Michael took his massive 20mm rifle and slung it over his shoulder as he walked to one of the lifeboats onboard the Amagi. Upon reaching the lifeboat, he was greeted by the men of the black death.
"I take it you're the acting captain?" One of the men asked.
"That's correct. But unlike Jager, I will be providing overwatch, so I'll be appointing you team captain." Michael said.
"Overwatch huh? With that monstrosity?" The man asked.
Michael looked down to see a small tag on the man's vest. It read Capt. Hart.
"Well, Mr. Hart. This monstrosity is capable of striking out to over a kilometer and a half while maintaining enough energy to punch through Siren shielding. It may not be as flashy as your STG's or Gewehr's, but I've got more than my fair share of kills with it. Plus, so long as you're accurate with your callouts, I can hit anything you need me to without a scope or spotter. Makes it less likely for me to be taken out. Are there any further questions?" Michael asked.
Captain Hart clammed up and shook his head.
"Alright then. Get in the lifeboat. We're going to have to row ashore." Michael said as a presence came up behind him.
"I'll be joining you, Herr Michael" Prinz Eugen spoke.
Michael nodded.
"Will you be supporting the Black Death?" Michael asked.
"I can if you want. I can move my ship to within five miles of Tokyo palace to provide fire support if needed. My 10.5cm secondary guns can hit out to ten miles. My main guns can strike twenty miles out." Eugen spoke.
"Let's park it out seven miles and go from there. Secondary guns only. We don't need to level the building." Michael said as Eugen nodded.
"Then perhaps we should transfer to my vessel. It would be easier for us to get close that way. Unless you have decided to row the twenty or so miles to get to shore…" Prinz Eugen spoke.
"We should probably transfer and get this operation under way. Wasn't really thinking about how far we were." Michael said as the group hopped into the lifeboat and rowed over to the German cruiser.
Patty and Gangut were making good time as they steamed back towards Kure as fast as their engines could push them. Gangut had taken it upon herself to keep a very close eye on Michael as Patty focused on maintaining her speed.
Wilhelm had taken Amagi's advice and was resting deep in the bowels of the Platypus's medical bay. He had internalized the severity of his injuries.
According to the medic that was with the Black death, Wilhelm had lost structural integrity in his ribcage and without the tight wrappings that had been applied, his lungs would inflate erratically and without symmetry, causing pain, inefficiency in breathing and the possibility of puncturing a lung or worse. All of that on top of the multitude of small cuts he had received during his sword duel with Shimakaze. She hadn't managed any major cuts, but the position of the cuts concerned him. They were all kill shots. A nick to the inside of the leg. A small slice on the side of his neck. A gash under his arms. These cuts, while not deep, were positioned in such a way that if he had not defended himself with Friedrich's sword, Shimakaze would have killed him in a single blow, leaving him bleeding out on the deck as she unleashed countless volleys of torpedoes on his comrades.
Gangut noticed that Wilhelm was awake and turned to him.
"How are you holding up, Comrade?" Gangut asked.
"It hurts. How is the girl?" Wilhelm asked, attempting to distract himself from the pain.
"As far as I know, Friedrich stepped in and stopped the proceedings. The girl will live, but I cannot certify that myself." Gangut said as she averted her gaze.
"What happened to you, Frau Gangut?" Wilhelm asked as he struggled to sit up.
"You stay right the hell down, Gerry. You're in no condition to be moving." Gangut snapped as she carefully pushed Wilhelm back down.
"You were never one to disregard orders, Gangut. Not as far as I knew anyway. What happened back there?" Wilhelm asked.
"I… got lost in my own head. It's not easy losing a friend." Gangut spoke shortly.
"Who was it? If you don't mind me asking." Wilhelm asked as he craned his neck to look at the Russian warship.
"Avrora. She was tortured to the point of wishing for death and left alive to tell us not to enter the Bering Sea. She begged for death immediately after… she had sustained too much damage to her body and cubes. We couldn't save her. So I did the merciful thing and granted her wish… I shot her in between her eyes, ending her existence and sealing her legacy forever." Gangut explained as a singular tear fell from her eyes.
"That's never an easy thing to do. I've had to do the same, you know. Mercy killed my own allies too injured to be saved, or would have died before they could receive medical attention." Wilhelm said.
"Be that as it may… she was there when I awoke. When I first hit the waves, Avrora was there to show me the ropes. To be my friend. And I was down here… helping others, when I could have been back home, defending my own brethren. My own sisters… my family. I… I lost it. Why should I continue to save others when nobody came for us?" Gangut lamented.
"It wasn't for lack of trying, Gangut. There's only so much that can be done. We're working to get the supplies to take your home back. If we go in any less prepared, then we'll all be killed." Wilhelm shot back.
"You think I don't know that? It's the fucking principle! I should have been home!" Gangut cried.
"And did what? Sovetsky Soyuz, Belorussiya and Rossiya all went down. Three battleships meant to rival the Iowa class of the Americans and Bismarck herself. What would a pre-great war dreadnaught do against all that? You would have died had you been there." Wilhelm spoke coldly.
"But at least I would have died with pride!" Gangut yelled angrily.
"Like Avrora did?" Wilhelm deadpanned, piercing Gangut's defiance with a single swift cut to her ego.
Gangut remained silent. The German was right. Despite everything she was feeling, she knew deep down her defiance would have led to a humiliating death had she stayed in Russia. This forced her to remain quiet as Wilhelm laid back down and relaxed. His spike in heart rate and breathing was bringing waves of pain that made it hard for him to do much of anything.
Gangut noticed this and went for a first aid cabinet where she found a vial of low dose morphine. With a clean needle, she pulled a dose from the vial and walked back to Wilhelm.
"Morphine… should hopefully help with the pain." Gangut said as she injected the drug, allowing Wilhelm to fall asleep in peace.