Broken, Not Beaten

Chapter 4

Written by Twitchy1414

Beta'd by CabooseHelpsU

The chamber flashed with the emergency light, increasing in intensity with a growing cacophony of noise. Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen shrugged into her rigging as a machine lowered it to her back.

She relaxed as the familiar weight settled, comfortable in spite of the multi-ton displacement load. Prinz heard various clinging and rattling noises, probably belonging to the other girls in the Launching Docks.

A voice crackled over the headset. Prinz took a deep breath and looked to her left. "Attention, attention all shipgirls, you are clear for launch. Good luck… and God help you all."

A klaxon blared, overmatching the rumble of the opening blast doors. She couldn't help but think they looked like the gaping jaws of a steel beast. Momentarily, the Setting Sun blinded the shipgirls as they sailed forth.

Secretary Ship Hood pulled forward, and crisply turned around to address the sortie. "Come, let us form a proper formation, if you please."

With crisp precision, the warships maneuvered into position with minimal cursing as they sailed out of the building's shadow.. Prinz had to squint in the bright light, but she could make out the figures of other ships sitting on the surrounding docks and piers. They were cheering as the group sailed on, some crying out to those they knew.

"Oiiii~, come back safe Churchill!" A group of destroyers and destroyer escorts waved from a pier, jumping up and down with enthusiasm. Churchill waved back, hollering over her shoulder, "Roger that, guys!"

They sailed further through the surprisingly clear waters of the base, passing the submarine pens where a small gaggle of German U-Boats swam. "Versenke uns einige Abyssalen!" They called, raising their fists as one.

"Ja? Wie viele!?" Nürnberg asked, even louder as they got further away.

"Alle von ihnen, wenn du kannst!" They replied with a laugh, and Prinz couldn't help but quietly join in..

A hand tapped the heavy cruiser's shoulder, and she spun to face Hood. "Excuse me, if you would be so kind, what did they just say?" The Battlecruiser asked, voice gentle yet powerful.

"Well, they told us to sink some Abyssals for them, then I asked how many. They said 'all of them!"

A smile graced the Secretary Ship, and the gaggle of British escorts- who had been not inconspicuous in eavesdropping- joined her.

"Ooooh...I jus' dun't understand them is all, such a hard language."

"Typisches Englisch!" Nürnberg, who was in the middle of the formation, giggled at the escort- who Prinz thought was Dublin.

Prinz, failing to hold back a small grin, chastised her friend, "Nürn, das nicht sehr nett."

Confused, Hood stared at them blankly, questioning but politely choosing to remain silent. Dublin, on the other hand, growled in impatience.

"Could ya damn Jerry's speak English?!"

Tirpitz, on the other side of the formation groaned. "Was würden sie tun, wenn wir nur Deutsch sprechen würden?"

Dublin was shaking now, "ENGLISH YA LITTLE-!" She cut off at Hood's glare, having the decency to look away.

"As my compatriot has already asked, please speak English. We don't need a language barrier damaging our cohesion with this mission," Hood directed, her imperious gaze resting on her Teutonic counterparts.

"Yes ma'am…" They chorused with various degrees of emotion.

Short of a few brief operational commands, they traveled in complete silence. They had gone silent the moment they left the final reaches of the Naval Sector. For Prinz, the tension was palpable, and did nothing to help her fraying nerves.

Behind every wave, inside the occasional squall, and above every cloud, the Abyssals could be waiting as they sailed into the jaws of a trap. A trap not unlike what Bismarck, Dunkerque, Hipper and Blücher and-

No! I can't think about that. Don't think, don't think!

It didn't work, and the journey was filled with her quiet weeping.

The small fleet moved onwards away from Edinburgh and out into the North Sea. They sailed along the Scottish coast, and Hood made sure they stayed there. Prinz could see why, they had no idea if any Abyssals were still out there, and along the coast they were under protection of the many coastal batteries that lined the shore. Under any wave, within every storm cloud, around every island and ice flow…the enemy could be anywhere.

"So… what is our first stop?" Ark Royal asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"We had planned on Reykjavik as our first stop, which will take two...three days?" Wales said, looking at Hood to see if she was wrong.

"That's about right, two and a half days to Iceland, two days to Greenland, and then one day to Canada. Or, we could technically shorten the trip by going straight across…"

"Yes let's do that!" Churchill exclaimed, sailing up from her position in the rear and up next to Hood. "The sooner we get done with this boring mission, the better!"

"Yes, we could try that, but of course...we will have no cover, docking, refueling, air cover, nor will we have intelligence on what could be in the middle of the Atla-"

"L'right L'right, I get it," Churchill grumbled and slowly drifted back to her position. Prinz sighed as the group convalescing back into silence. She settled to once more watch as the coast slipped by.

Finally, the land stopped.

From the maps they had all memorized, they were at the Nor 'Eastern tip of North Ronaldsy, the final island of the Orkney Isles. There was a small, nameless settlement atop the cliffs, but no humans were in sight.

This time, it seemed there would be no final patriotic sendoff. Prinz figured that aside from the military personnel, no humans would know of this mission. After all, Hood, Prince of Wales and Duke of York were all extremely famous, and were the poster girls of the British Kanmasu propaganda. Losing them all on a single "suicide" mission would certainly hit morale, which was already low considering the blockade.

But then again…Just before she had left, Nürn had excitedly shown Prinz a particular poster, depicting a wounded Lion, supported by a colorful Rooster, a diving Eagle, and a giant Bear. A caption at the bottom, "UNITED WE STAND" was pressed in large words. In the background were all the flags of the EU, and other animals too: a Bull, a Wolf, and an Elk.

The message was clear. "Europe will stand as one."

If that meant risking several famous warships- Tirpitz and Prinz were technically included in this- then perhaps Britain would be okay no matter the results of the mission.

The mission that they probably would not survive.

"There she goes…" Dublin said, voice filled with nostalgia. Together, the group turned to see the last bit of the Orkney Islands slip over the horizon.

"We…we're really leaving…" Wales uttered, expression tense with a thousand emotions.

"…Eng-land old I-reland, Eng-land old I-reland."

Ark Royal began to sing quietly, tears in her eyes.

"Eng-land old I-reland, Eng-land old I-reland, Eng-land old I-reland. Hauley Hauley Ho!"

Taking a sharp breath, Wales cheered, "Well, come on lassies...pick it up!" She too began to sing with Royal.

"Paddy McGinty. Paddy, Jock and Jackie too. Oh Paddy McGinty. Hauley Hauley Ho!"

Prinz, Nürnberg, and Tirpitz of course didn't know the lyrics, so they waited for the British ships to finish. After Hood looked over to Prinz.

"Is… something wrong?" Hood asked, concerned at the silence of the German shipgirls. It took Prinz a moment for her to realize Hood what Hood was asking about.

"Oh...no, we just don't know the words to that song."

At her admission, Hood nodded and smiled. "Well, you will certainly have to learn, as we are stuck together for a long time."

"Why your songs?" Nürnberg said and crossed her arms. "We have our own."

Dublin chuckled. "Well then sing us somethin!"

"N-No...we're good…" Tirpitz stammered, looking at her feet. Prinz nodded in agreement.

"Ooooh I see how it is." Dublin said with a laugh. "Typical Germans eh? All talk. 'We want our place in the sun'...'Germany over everything!'"

Prinz clenched her fist and took a deep breath. She really wasn't in the mood, and could have drilled the destroyer right then and there, but she instead tried to remember a song. She found one, starting loud, and soon Nürnberg and Tirpitz had joined her.

Der mächtigste König im Luftrevier

Ist des Sturmes gewaltiger Aar.

Die Vöglein erzittern, vernehmen sie nur

Sein rauschendes Flügelpaar.

Wenn der Löwe in der Wüste brüllt,

Dann erzittert das tierische Heer.

Ja, wir sind die Herren der Welt

Die Könige auf dem Meer.

Tirallala, tirallala, hoi! hoi!

Wir sind die Herren der Welt

Die Könige auf dem Meer.

The trio finished the 1st verse and chorus with a cry as the final words echoed out over the ocean. With heavy breaths, Prinz looked over at the others. The British ships peered at them wide eyes and slack jawed.

"Well...I do say...good job." Hood mumbled and clapped a bit. "Now...what does that mean?"

"What, you don't know the words or meaning to our songs? I guess you'll need to figure it out~" Nürnberg said, grinning sarcastically.

"Not fair…that's not fair! I want to know!" Dublin whined. Hood and York nodded behind her, and the trio slouched in a pout.

.*.*.*.

The rest of the first leg of the voyage remained uneventful. Songs were sung, but no longer with the same spirit as the beginning of the voyage. As the nights passed, the group traveled at a snail's pace, maintaining complete silence.

It would be two days before they saw land again, something Prinz was grateful for.

"This is it…." Churchill mumbled in disbelief. "Iceland...it looks so...abandoned."

Churchill was right. No signs of life could be seen on the shore, no birds, sea lions, fish...nothing.

"Everything is gone." Dublin said quietly. "We lost over half of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron here….Southampton….Falmouth….Nottingham..." Dublin bit her lip and looked down.

Sherwood in a bout of adorableness that was reserved for destroyers and destroyer escorts, reached up to give Dublin a hug. At least, she tried, until the cruiser bent down, ghost of a smile on her face.

"We should be coming up to the city Reykjavik shortly, so keep your eyes peeled. We don't if there are Abyssals to ambush," York said from the front, the column of ships slowing as they rounded the Southern Peninsula. Prinz felt a surge of excitement at finally seeing another country's capital.

That excitement was soon squashed by what Ark Royal uttered.

"Oh… my… god…." Royal mumbled and looked into the distance. Prinz peered into the distance, barely able to make out the shape of the city.

"What's wrong?" Nürnberg asked, but Royal didn't answer. As the group sailed closer, Prinz could see why Royal was speechless.

The city of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland...had been leveled. Buildings were collapsed into rubble, those that stood had been charred by fire. The docks had been blown away, chunks of burnt wood floating in the water. They were still too far out to smell anything, not yet, but if it's anything like the destroyed fishing hamlets Prinz had seen…

"Like somethin' out of a goddamn war movie," Dublin muttered.

Prinz took a deep breath and turned away from the ruins of the city. She could hardly bear to look at it. She had seem destruction on a smaller scale, small fishing villages and harbors, but never an entire city. This was what she was fighting to stop.

"Come on...we can't just stay here. " Hood said quietly. The group slowly drifted away from the city and back towards open sea.

"Wait, we're just gonna leave!?" Wales exclaimed surprised.

"We have nowhere to refuel, and as it appears no one is…" Hood paused and looked around. A faint rumbling could be heard in the distance. "You hear that?" Prinz nodded and looked around for the source of the noise.

"What is that?" Sherwood asked.

"It doesn't sound Abyssal…" Prinz said and scanned the horizon. She glanced over a small black speck, almost missing it. It was leaving from the Southern Peninsula. "Their, something is moving across the water." The group whirled around to look at it.

"Send a couple fighters to go see what that is." Hood said to Royal.

"Yes ma'am!" Royal said and swung her rifle off her shoulder. She pulled back the bolt and grabbed a brown bullet from her pocket. Placing it into the breach. Royal slammed the breach closed and raised the Rifle to her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger. The rifle cracked as the bullet left the muzzle, traveling about 10 meters before transforming into a formation of three Fairey Fulmars. The carrier fighters spread out and flew towards their target.

"Well?! What do ya see?" Dublin shouted impatiently.

"Oh, do keep it down please," Royal hissed, eyes closed and a hand on her ear. "Almost there…" She muttered, deep in concentration. "It's...its an RIB…" Ark Royal opened her eyes again and Prinz could see the Fulmars turning back.

"A Rubber Inflatable Boat, huh…" Hood said and put a hand on her chin. The small craft slowly grew closer and larger, and soon Prinz was able to make the shapes if people sitting inside.

"Who d'ya think they are?" Churchill said quietly, yet no-one answered. The Fulmars then returned, landing on the carrier deck and transforming back into a small bullet, which Royal put back in her pocket. As the rumbling of the engine grew louder, the details of the passengers could be made more clearly.

Piloting the RIB was a large, burly man attempting to smoke a cigarette in the high speeds of the boat. Sitting at the front was a smaller, petite woman; her raven ponytail whipping in the wind. Both were clad in winter uniforms of the Royal Marines, and and were armed with hi-powered rifles.

"Welcome to Iceland." The woman said when the boat arrived. "I'm Lieutenant Douglas, and this is Corporal McManus, Royal Marines." She stuck out a hand to Hood, who shook it firmly.

"Good to see people are actually here ma'am. But...what are the Royal Marines doing out here?"

"When Iceland was on the verge of collapsing," Corporal McManus spoke, voice rumbling like gravel, "We got sent in to help organize an evacuation of the civilians...only to find out that the evacuation didn't include us…"

Lieutenant Douglas glared at him, as if it wasn't the first time he had such complaints, before turning her attention back to Hood.

"We man the radio tower, maintaining and operating it for whenever the mainlands attempt communication- not that it usually works, thanks to Abyssal interference. As far as we know, we are the only people on this God-forsaken frozen rock." She shook her head. "You gals wanna come and eat before you head off to Greenland? If not we'll just radio out that we saw you."

Hood looked to the group, who nodded eagerly.

Douglas laughed, surprisingly beautiful for a military woman. "I take that as a yes then. Just...don't ask what is in the beef stew. Follow us"

The marines turned the boat around a headed off, the ship girls following not far behind.

Hanging back with Hood, Nurnberg frowned. "Are we really able to waste this time like this?"

"Listen, if ya wanna keep going, you're more than welcome to do so. We will catch up wi-" Sherwood was in the middle of saying when she was cut off.

"No!" Prinz snapped, cutting off the others. "Nobody will separate on this mission. I c-...I mean, we can't afford that now." She glared at Nurnberg, daring her to say otherwise.

Hood shrugged, "I don't see why we should then. One never knows what could happen until it's too late." She and the British ships turned, with Tirpitz trailing behind. The Bismarck class battleship's gaze was filled with concern, but Nurnberg beat her to the punch.

"Just what was that about?" She whispered harshly.

"It's nothing! I just don't want to be seperated," Prinz mumbled under her breath.

"Do you not care about that?"

"I didn't say that." Nürnberg snapped. "I'm just... worried about you."

Prinz said nothing, shouldering her friend aside as she resumed the formation. Nürnberg just cursed under her breath, muttering about stubbornness.

The group followed the marines back to their base, a small cave that was in the side of a large cliff on the coast. Thankfully, the cave was at sea level so the ships didn't have to walk inside and leave their gear on the shore. The cave was dimly lit, a string of lights hung from the ceiling, and a few floodlights were set up on tripods to overlook the water in the cave.

The floor of the cave gradually raised up creating a kind of natural boat ramp for the RIB

to be pulled up on. There was only extra RIB, but no other Marines were in sight. None of the shipgirls had the courage to ask about that.

Prinz stepped up on the rock, shrugging her equipment off to stretch. To the side in water sat some kind of floating platform, a large box and antenna attached to it. "What's that?" Prinz asked McManus, who was tying the boat down.

"That right there is out radio tower." Prinz looked at it, finding the idea that that was a radio tower quite absurd. McManus saw her expression a chuckled. "We take it out every morning and radio London for orders, then tell us if they need to pass on a message. Coordinating with them and the lads in Greenland, we get some windows of communication between the continents."

"Oh...are their Royal Marines in Greenland too?"

The marine shook his head.

"No, the USA paradropped some Green Berets. Some Staff Sergeant Hatzenbihler...he's a real piece of work, that one." Prinz hummed, turning her attention to the deeper part of the cave.

Up away from the water was the base, if you could call it that. A table, four cots, each soldiers' equipment, and a large supply of rations were the only things in sight.

"Make yourself at home...or I guess our version of that word anyways." Douglas said sarcastically, leaning against the wall. The group stayed almost completely silent as they ate their- to be frank, subpar- meal.

The break passed by too quickly.

"Thank you kindly for the food Lieutenant." Hood said and shook her hand. "But I do believe it is time for us to move on." The soldier looked up at her and smiled.

"I suppose it is ain't it? Well then, safe travels, we'll radio Greenland an' let them know your coming."

"We we appreciate it...come on ladies." Hood said, walking over to the water, and putting her gear back on. The others groaned and stood up, following suit.

Once ready, the small fleet sailed out into the cold waters of the Atlantic, leaving Iceland to slip over the horizon.

The second leg short voyage was just at uneventful as the first, the only new thing was the occasional iceberg that drifted past. Finally, the night came. Above, the heavens sparked and danced. The air was clear, and the skies were almost filled with gleaming stars, like the Milky way.

"Prinz?"" Nürnberg whispered, staring upwards.

"Yeah?" Prinz said just as quietly.

Nürnberg didn't speak for a long while. "Are….Are you scared?"

To Prinz, streaks of tears could be seen, shining down her friend's face in the starlight.

"I….don't know." She hesitated, then looked back. "Are you?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm scared."

Prinz bit her lip, desperate to find the right words, something to comfort her one and only best friend.

Nothing came.

By the next day, they had made good time, and reached the coast of Greenland at midday. Prinz looked up at the high ice shelves, stretching high above the water. The group had stopped for a rest as Hood, Royal, and York gathered to discuss the rest of journey.

"It's….rather beautiful." Churchill said softly, as if her own voice would shatter the cliffs. Prinz looked at her and smiled a bit, snowflakes slowly drifting down and melting as they touched the water. The ocean itself was eerily calm, almost like a deep blue mirror, stretching on for eternity.

"I've never seen snow…." Sherwood mumbled, trying to catch the snowflakes in her hand.

"It doesn't hardly snow anymore." Nürnberg said with a frown. "Even in the German-Swiss Alps, only a few inches were recorded this year."

"That little?!" Churchill suddenly exclaimed in sharp contrast to her gentle voice from earlier.

"As the Earth heats up, the only weather cold and moist enough is up at the Poles." Tirpitz said quietly, arms outstretched to the side as she slowly spun around. Prinz meanwhile, was scanning the horizon, she knew that the likelihood of Abyssals being this far north were slim, but it didn't hurt to check.

"Well, let's keep going ladies." Hood suddenly announced, to nearly everyone's dismay.

"Ain't we gonna find somewhere t' rest for a while!?" Churchill whined, turning to face the secretary and senior ships.

"It's too far to any of the known port locations, and if we stay here too long, the cold weather is going to get to us." Wales explained, clearly cutting off Hood.

"Seeing as our mission's purpose will occur in the Pacific, we weren't winterized before this." York added, "We'll freeze if we don't move."

"Yeah, but what about the Americans? Don't we need to contact them?" Sherwood countered.

"Chances are they have seen us, and if they haven't, we will reach the mouth of the Saint Lawrence by tomorrow, and there we can rest. " Hood responded quickly, turning westward.

"Resume formation, let's go." The majority of the group was silent, but they each sported annoyed scowls. As they sailed on, Prinz watched the high ice cliffs, and for a brief moment, she swore she saw something glint in the distance.

After several tense moments, she looked forward in an effort to catch up.

Once again, the small group was on the move, the final stretch from Greenland to Canada was a short one, and it would not be long before they would be able to see the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The coast of the East most Canadian province came into view on November 15th, the trip across the Atlantic had taken five and half days.

"So...this is it huh?" Prinz said quietly, her eyes taking in the shore of her fourth new country. The coast was rocky, with cliffs that fluctuated in height as they moved along. On some of the cliffs sat the foundations and structures of bombed out houses, no doubt destroyed by Abyssal naval fire and bombers.

"Now where do we go eh? Just sail around until we find a port?" Dublin said, somewhat frustrated.

"Well, if we follow the coast we will eventually come across Belle Isle, it's been turned into a naval fortress. From there we can get an escort fleet to take us up the Saint Lawrence." Hood explained, most definitely annoyed.

"Alright alright...sorry ma'am." Dublin responded starkly. Hood let out a frustrated sigh, but said nothing. In the distance, the faint sound of booming.

"What…is that? " Prinz asked nervously, the faint booming slowly growing louder.

"I see nothing up ahead but…hold on." York paused and raised he hands to her eyes. "There is an island up ahead and….holy shit!"

"What's wrong?" Hood demanded.

"There is a massive battle…like huge!" York lowered her hands. "That must be Belle Isle…"

A faint whine resounded in the air, like a mosquito buzzing in Prinz' ear. Then...

"Air contact, 2'o'clock!" Dublin called, readying her small AA batteries in an instant.

There were just over three dozen, split into 5 groups. The Abyssalized Stukas wailed with a siren even more horrible than their historical counterpart, and the shipgirls could feel the malevolence as they closed in.

"Agh, not again, it's just like the first time!" Wales cursed as she too activated her AA. "Why does it always have to start with bloody airplanes, eh?!"

Next to her, Ark Royal shouldered her rifle, angling it as high as she dared; three bursts of fire, and a dozen Spitfires split off. Below, the barking staccatos increased in concentrated bursts of deadly shrapnel and shells.

But it wasn't enough; the British fighters had too little time to find speed after takeoff, and the bombers were nosing down at a brutal velocity, intent on delivering their payload from hell.

Hood gave a terse command, and the formation split into anti-aircraft evasive maneuvers. Cutting back and leaning hard to the right, Prinz just barely avoided the first set of bombs, leaping geysers of water and shrapnel all around her. Blinking the water from her eyes, she fired back with an animalistic snarl.

"I." Ka-fwoom! "Will." Ba-blam! "NOT." A plane erupted in flames. "FAIL!" Another bomber simply disappeared, bursting into nothing but dust. "AGAIN!"

Enunciating each word with a volley from her eight 203mm rifles, 105mm/L65s, and Flakvierling, she thought back to Bismarck's first fate, their only true sortie together. The anxious concern as she left the crippled battleship, the worry when she heard the desperate signals for Luftwaffe assistance, and then the emptiness, the heart-freezing guilt that was never quite filled. She had failed.

It might be my former enemies with me now, and not Bismarck, but never again will my charges be sunk before me!

Already, half of the bombers had been destroyed, and nearly all of them had missed under the intensity of the combined AA barrage. Prinz looked over, saw that her friends were still alright, still firing, and she believed that everything just might be okay. They really could survive this…

More sirens wailed, and the world flashed white.

Editor's Note: Caboose here. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that did, when it became ready to publish. Here's an update for me; I've got another concussion, and am going to be leaving West Point for good. Probably gonna find another college with good ROTC without the stresses of West Point. What does this mean for you, dear readers? I'm probably going to find more time to write! Now, for this story….Twitchy's been quite busy, but rest assured as soon as she gets things written in basic form, I can get it ship shape and ready to publish. I probably rewrote 2/3 of this chapter, sentence by sentence, so I'm happy with it.

Where do you think we're going with Prinz, development wise? Do we have proper British accents when writing Dublin and Hood? It's too early for shipping, so I won't ask about that (and it all depends on Twitchy's approval, too!).

Also, you can just look up the words of the sea shanties to find them, they are great.

Well, Caboose out!

(Hi, it's Twitchy. I want to say thank you for anyone who has stuck around to read what I write. Its nearly be a year since i last updated it, but I still wanna get it finished, and I'll try my best to write more regularly. Thank you again for sticking around. Thank you to Caboose, who does so much work to make each chapter what it is. Peace.)