CHAPTER 2
THE NEXT GREAT CRUSADE
Prinz Eugen watched with unease as Dublin threw open the door, marching in with Sherwood in tow.
"Alright, what now? We can't be left alone for five minutes!?!" Sherwood complained. Prinz glanced at Nürnberg and frowned, slowly peeking her head in the door as the argument raged on.
"Well? Let's not keep them waiting." Nürnberg said with her trademark 'I don't want to be here, but oh well' smile, pushing Prinz from behind. Stumbling forward, Prinz took in her new surroundings. What she saw amazed her.
The vast room had an elegance to it, something that was in stark contrast to the rest of the buildings. The walls were painted a crisp white, and the floor was a dark hardwood. Intricate trimmings lined the floorboards and around the door. Natural light flooded into the room through an overhead stained glass window, covering the floor in assortments of reds and blues.
A large oak table, seemingly themed from the Victorian era, stretched across the room, with matching chairs surrounding the table. There was even a crystal chandelier hanging from above, filling the rest of the space with pinpricked light. Fleet girls mostly populated the space, talking about things Prinz couldn't care enough to notice.
"Look at this…" Nürnberg mumbled, just as shocked as Prinz. Putting on fake grins, they hurried through the doorway..
This room….she hated it. Why would one room be so lavish when every other building on base fell into disrepair? It was as if they didn't care about the base, rather than not having enough resources.
A click came from behind them as the door was closed. Prinz turned to see a man standing at the door. He was short, with Prinz and Nürnberg towering over him. A bushy grey mustache sat above his lip, seemingly to compensate for the lack of hair anywhere on his blindingly shiny head. A pair of round glasses sat upon his large nose, ridiculously small in comparison. He reached into the pockets of his black dress suit and pulled out a pack of cigars.
He lit one, placing it into his mouth, and took a long drag before mumbling.
"It seems you all are here...please have a seat."
His voice was of sandpaper, it's raspiness was probably the only thing that gave his small stature a trace of dominance. Nevertheless, the girls took seats around the table. He went to one of the chairs at the head of the table and grabbed a rolled up map. Slowly, he rolled it out, placing small weights on each corner.
"Please excuse this sudden meeting, but there was no better time." His voice gravelled as he took a seat.
"Really~?! I couldn't even get my uniform on!" Dublin snapped. Prinz noticed that, indeed, Dublin was dressed quite unprofessionally, only wearing pajamas and pink slippers. Actually….most of the ship girls were in a similar state of dress, with hair curlers and wet hair.
"Quiet, you!!" Someone at the end of the table shouted and Dublin slumped down in her seat. Prinz fought the urge to balk at the...lack...of discipline.
"Thank you…" The man said with a sigh. "First things first, I might as well introduce myself. I am Sir John William O'Neill, Chief of MI6." There was murmur that quickly died out. "Now to the point of this meeting. The Abyssals are falling back." The man sighed as Nürnberg shot her hand up.
"Not to be disrespectful sir, but we crossed the North sea just hours ago, and it sure as hell didn't seem like they were falling back." O'Neill nodded, as if what the cruiser had said was the most obvious thing in the world, taking yet another long drag of his Cigar.
"Well, let me rephrase, they are falling back today. You were, in fact, supposed to attack today when their fleet was at its weakest. Unfortunately, it appears someone put down the wrong day." Prinz' veins popped as she clenched her fist.
"How on earth could you give us the WRONG ATTACK DAY!?!?" Prinz abruptly stood up fuming. Her heart pumped like a rabbit having a heart attack as she slammed her hand down.
"Now now, it's okay...let's just calm down now..." Nürnberg grabbed her hand and tugged her back, unease present on her face. Prinz yanked her hand back and stared into the man's beady eyes. He frowned, sweat glistening down his face.
"Well, I say!...if you hadn't made us use your stupid coding machines, we wouldn't have had th-" Prinz cut his response off, now seeing red.
"Ohhh, you mean our Enigma machines? Well maybe if your codes hadn't been cracked, WE COULD'VE USE THEM!!" Prinz shrieked, barely resisting the urge to strangle the Chief of MI6.
"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Some other shipgirl at the head of the table yelled, standing up. Still red in the face, Prinz stared at her.
"Both of you...calm down. What matters now is that we have a supply line. And yes...we messed up, and we're sorry. Now, will you please take a seat" It wasn't a question as much as it was an order; sighing, Prinz complied. She was dressed in a woman's royal navy uniform, quite a few medals donned on her...ample...chest. On her hip, a navy officers sword swayed gently. Prinz lowered herself back into her seat and and took a deep breath to collect herself. Painting her face with a picture of calm, she smiled.
"Forgive me, Mr O'Neill…Please, continue." The man nodded and stood up.
"*Ahem* Over the past couple of months, the RAF has been noticing irregular fleet movements in the channel. At first we assumed they were moving a small part of the blockade up north to finish off Iceland. We had sent out a few planes to follow them, and the results surprised us. Every group that broke off from the blockade has headed directly south." He grabbed a marker and drew a line that curved south around the tip of Brittany. "And even more unusual, our radio teams in Iceland have reported that the Abyssals halted their bombing of the inland towns and villages for over a month now."
"But...weren't they were carpet bombing the country to cut off our communications with North America?" One of the british ships blurted out.
"Indeed they were. But it appears that their aircraft carriers have vanished, gone without a trace." Absolute silence settled over the room before O'Neill opened his mouth again. "Following these reports, MI6 decided to investigate. For one week, we pumped every airwave and frequency across the channel with broadcasts from the BBC, interfering with Abyssal transmissions. This inference had the desired effect as has it forced their fleets to communicate with more tangible pieces of information. The RAF managed to intercept a messenger aircraft and capture the message."
This brought a gasp of surprise; Abyssal weaponry was notoriously difficult to capture. Both the British and German shipgirls had flashbacks of U-110, who's capture by the British had led to the breaking of the original Enigma coding in 1940.
"We decoded the message, and...well, it's results are the reason you are here. This message was decoded last week." He reached into his suit's pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. He slowly unfolded and sighed. "The forces blockading the British Isle are to be vastly reduced and sent to the Southwest Pacific." Setting the paper down, he continued. "The RAF has recently reported that the fleet movements are, indeed, underway, in spite our recent success." He slowly sat back down, the silence eating away at the room.
"So...you gathered us here...to say that we won!?" One of the girls asked. John smiled a bit.
"Not quite. We want to send a small fleet to the South Pacific and investigate."
"So why not just ask a country in the South Pacific?"Dublin mumbled.
O'Neill sighed."You don't think we thought of that? Our communications can only reach so far. Countries like the United States, as you know, are out of our communication range. That's why our radio towers in Iceland and Greenland are so important, and why the Abyssals worked so hard to cripple them. We can't communicate across Russia as Eastern Russia is a nuclear wasteland. Nothing has been coming or going from there. Last we knew,China was in a civil war for nearly twenty years now. India has refused to communicate outside of their borders, and USA doesn't have the reach to communicate to Japan, Australia, or New Zealand. Sufficient to say, we're blind."
Prinz huffed and raised an eyebrow. This was what MI6, the "best" intelligence department in the world, had to say?
"So...you want us, at this table, to Crusade across the world, to the South Pacific, not knowing what we'll face, try to talk to people we don't even know still exist, and find out what's going on."Dublin asked, failing to keep sarcasm out of her voice.
"Precisely." The man nodded in a most sagely fashion. Dublin burst out laughing.
"Ha...you can get f*ked, you daft old codger! There is no way you can get me or anyone else here to waltz across the world in the middle of Abyssal territory!!" There was murmur of agreeance, plenty of it coming from Prinz and Nurnberg respectively.
"Excuse her language but she is right. That is completely unreasonable, and the admiral would never agree such mission." Wales, who was sitting on the other side of the table, exclaimed.
"W-well, that choice is not up to the 'admiral' right now. This is of higher priority than marching valuable resources up and down the coast, not accomplishing anything"
"Really? Enlighten us then, whose choice is it?" Before he could reply, she cut him off again. "Trick question mate, it's certainly not yours!" Sherwood shouted from across the table.
"Excellent question, dear. Would you like to speak with them??" The intelligence Director said with a Cheshire grin.
"Yes I would. This is completely unreasonable, and whoever ordered this should be lined up against the wall for treason against the crown and the gover...oh" Dublin had started ranting at the Chief, but was struck speechless as two figures entered the room from the another door at the back.
Faster than Dublin could say 'Bugger', the British ships immediately scrambled to their feet. Prinz glanced over at Nürnberg and the only other person who was seated. Prinz sighed and took a better look at the two people who entered the room.
A slender woman with long, wavy red hair, led the way. She was dressed in a standard business suit, and holding a clipboard.
Behind her was someone even taller, nearly six foot five. His grey and blonde hair covered his head, and a large mustache donned his upper lip. Bags hung under his eyes, as if he had not slept in months. Despite this, his face was warm and kind. He was dressed in a bright red uniform with a black sash running across his chest..
It took about five seconds before Prinz realized why everyone was standing. Her hands started to shake as she slowly rose to her feet. Sir O'Neill bowed low, nearly hitting his head on the table.
"Madam Prime Minister. Your Majesty. It is an honor for you to join us." Nürnberg shot to her feet, along with Prinz, as if a firecracker was about to go off in their seats.
"Wait...th-thats, thats the K...K…" Prinz stuttered, wide eyed.
"Shut it…" Dublin mumbled under her breath.
"Yes, this is His Majesty, The King." The Prime Minister said with a smile.
"You flatter me Rose, but I would prefer my subjects and their comrades call me George. Please be at ease." The British ships relaxed a bit, but their faces remained stern. "Please be seated ladies." Prinz and the others slowly lowered into their seats. "Now I understand some of you here are in objection to the proposed mission."
"None at all your majesty." Dublin shot out, sitting up with a ramrod back. The Prime Minister laughed, not unlike a mother catching a child with a hand in the cookie jar.
"Come on now, nobody would blame you for that attitude."
"Rose here is right. I may be old and out of touch, but I know a worried face when I see one. You have permission to speak freely." King George said as he leaned on the table. Dublin took a deep breath before opening her mouth again.
"Yes...alright. I don't doubt your judgement, but I believe this plan is quite foolish. The logistics alone are just a nightmare...and...and if we reach the South Pacific, we'll have no way to communicate back." The King nodded and sighed.
"I understand your worry, I truly do. But Rose and I believe that this is viable strategy. Whatever is causing the Abyssals to abandon the blockade, it is worth investigating. If another nation has put up this stiff resistance, we need to contact them." He said with a smile.
"I understand...but once again, we'll have no way to communicate back here, do you honestly expect that we can make repeated voyages back and forth?"
"We've already thought of that." Prime Minister Elizabeth Rose piped up. "We were recently able to get a satellite into low Earth orbit. It make a full rotation of the Earth every forty eight hours. This means that, once in the south pacific, you set up a radio tower, and broadcast information to the satellite when its overhead. The satellite will pass over the UK, and broadcast the information back down to us." She exclaimed with a giddy joy. Dublin offered no further objection, and none of the other fleet girls seemed to have except for Prinz.
"It's an honor to be in your presence your Majesty, but, how does this apply to me, and more over the other german ships in this room? We don't answer to you or your government." Prinz asked in the most respectful way possible, her heart feeling like it was gonna explode. The King smiled and came over to her side of the table, giving her a pat of the shoulder.
"Not to worry, we contacted your Chancellor and Navy Command, both have agreed in the necessity of this mission." Prinz smiled.
"Glad to hear it." It was a huge lie; she wasn't glad to hear it. Smiling fondly, the king patted her shoulder once more and walked back over to the Prime Minister. Once again the Chief of MI6 decided he would address the group.
"I hope that should clear things up. So once again, your mission is to reach the South Pacific. Secretary Ship Hood will be joining you, and will assist in planning on how you get to the South Pacific. In the words of General Eisenhower, "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months."...we will leave you here to plan." The British Fleet Girls rose to there feet and gave and gave a salute as the three made their exit. Prinz, and Nürnberg, were once again a little behind the rest, only standing up once the trio was almost out of the room. The door closed with a click and everyone just stared for a few moments.
"Right...what...what the f*k?" Sherwood mumbled, rubbing her forehead in confusion.
"Alright, let's get this sorted out." The Secretary at the head of the table who had lectured Prinz earlier said. Prinz gave a gasp of recognition as Hood walked around the table so that she was directly above the UK at the map. Now that the secretary ship was closer, Prinz noticed more about her. Her face was dotted with freckles, and it looked like her uniform was about to burst apart at the chest. Prinz sighed and sat back down, burying her face in her hands. Behind her she heard the faint sound of muffled footsteps getting louder until someone three open the door just behind them.
"I'm here, don't worry!!" Someone shouted and the room froze. Prinz turned in her seat and looked at the girl who had just entered the room, the girl looked familiar, but she couldn't match a name to the face.
"Ah yes, Tirpitz, we were just about to get started, take a seat." Hood mumbled, he tone was not a friendly one. Tirpitz quietly sat down next to Prinz and sighed.
"This is actually dumb." Nürnberg exclaimed. "Might as well be suicide mission." At this, Hood frowned.
"No, no its not. I understand this is a delicate operation, so we need to work together to plan this operation." Prinz looked up and sighed. "Lets begin with our formation."
"We can use the wedge formation, and, and maybe we put Ark Royal in the center. That way she's protected from torpedoes." Sherwood suggested nonchalantly.
"Awww, your so sweet!" Ark Royal said with a giggle, clapping her hands a little.
"I-it was just a suggestion, no n-need to overreact." Sherwood mumbled looked down, hiding a smile. Dublin laughed and poked her shoulder.
"Is little Shermy blu-"
"I will f*ing kill you!!" Sherwood snapped at Dublin before she could even finish the sentence.
"You two, cut it out!" Hood pointed her finger at them from across the table.
"If I might make a suggestion." Tirpitz mumbled timidly." Protecting our carrier is important, but the wedge formation is too spread out, based on what I saw in the North Sea crossing. I would recommend a strategy implemented during the Battle of the Thames. The premise was the rows of ships, side by side. You placed thee ship with the most forward firepower at the front, and had the sides flanked by the stronger ships. The more vulnerable or essential ships were in the center column, and the destroyers brought up the rear so they could break off with torpedo attacks." Everyone just stared at her for a moment, causing her to bring her hands to her chest. "O-Oh, I'm sorry…"
"No no, that's a good idea." Hood quickly said. "I wasn't deployed in the Battle of the Thames, but I'm assuming it worked well since we won. What was the formation called again."
"It was called 'The Kings Row' by King George V, she was the lead ship." Hood nodded and wrote it down.
"Well then, I think it goes without saying that Wales and York have the most forward firepower, so which of you wants to be the lead ship?" Wales put her hand up, brushing her messy hair out of her face.
"I'll do it" Hood went to write the name down whe York pulled Wales hand down.
"No your not, I'll take lead."
"York, I can do it, I'll be fine!!"
"I don't care, I said I'm doing it." York growled.
"York, you're being unreasona-."
"I said you are not taking lead...is that clear?" Cowed at the vehement reaction, Wales nodded, looking down.
"Right. York is taking lead. Obviously Royal will be in center, along with Nürnberg and Dublin, their anti-aircraft fire will be needed to protect her from bombs. Sherwood and Churchill will be in the rear, and the rest of us Battleships and Heavy Cruisers will be in the flanks."
"Oh, I feel so special!" Royal giggled and pulled her scarf up to her face.
"You are our only carrier, and from what we know, the enemy carriers have moved to the pacific. We would have had two Carriers, but...Graf Zeppelin didn't make the crossing." Hood mumbled and looked down.
"Wait...what do you mean she didn't make it?" Nürnberg jumped up and looked around, eyes wide.
"Her fleet was meet with stiff resistance and was pushed farther north into a killing field; all of them were torpedoed." Hood calmly answered, as if talking about the results of a football game. Prinz felt sick, lowering her head to the table as she gave a silent cry of despair.
"Right...what's next?"
"Well, second of course, we have to figure out how to get there. Obliviously it's too dangerous to cross directly across the pond, so we can just island hop, going along Iceland, Greenland, then we hit North America. From there, we only really have one option." A hand suddenly shot up, belonging to a destroyer.
"Yes Churchill?" Hood groaned.
"We are gonna go through Panama right!?" She excused in a most painfully excited manner.
"Yes...we are…" At this, Churchill cheered and clapped."I knew it!! Tropical sunshine for daaaays!"
"Yes yes,v~ery diligent of you." Hood muttered under her breath. "Anyway, yes, we will obviously take the Panama Canal to the Pacific. That is where the danger begins. We have to know where we are going to land. Obliviously, the closest and most attractive landing points are New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan."
She circled to the island nations. "But we can still land at Korea, or Australia." Prinz leaded forward to look for other locations and noticed something a bit strange. Her map she had on her wall was a pre-war map, but this map, it appeared to be completely up to date. She first notice the fact that China was no longer the massive country it once . was, but split into six warring factions. Another noticeable change was that on this map, there was only one Korea, compared to her map, which still had the two countries splitting the peninsula.
"Is something wrong?" Hood said and Prinz looked up at her.
"No...I just noticed this map is different from mine at home."
"Ah, I suppose you have a map made in 2030s, this one of course is up to date within the month. With the oceans cut off, the U.N. has all but dissolved and countries can do as they please. How up to date are you on world events?"
"Not very, I don't tend to pay attention to the news." Hood nodded.
"Well let me catch you up. First, let me draw your attention to the middle east. As you can see, Turkey has expanded throughout the region. Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all gone, and with Saudi Arabia controlling the entire Arabian Peninsula; honestly, it's not long before a major conflict breaks out in the region. Closer to home, Great Britain ceded Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic last year. The USA has been down a state since 2045, as it was more efficient for Canada to control Alaska. Finally Argentina and Brazil have been at war since the beginning on the decade."
"The world is tearing itself apart..."Prinz sighed, wondering what else would change in the coming year..
"Precisely, and that's is why this mission is vital; if we can't reclaim the oceans, we might as well go back to the dark ages." Prinz nodded at this and slowly sat back down. Was this mission worth the risk, restoring world peace was a noble cause, but was it worth the life of her friends? Was it worth her own life? Perhaps, but she would have to think on that.
"Well, perhaps we can wrap up this meeting. After all, you all seem a bit peckish. I'll get a truck sent into town so we can restock on our supplies and rations. Dis~missed!." Hood barked, a hint of cheer evident across her face.
The room erupted in quiet conversation as Nürnberg grinned at Prinz. "Looks like we can go now."
"Hold on a second…" Prinz quietly stood, looking pale.
"What? Is something wrong?" Prinz just shook her head. She took a moment to hold her friend's hand on her shoulder before brushing it off as she marched across the room. Secretary ship Hood was packing a set of papers into a worn leather briefcase, seemingly oblivious to the Heavy Cruiser.
"Excuse me, miss Hood, could I ask you a question?" Prinz inquired, barely audible above the din of the room. The secretary ship stood up, adjusting her naval cap, as she gave a dazzling smile.
"Why of course you may, Prinz...Eugen wasn't it? I'm quite excited to have you along with us."
"Um, I was just wondering why you chose me, even if I am a Hipper class. Von Hipper and Blücher are far more experienced." She mumbled. Hood gave her a kind smile and locked up her briefcase.
"Well we can only use people who are actually here right? Besides, you've already proven yourself in combat against me!" She gave a kind laugh, not unlike that of a mother consoling her child. However, Prinz felt her chest tighten, gripped by an iron cold.
"W-what…" She struggled to breath, mouth gasping like a fish, eyes wide. Hood's expression changed and soon she realized what she just said.
"Oh...I-I'm sorry, you must not have heard." Prinz backed up and gulped, panic racing across her face. She felt Nürnberg take her hand gently, as if that alone would comfort the last of the Hipper class
"Lets go…" She murmured quietly and Prinz pulled away. She whirled around, pushing past the last of the errant shipgirls as they went through the door. Over the storm of very imaginative curses, Prinz heard her best friend shouting.. "Prinz!! Come back!!" Nürnberg's voice was laced with panic, but the words held no weight. Prinz sprinted down the hall of the small office building, pushing past anyone in her way, her footsteps muffled by the soft carpet. She flung the exit doors open and took off for the docks.
"They are just in the docks, they have to be…" She whispered to herself as she ran, tears forming in her eyes. Had her nightmare been telling her this all along? She nearly in tears as she approached the group still playing football, one of them shouting to her.
"Oi, pass!!" Said ship girl kicked it toward Prinz, who just ended up kicking it her sprint, causing it to fly through the air and bounce off the pier and into the water. The girl frowned, "Wow...what a b*h."
The word would have normally stung, but Prinz kept running, throwing open the door to the building that housed the docks. She ran down the hallway, her feet clicking against the tile. No one was in the hallway and she practically flew through the two sets of doors into the dock.
"Hipper!? Blücher!?" She cried out, looking around. No one responded. Prinz scanned everyface, double, no, triple checking them, but no luck. She slowly walked back out into the hallway and tears streamed down her face. She looked over to the white board that was on the wall, the one Nürnberg had pulled her, the casualty list.
Prinz took an uneasy step towards in and looked through the list of names. She found what she didn't want to find. One after the other she found three names in blood red ink; Von Hipper, Blücher, and Bismarck. Her heart, already in danger of cracking, shattered to a thousand pieces.
"N-no…" She croaked and sunk to the floor, covering her face as silent tears streamed down. She sobbed quietly and curled up against a wall. Memories flashed in her mind; opening christmas presents, celebrating birthdays, playing football….but it didn't matter. Her sisters were gone, her friends were gone...she had abandoned them out there, she left them...afraid...and alone. It was painful, so painful, it all hurt!
As she sat there, the faint sound of shoes clicking on the tile grew louder until they stopped next to her. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, and they rested their head against hers.
"I'm so, so sorry." Nürnberg whispered to her, quietly hushing Prinz Eugen's sobs. Prinz didn't know how long this lasted. A minute? An hour? Prinz slowly looked up at her, sniffling.
"I...I…" Nürnberg brushed Prinz's hair from her face, whipping away her tears.
"Shhhh, you're okay…" She continued to console her, whispering nonsensical comfort. Pinz threw herself onto Nürnberg and sobbed, burying her face into her shoulder. She felt Nürnberg kiss the side of her head gently,"We're okay, we're okay…" Prinz was so cold, so alone, how could anyone be okay after this?
As if sensing this, Nürnberg squeezed her more tightly, not knowing the answer herself, as they sobbed into the night.
Authors Note:(Well thats chapter two for you, done and dusted. Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter, but the next few chapters will almost be all dialogue. I would once again like to thank CaboosehelpsU, who well, helped me with this chapter and enriched it's content, so go check them out. Please leave a review, it's the only way I get better)