chest. A few minutes later, the Konigs Tiger's railguns began going off. Though the new railguns had been developed to be quieter, they still shook the ship with their soft thumping, and even in the bridge, Drake could feel the reverberations.
An unsettling feeling came over him. The last time that he had felt the sensation of big battleship guns was during the Battle of Tangier, and the booming noises and vibrations were all too similar to what he heard and felt on that day. To his horror, Drake's stomach began churning, and he suddenly felt very ill. Hoping that no one else would notice, he slowly walked away from the middle of the room and leaned against the window on the right side of the bridge as he attempted to regain his bearings.
It's no use… Agh, fuck! Why can't I control my own body! Drake cursed himself as the constricting panic only got worse.
"Admiral, what are you doing!" Bismarck's voice interrupted through his earpiece.
Drake turned his head slightly to see that the German ship girl was sailing along the Konigs Tiger's starboard side, meaning she could see him through the bridge window.
"Get ahold of yourself, sir! Give me your orders!" she continued.
Yeah… This isn't about me anymore, Drake reminded himself. This wasn't about his survival like it was at Tangier. He had debts to pay.
"S-Sorry," Drake replied through his mic as he steadied himself slowly. "Did Schumann give you any orders yet?"
"Not yet."
I should take the early initiative here so that the Germans don't tie her up in something, he thought. The only problem was that he couldn't control the other players in this battle, so it was essentially just him and Bismarck versus an entire Abyssal fleet. He couldn't count on the German surface forces for any concrete support.
He stayed in the corner of the bridge, trying not to make himself too conspicuous. His brown eyes were glued on the large radar screen towards the front of the bridge that displayed the enemy fleet location and the position of all friendly units.
All right… All that time spent training in simulations with Fleet Admiral Van Dyke and the American ship girls has to have taught me something, Drake told himself as he tried to reckon with the unfavorable odds he was facing. Based on the enemy fleet composition, it looks like there will be a lot of torpedoes in the water. Bismarck's firepower is enough to kill any of them besides the Ta-class with ease, but if she gets hit with a torpedo swarm, then it's over for her. Not to mention those PT Imps… I've never faced them before, but they're fast and deadly.
"Bismarck, keep an eye out for torpedoes," Drake warned her preemptively.
"Jawohl," she acknowledged. "Enemy fleet in sight."
As Drake was thinking of his next move, he saw large arching missiles shooting out from behind him and off into the distance.
"The fuck?" he wondered quietly to himself.
Nobody else in the bridge seemed surprised, and Drake quickly realized it must be some sort of shore battery opening up on the enemy. He doubted it would be very effective, but more support was always welcome.
"Admiral, the enemy is within shelling range," Bismarck informed him. "Shall I fire?"
"No, save your ammo. Their fleet is fast and will be able to avoid shots from just one battleship," Drake said.
"Bismarck! Begin shelling the enemy fleet!" Konteradmiral Schumann ordered right after that, speaking in English on Bismarck's and Drake's channel.
Seriously? Drake sighed. He waited until Schumann turned away to attend to something else before he got back on the line with Bismarck, who must have been confused at the contradicting orders. "Just do it for now until I think of something else. Don't waste too much ammo."
On the radar, Drake could see the German fleet begin to break apart and carry out Schumann's strategy. The Konigs Tiger hung back and was the farthest away from the enemy fleet because it had the longest range. Bismarck was still sailing in place next to the Konigs Tiger. As for the enemies, it looked like they were forming up in a circle, content to be surrounded by the human fleet.
So their plan is to just launch torpedoes outwards from the center, huh? Drake realized. Considering the volume of torpedoes that the Abyssals could field and the speed of Abyssal torpedoes against human vessels, it wasn't a bad strategy. Wait… There's two small signatures moving towards us. The PT Imps? They must be planning to sink the flagship and Bismarck.
"Bismarck! Defeat those imps!" Schumann yelled as he got back on the line with the ship girl.
Well, at least he has the right idea there, Drake agreed. There was no way in hell any human vessel could ever sink a PT Imp one-on-one.
Drake got on Bismarck's channel. "Those imps are fast and have torpedoes. Your main guns are useless here, so rely on your secondaries."
"Yes, sir."
Crossing his arms, Drake glanced out the window as Bismarck moved to intercept.
This is it. Now the battle truly begins…