A/N IM Back :). The bad news is i still have carpal tunnel syndrome, however I am going to keep writing this fic regardless. Updates will continue to be a bit sporadic but as time goes on and I improve hopefully we will get to an update every 1-2 weeks. More info in the end A/N

Ozpin sat at his desk and looked over the latest reports from Vale. The recent carnage caused by team RWBY and their fight with Roman Torchwick had created quite the mess to pick up. While their fight had taken up most of the news for the past few days and caused plenty of property destruction the overall fallout could have been a lot worse. No one had died incredibly, and worst that had happened was the council screaming at him to keep his students under control.

As he was pondering this Professor Goodwitch strode through the doors to his office, a dark look on her face.

"Sir an outlying faunus village reported finding a strange vessel in the outskirts areas of their perimeter; they are requesting assistance in the matter."

Ozpin frowned, it was most likely nothing, but with everything going on as of late he could not afford to let anything that could be related to the White Fang or the queen pass.

"All right Glenda, let's get going, I also want to take Professor Oobleck with us, he will be able to tell us about anything mysterious. Let's see what causing this." I hope, he thought to himself, that I'm being overly concerned about nothing, but I don't think so.

…..

Bismarck had just had the first good news in three weeks. At long last one of the scouts had discovered land. Upon hearing the news Lindemann had felt the first glimmering of hope that he had had since they had arrived on this strange world. Since the first monster attack they had come under assault twice more, but both of those creatures had been smaller and far easier to kill than the first. Now they faced the daunting task of finding out what strange world they had come to be in. The plan was simple enough- go ashore and recon the area, and see if any resources could be found. In a few hours Lindeman hoped, they would have their answers.

….

Oberst (Colonel) Klaus Esser strode through one of the storage areas of Bismarck and wondered at the strange new reality he found himself in. He was in command of the hundred or so men that made up Bismarck's marine detachment. They had been assigned to Bismarck to perform the role of protecting any crew that went aboard a captured ship. As a commerce raider it was hoped that this could be a likely outcome, and so a rather large detachment had been sent along. Of course now none of that mattered a great deal, he thought somewhat unhappily. Now he had to take his force into uncharted ground for a recon mission, and if he screwed it up the entire ship could end up starving to death or running out of fuel. In other words, no pressure.

His booted feet took him around the last turn and into what could jokingly be referred to as the ship's armory. Because of the need for hasty preparations the ship's armory was nothing more than a large storage compartment hastily fitted out with a few workbenches and crates of weapons and ammunition. What they had left out in aesthetic taste they had more than made up for in the quality of the weapons provided. There were plenty of K98 rifles and quite a few MP 38 submachine guns, but the icing on the cake were the eight MG 34 heavy machine guns that had been thoughtfully provided for their use. However the oddest things that were in the armory were the three Panzerbüchse 39 rifles. They were bolt action anti-tank rifles, and Klaus Esser had no idea why a boarding party would ever need such weapons. On the other hand, perhaps I should not complain about having them now, he things, eyeing one of the oversized rifles speculatively.

At last he faced the 32 men in front of him, each divided into eight man squads. Their armament was fairly standard, the squad leader had an MP 38, six of the regular troops were armed with k98 rifles, and one man was assigned to look after the MG 34. Technically the MG 34 should be operated with two men, but they had limited room on the boat. All and all he had a lot of firepower to take with him.

As they were preparing to depart on their mission a moment of inspiration struck, Esser stepped over to where one of the anti-tank rifles was and looked to the men he had selected to take part in the mission. "Segert, put your popgun away and take this monster, just in case something a bit bigger than I would like comes along." Segert was a young man, a boy really, but was a great shot. Segert was clearly not happy about the prospect of caring around the 11.6 kg rifle, but nodded and grabbed the monstrous weapon and hoisted it onto his back. After he had collected the weapon and ammunition for it, he stepped back and returned to his post with a salute.

Klaus then grabbed his own MP 38 up and hosted over his shoulder. Looking over his men he gave them their final instructions. "Alright men, this is to be considered a recon in force. We are to look around and find out what we can. If we can avoid engaging anything that would be ideal, but stay alert. I don't trust this place any more than I trust the British," and with that rather lame joke they headed off to the boat that would take them ashore.

…

The German marines strode out onto the shore with elegance and gusto, demonstrating their extensive training and abilities; at least, that is what should have happened. The problem came from the fact that Bismarck had no landing craft; all they had was the admiral's personal boat, which was not in any way meant to perform landing operations. While attempting to get everyone on board the boat things had not gone well at all. Matters had become even more complicated when Oskar, the ship's cat who had a knack for getting into everything, began winding his way through the already confused situation creating an even longer delay in the launch. All and all, it took nearly an hour for everyone and everything to get stored away. Then it was one long cold and wet boat trip over to the gravelly beach that awaited them.

Their problems following this were even more exacerbated when the commander of the small boat refused to go any closer than waist deep water for fear of running aground. This lead to a thoroughly embarrassing disembarkation of Germany's finest. Poor Segert nearly drowned when he fell off the boat and into the sea with his heavy gun and ammunition, for it weighing him down. Eventually they managed to get everyone ashore and sorted out. The shore line was mostly a gray, gravelly affair that stretched out about 100 meters before giving way to a thick woodland that reminded him of some of the forest that had been near his home. That thought brought a pang of sadness, as he wondered if he would ever see his family again. His mother and father still lived in his childhood home, and for a brief moment memories of playing in the woods with his brothers and sisters overcame him.

The cursing of wet and angry men bought him out of his reverie. Despite all the difficulties they seemed to have made it in one peace. "Alright men," Esser barked in a clipped aristocratic manner. "Form up and be ready for anything, this situation is extremely unusual and we don't know what could be out there." And isn't that the understatement of the century? Esser thought rather darkly. "Do your duty and we will come through this alright." With that they marched off into the woods.

…

Two hours later the expedition had turned up nearly nothing. For all the apparent strangeness of this world, the forest happened to be just a forest. If one with a little less wildlife than could be expected. They had found a few apple trees which confirmed that there was edible food in this land, so a least they were not going to starve to death. Just then one of the squad leaders called out to him, "Sir, over here. We have found something interesting."

Esser unslung his MP 38 and strode over to the sergeant and the two soldiers that were standing over what appeared to be a large rock. Frowning, Esser looked down upon the sight and wondered why they had called him over. Just as he was about to ask what was so important that they had stopped the mission, he saw why this rock was so interesting. Inside the rock was imbedded a crystal of some kind, it was red and shot through with lava like highlights, but that was not what made it unique. Inside the crystal appeared to be what could only be called liquid fire, racing around inside the strange structure with unusual beauty, you could tell just by looking at it that it was not of this earth. It took only a moment for the experienced officer to decide what to do. "Alright," he said to the sergeant. "Detail these two men to carry that rock back with us, I am going to want it examined back on Bismarck." In all honesty he did not know what good it would do. Bismarck was a warship and had no capability to examine rocks. Then again, with such a large crew perhaps there was someone on board that could know something about it. Regardless Esser ordered his men to start heading back to the boat, no use continuing to explore if they were going to be carrying what looked like a rather big rock around with them. So with that discovery they began to march back to the ship.

…

Friedrich Hantzsch was feeling quite smug at the moment. Flying high above the scout patrol that had been sent to survey the territory he could see for kilometers. His smug mood came from the fact that he was flying high above the grunts down on the ground and enjoying a beautiful day, while they had to trudge through the trees. This was certainly not the most professional of emotions for any pilot to have, but for once Friedrich was enjoying himself immensely. He could afford to be a little lax, in his emotions at least. Despite his general opinion of anyone who actually wanted to march around in the dirt as slightly less intelligent than your average rock, he had to admit that the marines were good at their job. There had been a frantic moment when he and his observer had actually managed to lose them in the trees, and they had not been able to reacquire them easily. However after two hours of flying around even he was starting to get bored, there was only so many times you could look at the exact same thing and remain interested. He was rudely jerked from his thoughts by the sudden cry of his observer, pointing down at something. At first it appeared that the trees were rippling, as if a strong breeze had taken them. However no breeze moved with such purpose or in such a small area. Oh, crap, he thought, noticing that it was headed straight for the marines.

Esser and his men had hardly any warning when the great behemoth broke through the trees and charged them. It was a beast of unimaginable proportions, yet horribly familiar. Esser could clearly see that it was a scorpion, but no scorpion on earth had ever reached such a titanic size. Like the sea monsters they had encountered it was all black and white and its head was covered in a bony white carapace. Its long tale weaved back and forth above the beast, tipped with the most menacing looking stinger that Esser had ever seen.

For a moment no one moved, all of them transfixed by the sight of the scorpion from hell. It was Esser who recovered first, he turned and cried out to his men, so rattled by the beast appearance and arrival that his aristocratic mannerism completely disappeared. "What the hell are you men doing? Shoot that thing!"

Every weapon the area opened fire at once. First were the K98 rifles and MP 38s, but their small caliber bullets did not appear to have much effect on the scorpion. In fact, their fire just seemed to enrage it further. What did get its attention was the MG 34s popping up, only three of the four they had however. In theory the gun should be manned by two men. However, Esser had only assigned one man to each gun, thinking that it was very unlikely they would be needed. Unfortunately this decision had caused one of the guns to jam as soon as they opened fire, and even as Esser listened another gun fell silent.

The monster before them had not been idle this whole time. It had begun advancing towards them far more rapidly than Esser would have liked. Even only after a few seconds had passed, it had closed to within a dozen yards, too close to use the fragmentation or anti-tank grenades they carried. The beast had almost closed too their position when an almighty boom rattled through the forest, the shock from the gun sending leaves spiraling down from the trees. Segert had finally found a place to set up the anti-tank rifle and fired it. Incredibly, he had located a weak point in the armor, putting his shot between two of the plates on the tail of the scorpion. It was not a killing blow, but that certainly gave the beast pause. Its tail, barbed with the mighty stinger on the end, now hung at an odd angle, clearly useless. For a moment Esser hoped that this would cause the beast to retreat. This was not the case.

Instead it charged the small group of Germans with even greater fury, and while that evil looking stinger had been put out of action, its claws certainly could kill any one of the men he had with him. It raced forward; sharp gashes forming in its armor where their concentrated fire was finally starting to get through. It smashed through the front ranks of the firing line, causing two of the soldiers to jump aside to avoid the maddened beast. Esser could do nothing but continue to fire at the beast as it thundered towards Segert, which it clearly viewed as its largest threat. Segert could not reload his weapon in time and tried to throw himself out of the way of the wounded beast charge. This proved to be significantly difficult, since the position usually needed to fire his weapon required him to lie prone and there was very little time to react. Even so he almost made it.

Almost. As he scrambled out of the way, one of the great claws smashed down on his leg, reducing it to a bloody pulp. Almost all of the others had to stop firing for fear of hitting their downed comrade. Segert screamed in anguish, looking down at his leg in mixed horror and terror he cried out," someone help me, anyone please." He was crying uncontrollably now, blubbering like a baby as his ruined leg sprayed blood across the clearing. But even as he sobbed he had managed to grasp the anti-tank grenade strapped to his belt. Still crying in terror he held the grenade to his chest as his killer advanced over him, apparently savoring the chance to end the pathetic being that had wounded it. As it loomed over him, Segert let out I final cry filled with pain and terror. "MOM I LOVE YOU," and pulled the pin on his grenade. A moment later both man and beast we consumed by purifying flames.

…..

Professor Ozpin had followed the locals that had reported the strange sightings over the ridge and down towards the coast. Two other hunters had come here before him, including Professor Oobleck. Both were now standing atop the strange vessel that the villagers had found. The ship was perched halfway up the beach and did not appear to have anyone on it, and from what he had heard from both of them, everything about it was strange. There had been no one found with the strange ship, and no credible record of what it was doing here. The letters used in the ships log and other areas were the same, but they were jumbled in such a way that no one could understand them almost as if they were a completely different language.

"So," Ozpin said, looking at Oobleck, "what else have you found?"

"Well sir," Oobleck reply with his usual constant chatter, "the engine appears to run on an unknown principal with unknown fuel. It appears to be an even more refined version of oil. There were at one time ideas to use oil as fuel, however it was never fully pursued as dust is, even though it is far more plentiful. The ship also appears to have expended its entire weapons load, on what I cannot say."

"Is there any sign of the crew?" Ozpin asked.

"No," Oobleck replied, "no sign, there are no signs of anyone around at all, even though judging from the wreck sight the ship could only have been here for a few days."

Ozpin frowned but did not say anything, merely looking around at the state of the vessel. This was the last thing he need right now, another mystery. What with the White Fang and the queen both making their moves, and grimm activity on the rise, he really did not need another mystery running around screwing things up for him. Sighing, he could only look up at the side of the vessel to gaze at what could only be the mystery ship's designation, though he was certain that he would find no information in the records of the mysterious U-556.

…..

Esser and the entire marine force on Bismarck stood on the deck of the ship, all dressed in their finest uniforms. The drums beat a slow cadence as six soldiers carried the mortal remains of private Segert towards his final resting place at sea. In all honesty there was not much left to bury, most of his body had been reduced to a pulp by the blast that had killed both him and the monster that had attacked them. Esser struggled to maintain his sharp pose. He had lost men under his command before, but it never got any easier. Segert had been young, just 18 years old. He had still been living with his family when he volunteered to join the military, and his parents were the only ones specified to receive formal notification of his death. Though they were so far from home and likely never to see it again, Esser was still writing the letter to his parents. It helped him keep prospective. As the evening shadows grew long, Esser could just make out two shadowy figures on Bismarck's bridgewing. Captain Lindemann and admiral Lütjens watched from their vantage point, unwilling to break what was a marine memorial.

The drum cadence stopped as the men bearing Segert's remains stood next to the edge of the deck and raised the plank that was covered in the German navy ensign and weighted with shot from one of the secondary guns, onto the railing and over the water. Esser only hesitated for a moment before giving the signal, and with the report of the guard details rifles Segert's remains were committed to the deep. A young man, just starting out in life had had it cut tragically short, claimed by random chance and bad luck, Esser thought. Somehow the fact that it had been taken by a mindless beast only made it worse; there had been no cause to fight for, no enemy which threaten the homeland, just a mindless beast that had taken the life of a man that Esser would never get to know. Looking up, Esser began leading the old funeral march for a fallen comrade, having trouble keeping the tears from his eyes.

I once had a comrade,

You will find no better.

The drum called to battle,

He walked at my side,

In the same pace and step.

The bullet came flying,

Is my turn or yours?

He was swept away,

He lies at my feet,

As if it was a part of me.

He still reaches out his hand to me,

While I am about to reload.

I cannot hold onto your hand,

Rest you in eternal life,

My good comrade.

…

Lindemann silently observed the presiding with an only slightly sad expression on his face. He could not show his true emotions, less the crew become disheartened. Lindemann somehow knew that this was not the last burial that would occur before they returned home, but he could not let himself think about all that they had lost and all that they were going to lose. He had to think of the living, not the dead. It was his and Lütjens responsibility to bring as many of the sailors under their command home. As both he and Lütjens strode back onto the bridge he forced his thoughts to turn away from a man that he had never known and would never know, yet had died under of his command...

Farther south a plane had found a deep channel that headed inland, one that appeared to be too deep to be natural. Even now they steamed towards it, hoping to find greener pastures than the hell that they had found here. No matter the cost they had to find a safe harbor and supplies, and after that a way home. Only a man who knew him well could have seen Lindemann's face tighten a bit. He would not let the sacrifice of one young man go to waste; he would not let the sacrifices of the entire crew go to waste. They were the Kriegsmarine, they would do the impossible in the name of the Fatherland, and they would come home no matter the cost.

A/N for everyone's information you can look up Oskar's own Wikipedia page under Unsinkable Sam, he survived three different ships being sunk out from under him. Be very afraid when he meets Zwei. Also all songs in this fic are real ,Ich hatte einen Kameraden and Stolz weht die Flagge Schwarz Weiss Rot, you can find both on YouTube. Quick question , should this fic be razed to M? Would like your input on this. See you in chap 4.