Bremerton came running to the Norfolk the moment Norfolk called.
"What's wrong?" Bremerton asked as she barged onto the bridge.
"It's Nimi. She..." Norfolk began before Nimi put her hand on her chest.
"Nimi..." Norfolk said as Nimi looked at Bremerton.
"The voices... they don't stop." Nimi said softly as Bremerton noted the dark circles under her eyes and the streaks left by tears.
"Oh you poor thing..." Bremerton said softly as she walked over and knelt next to Nimi.
"When did this start?" Bremerton asked.
"It started the day I got my body back. They have always been whispering. Always in the back of my mind. Always pushing me one step closer to..." Nimi stopped herself, thinking about Isaac and the girls in the fleet.
"I won't let you." Bremerton said.
"I don't know how to stop it... I just... want to be with my Liebling!" Nimi cried as she fell against Norfolk.
"Bremerton, we need to get Vengeance. She was the one to bring Nimi back, maybe she'll know." Norfolk said.
"No need. I'm already here." Vengeance said as she and Otto came up to the bridge.
"StiefVater Otto?" Nimi asked softly as she looked over at the two of them.
"Ah, Z-23, it is nice to see that Herr Kommandant has saved you as well." Otto said as he knelt down, allowing Nimi to come running to him with tears in her eyes.
Otto caught the destroyer and held her close.
"What is wrong, child?" Otto asked as he stroked her hair. Nimi shook her head and continued to cry.
"Nimi had been killed in battle with the Sirens. Through Vengeance and Isaac's will and determination, they brought her back to life." Norfolk said.
"And since that day, she says she has been hearing voices, whispers telling her that she should no longer be here." Bremerton said.
"Oh, you poor child." Otto spoke softly.
"Stiefvater... please help." Nimi cried softly.
"I am here, Zed. No need to worry anymore." Otto said as he continued to run his hand over her head.
"I can take a look and see how to fix this. This used to be a side effect of the older days of producing Cubes and making Kansens." Vengeance said.
"We found the same things in Kansens that were no longer able to fight. When they were recovering, they would complain of voices and suicidal thoughts." Otto said.
"No wonder why I took a liking to you German folks." Vengeance said.
Otto looked down and found Nimi asleep with Isa keeping guard over her.
"Now would be the best time to take a look. When they succumb to sleep, that's when the voices become nightmares." Vengeance said.
"Ja. Let's take her to the medical bay. You, Union girl, come with us." Otto said as Bremerton looked at Norfolk.
"I will take responsibility from the Commander. Please go help Nimi." Norfolk said.
Bremerton nodded and got up to follow Otto and Vengeance.
"I hope you three can help." Norfolk said as she watched them go.
Norfolk breathed a sigh and went back to looking over the list.
"We will definitely need her as well. It may be one more than intended, but if she can sway her sisters, they that could bring us a great many victories." Norfolk said as she wrote one final name on the list.
"Let me out..." Eugen said softly as she tiredly slapped her hand on the steel door blocking the bars of their cell.
"Eugen... What happened to us?" Roon spoke as she stared blankly at the ceiling.
"We... were used to hurt Lord Bismarck and Lady Tirpitz." Eugen said as she looked at Roon.
"Oh I know that, but how did we lose?" Roon asked.
"Really? You went down because Bismarck and Heinrich took you on with everything they had. Tirpitz broke my hull with those 15 inch gun salvoes." Eugen said.
"So all of your false bravado, and the mask you wore, was really just that, a mask to hide the weakest heavy cruiser in Ironblood." Roon said as she sat up and glared at Eugen.
Eugen looked at her hands and back at Roon.
"I was actually built. Not brought to life by some random man in the Pacific who had a blueprint and a cube. Yeah, I was a relentless tease, and a shameless flirt. But I never once lied about it. And so what if it was a mask? Ironblood does not need weakness, so what is wrong with hiding some of my weaknesses?" Eugen said as she stood to face Roon.
Roon looked at her with the same look she had given Bismarck not two weeks earlier.
"You are absolutely right, Frau Eugen. Ironblood has no need for weakness." Roon said as she charged at Eugen, hitting the cruiser with a solid punch to the face. Eugen didn't budge an inch.
"My guns might not be the best, Roon. But my armor has seen many shells, many bombs, and many, many torpedoes. Every hit only made it stronger." Eugen said as she brought her arm up and slapped Roon's arm away from her face.
"So you're armor IS worth something then. When I'm done with you, I think I'll salvage it for myself, you weak Ironblood punching bag." Roon said as she threw another punch at Eugen, who moved out of the way at the last second, offsetting Roon's balance and allowing Eugen to throw Roon over her back.
"You think only of offense. But even the wild animal Roon has a limit to her stamina. You think I can't take an extended brawl?" Eugen said as the steel door opened.
"What do you two think you're doing?" Tirpitz growled angrily.
"Ridding Ironblood of weakness." Roon said as she turned back to face Eugen.
"She attacked me out of nowhere." Eugen said.
"Get to the door, Eugen. Unfortunately, I do not have the man power to restrain Roon." Tirpitz said as Graf Spee was seen behind her.
"I can restrain her, Lady Tirpitz." Spee said softly.
"Spee? Are you sure? I won't force you to go in there." Tirpitz said softly.
"Eugen needs us. She clearly did not intend for them to attack us. As you said, this was blatant mind control, at least for Eugen." Spee said.
"I will provide cover then." Tirpitz said as she brought her rigging into existence.
Spee nodded as she approached the door.
"Roon. Please, step back from the door, or I will use force." Spee said softly.
"Oh? The little pocket battleship wants some too?" Roon asked as she turned into the path of an oncoming shell from Tirpitz's rigging. the shell didn't explode, but it was enough to stagger Roon enough for Spee to kick in the door and trap Roon in the corner.
"Eugen, out now!" Tirpitz said as she reached in and grabbed Eugen's hand, tearing her from the cell before pulling out Spee and relocking the door.
Eugen tumbled to the floor and stayed there as Spee and Tirpitz pulled the steel door closed on the bars.
"Eugen?" Spee asked as she looked at Eugen, who hadn't moved an inch.
"Eugen, answer her." Tirpitz spoke.
"Am I allowed to move?" Eugen asked.
"Why wouldn't you be?" Spee asked.
"I am still a prisoner." Eugen said from the floor.
"Oh come off it, Eugen. Get your ass up before I toss you back in there." Tirpitz said.
"Lady Tirpitz... please. She may have attacked us before, but she has no fight left now. If she were to make a wrong move, you could easily kill her because she'd be unable to fight back." Spee said.
Tirpitz scoffed.
"Fine. But I will leave her to you, Spee. I expect you to keep her under guard." Tirpitz said as Spee nodded quickly. With their business done, Tirpitz walked down the corridor towards Illustrious, who was patiently waiting for her.
"Spee... I tried to kill you... why did you help me?" Eugen asked as Spee helped sit her up.
"Ironblood sticks together." Spee said as she extended her mechanical hand towards Eugen.
"To think that you're like this even after I tried to kill you..." Eugen said as she took Spee's hand.
"That was in the past. And you can't summon rigging anymore anyway, so there is no harm in helping you like this." Spee said as she softly hugged Eugen.
Eugen was taken by surprise, but quickly melted into the soft hug given by her comrade.
"Come now. Let's get you out of this depressing place." Spee said as the angry wails of Roon echoed throughout the dungeon.
The rest of the night passed quickly. Norfolk was shaken awake by a call on the radio.
"Norfolk, come in." Odin's voice came over.
"Vice Commander? What's wrong?" Norfolk asked.
"The Kommandant... and I won't be getting out of bed today. Could you inform Perkins and Nimitz that they have the port for the day?" Odin asked.
"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Norfolk asked.
"Herr Isaac?! Mmmn stoop~~ I'm on the radio with Nmm?!" Odin squeaked.
"Odin?" Norfolk asked before the line cut off. Norfolk shot up and ran towards the Captain's quarters thinking something was wrong. She reached the final few steps before hearing noise through the wall.
"Isaac! How do... you still.. have this much energy?" Odin cried out.
"Well, You told Norfolk that we are taking the day off, so I don't have to hold back anymore." Isaac said as Norfolk realized what was going on.
Norfolk began to squirm a bit as an unfamiliar heat flooded her body. Her morbid curiosity got the better of her as she walked to the door of the Captain's quarters. She swallowed quietly as she peeked into one of the shell holes in the door from when Nimi broke in. A fierce blush crossed her face as she saw Odin with her head thrown back on top of Isaac. The noises coming from Odin only made the blush grow even more intense. Norfolk only watched for a few seconds before managing to tear herself away and running as fast as she could towards the medical bay.
"Ha... I think... we need to get...ha... that door fixed." Odin said as she laid her chest on Isaac's.
"You think?" Isaac asked as the shocks continued to dance throughout his body. Their union continued with Odin finally allowing Isaac on top.
"Alice... I need help." Norfolk asked as she poked her head into the med bay.
"Uh... I don't know how much I can help, but I'll try." Alice said as she walked over to Norfolk.
Alice allowed Norfolk in and shut the door at Norfolk's request.
"I...just saw something... and now I feel weird." Norfolk said
"What did you see?" Alice asked, thoroughly confused.
"Isaac and Odin..." Norfolk said before Alice realized.
"Miss Norfolk, may I recommend speaking with Atago or Friedrich about such a topic? You may find that they are able to help you a little better than I." Alice said as a blush crossed her own face.
"I... I think I'll call for Atago... Friedrich is with Otto." Norfolk said as she crossed her hands over her pelvis.
Norfolk quickly saw herself out and headed to the Crew Quarters.
"That poor girl..." Alice said as she held her head in her hands. Her wallowing was cut short by a pair of white ears poking in through the doorway.
"Hello?" Alice asked.
"Ah, the nurse. Please help." Kaga said shortly.
"What seems to be the matter?" Alice asked.
"Erm... it would be best if you came with me." Kaga said as Alice nodded and grabbed her bag.
They quickly walked through the halls towards the main deck and down the gangway.
"Can you explain what I need to prepare for?" Alice asked.
Kaga shook her head and just walked quicker towards the Iowa.
"Is something wrong with one of the sailors?" Alice asked.
Kaga nodded as grabbed her hand.
"I can't talk about it out here. Just come quickly, damn it." Kaga said in a hushed tone.
They walked quickly through the corridors of the Iowa and towards the Captain's Quarters.
"This can't be good." Alice said to herself as Kaga blushed and opened the door to the Captain's Quarters.
"Kaga, where did you go?" Perkins asked from the bed.
"You said you couldn't move... so I went and got the medic." Kaga said as Alice knocked on the door.
"Kaga... you didn't have to..." Perkins said as his hands covered his face in embarrassment.
"How am I supposed to react when you say you can't move?!" Kaga cried.
"It wasn't a bad thing..." Perkins said as he looked at Alice.
"Do I want to know, Lieutenant?" Alice asked.
"I talked my way into a lovely night with this very lovely lady, and possibly many more. But it seems that she managed to dislocate my knee at some point, and I cannot get up." Perkins said as Alice looked at Kaga in horror. Kaga nodded.
"He said he liked it rough... And I told him I did too..." Kaga said softly as she walked over to Perkins.
"Kaga, you have to be a little more careful. He is still a human, us humans are not as sturdy as a battleship like you." Alice said as she walked over and took a look at Perkins's leg.
"Well, thankfully it is not dislocated. It is sprained however and I would not recommend getting out of bed today." Alice said.
"Ah damn." Perkins said sarcastically as he looked at Kaga, who smiled softly.
"I'll allow it." Kaga said as Perkins scratched her head between her ears, earning him a satisfied sigh from Kaga.
"Have Kaga get you some ice to keep on your knee and try to stretch it once every hour." Alice said as Perkins nodded.
"Sorry for the awkward call. I told her it wasn't too big a deal, but she insisted in going for help." Perkins said.
"Today just seems to be the day for... those kind of calls." Alice said.
"Oh? A bunch of the boys getting into trouble?" Perkins asked.
"Norfolk, surprisingly." Alice said with a shake of her head.
"Ah. Well, Thank you for coming anyway. I'm sorry for taking up your time." Perkins said.
"It is my job, Lieutenant. These calls are still important." Alice said as she walked out.