Author: Kisaragi will appear in the third and last part of the story. Rather than delete the whole thing, I would end this story in a few chapters since it will take a few months to finish everything and I don't have much free time...anymore. My life had become busy now, but I'm still committed to finishing what I had started.

This is one cruel lie...

After the last battle, Tirpitz's current condition won't be able to allow her to sortie as a shipgirl until for now.

"I have to be careful...for the time being"

Tirpitz bitterly smiles as she tests the grip strength of her hands. While there's still some numbness from the last battle, her strength hasn't faltered. Even if her body is not the same as eleven years ago, she is still the battleship Tirpitz.

"In this line of duty, one single mistake...is fatal"

She observes some of the shipgirls enjoying their day offs around the base. It's not always she pays attention to her shipgirls' everyday lives with how she's constantly busy with her job. Just seeing the girls still capable of smiling despite the seemingly endless war, it makes her smile too. She knows how it feels like to be in the front lines and to think how shipgirls are the only ones capable of beating Abyssals.

"Shipgirls, huh. It's interesting to see things in a different perspective"

Tirpitz found it amusing on how she gets to witness the different sides of shipgirls. They are shipgirls, a human-weapon hybrid fated to fight in the war since they are the reincarnations of sunken warships, much like Abyssals, except shipgirls embodies the positive emotion while the Abyssals embodies the negative ones.

"Bismarck..." She called her sister by her name which she never usually does

Tirpitz thought to herself upon spotting Bismarck petting the Akatsuki class destroyers. The mere thought of Bismarck realizing empties out the feelings she once hand. She knows Bismarck will find out sooner or later...so she will be patiently wait for that time to come.

"Admiral, we have a situation. It's important" Ooyodo walked up to a despondent Tirpitz

"What's the matter?" Tirpitz reverted to her casual self

"We have been informed by the headquarters about...this"

"..."

Ooyodo hands out one of the documents she received from the main headquarters of the navy. She didn't have to finish reading to understand what's going on. Ooyodo expected Tirpitz to be surprise, but she smiled instead...rather slightly sinister. She felt excitement rather than a half-opened surprise.

"Interesting..."

While the admiral doesn't always take some matters seriously, she knows when to be serious in different kinds of situation, but this...this is just different, even for Ooyodo.

The next day...

After a sweat breaking exercise, Fubuki, along with Mutsuki and Yuudachi headed to Mamiya's cafe for some cold refreshments and sweet snacks. The destroyer trio enjoyed their afternoon together like every other day when they're not on a sortie.

"So sweet, nyashi~"

Mutsuki felt like she might as well swallow the spoon with the sweet taste of parfait sticking to it. While Yuudachi excitedly mows down her sundae, Fubuki doesn't seem to be in the mood. This caught the attention of two of her closest friends.

"Fubuki-chan, is something wrong?" Mutsuki pulls out the spoon from her mouth

She poked Fubuki who doesn't seem like paying any attention or hearing every word Mutsuki said.

"What's the matter? You don't like the flavor, poi?"

"It's not that..."

"Then what's the matter, poi?"

"It's the - I mean, the admiral has been bust lately, hasn't she?"

Fubuki discussed her primary thought and replaced it with another in order not to cause unnecessary confusion. She knew even if she tells them, they wouldn't exactly understand her concern. Fubuki chose to alter the topic rather than discuss a concern with her friends.

"Well, she's the admiral. Of course she's always busy, poi"

"Yeah, but I just worry she might overwork herself"

"Not even Nagato-san can stop her from working too much"

There are times where the destroyer trio witnessed or hear how Nagato would scold Tirpitz for exhausting herself from non stop working. There's this one time when Nagato dragged Tirpitz outside by force after working for twelve hours straight. Several shipgirls, including them, witnessed the whole ordeal.

"It must be hard to do two jobs. A shipgirl yet an admiral" Fubuki sighed

"The admiral can't always be a shipgirl. Remember only everyone in the base knows the admiral is a battleship" Mutsuki raised her finger

"The admiral might get in trouble with the navy if they found out so that's why everyone swore to make sure it stays a secret, poi"

Ever since the night Tirpitz reveals herself to be a shipgirl, everyone present was shocked. The admiral managing the base for five years turns out to be one of them all along. Everyone swore to themselves the admiral's true identity will remain a secret, showing their loyalty and how much they care for her.

"Yeah..."

Fubuki, Mutsuki, and Yuudachi can all agree to that. As far as they know, no one had suspected about the admiral's identity...yet. On the other hand, the two aircraft carrier of CarDiv 01 have no sortie duties today so they're currently spending their time practicing archery.

"I can't help but wonder why you don't get along with Graf-san"

Akagi lowered her bow and turned towards Kaga who's sitting near her.

"Not all aircraft carriers get along" Kaga takes a sigh

"I don't think that's the only reason. You seem to dislike her much more than Zuikaku. It's unlikely of you to get really angry at someone"

Kaga avoided Akagi's gaze. Of course, Akagi knows Kaga is guilty of something. She just wants Kaga herself to confess why she doesn't like Graf Zeppelin.

"I thought we don't keep secrets from each other, Kaga" Akagi teased her

"There's no secret, Akagi-san. I just don't really get along with that German"

"Fufufu. Your showing a cute side"

Akagi giggled and teased Kaga again, making her blush, but remain in her usual stoic demeanor. It's rare for Kaga to break outside her behavior, unless Akagi is involved.

"Putting that aside, did you feel something is amiss, Kaga?" Akagi turned serious

Much like Kaga, Akagi doesn't break outside her normal behavior unless it's actually serious. Kaga thought about what Akagi asked her and shuffled through her recent memories.

"No. I don't think something odd is going on here, Akagi-san"

"Hmm. Maybe it's just me after all..."

"What's the matter, Akagi-san?"

"I'm not sure, but I feel like someone in this base...is not who she seems"

Kaga swallowed her breath, taking Akagi's words to a heart. Kaga may be the more stoic and serious one of the two, but it's Akagi who's more perceptive and keen between them. This seems unlikely since Akagi is seen as the gluttonous and carefree type of shipgirls, but she does have moments where she gets fully serious.

"Maybe I'm just over thinking about a lot of things..."

"I hope so, Akagi-san"

Kaga stood up and momentarily showed a worried expression. She takes Akagi seriously knowing she's a person who doesn't just get serious if it's not something to be worried about.

"By the way, have you seen the admiral, Kaga? I want to talk to her"

"She left this morning. That British said she had to go to a military facility"

The British Kaga is referring to is Ark Royal whom she is also not fond of, but less dislike than Graf Zeppelin. It just seems Kaga doesn't get along well with the two foreign aircraft carriers in the navel base...for an unknown reason.

Somewhere...

Tirpitz, along with another admiral, was ordered to go to a military facility. The reason was clear, but even if she doesn't like it, she has to comply

"It's been a while, Rejikawa"

Tirpitz is pleased to see admiral Sajin Rejikawa. The latter wondered for a moment why she didn't call him by his "hated nickname" when she always does every single time they meet.

"So why are we called here. It must be serious, right?"

"It must be serious. It was a direct order after all"

Kure naval district's admiral, Sajin Rejikawa sound rather annoyed he has to come all the way here.

"Whatever it is, it better be important. I don't like being called here for nothing" Rejikawa gritted his teeth

"I'm sure it is. They wouldn't have called all for of us if that isn't the case" Tirpitz shrugged her shoulders

The two admirals' discussion is rendered short when a staff of the facility entered the room. The female staff lead the two admirals to the biggest room of the facility, a laboratory.

"What the fucking hell?!" Rejikawa dropped his jaw

Among the two of them, only Tirpitz didn't react in a shocked way. Rather, she's unamused and displeased at what she's seeing. As much as she wants to pretend she's shocked, there is no really a reason for her to be shocked.

"Fast battleship...Princess..."

Rather than surprise, Tirpitz felt very unhappy at the sight of Fast battleship Princess bound while her equipment is being studied. The Princess herself is only quiet because she's currently on a dormant state. Basically, she hasn't moved due to the heavy sedatives used on her. It's because of her Abyssal nature, they had to use a special type of tranquilizer to keep her from waking up and wrecking havoc.

"We were able to capture Fast battleship Princess after Admiral Minato's fleet heavily damaged her and forced her to run aground after suffering extensive damages. It was splendid" The staff smiled

"Nothing is good about this..." Tirpitz gritted her teeth

"Admiral?"

"I mean...it won't be good if she breaks free once she wakes up" Tirpitz fakes a smile

"Oh. Don't worry, admiral. We're constantly monitoring her to prevent such problems"

The staff is certain the captive Abyssal won't break and rampage at her surroundings. Even with that smile, Tirpitz is very unhappy at her Abyssal friends situation. She doesn't want to see her bound and be studied by humans. It's like a captive animal.

"Hmm? Rear admiral Rikawa?"

She approached the rear admiral and upon tapping her shoulder, she jolted and almost jumped out. Rikawa Isomi had been staring at the Abyssal rigging, she didn't notice Tirpitz coming from behind.

"A-admiral, you surprised me..."

"You've been looking at that...equipment, huh"

"Yes. The navy can't study it since Fast battleship Princess locked down all of her weapons before being captured"

Tirpitz isn't surprised at what Scharnhorst did. She doesn't want anyone inspecting and studying her equipment once she's captured so she took measures to prevent it from happening. Even Tirpitz would have done the same thing in order to prevent the enemy from gaining useful information.

"I see. You look rather interested in it, rear admiral"

"It's just that Abyssals aren't that much different from humans now that I think about it"

Isomi meant physically. While an Abyssal's physiology is way different from a human, their appearance are very much human like if it wasn't for their white skin and varying features such as their horns.

"If only they can be reasoned with humans. Then this war could have ended"

"Too bad the world doesn't work that way..."

She viewed the rear admiral as a naive youth, much a lot of humans in the world. As cruel as it sounds, humans who had so much hope for peace had never seen the war for what it truly is. Tirpitz knows it truly well as someone who has experienced the infinite cycle of rebirth more than once.

"It doesn't have to always result in conflict. Fighting brings nothing but bloodshed on both sides..."

"You hope too much" Tirpitz turns away

Isomi can't blame the admiral if she doesn't have the same opinion as her. Everyone has a different view on the world. She's optimistic and hopeful while Tirpitz is a bit on the opposite side.

"Fighting isn't always the answer..."

She hoped for a possibility both humans and Abyssals realize that. To her this war will lead to nothing. It wont determine who's right, but only those who are left standing. The rear admiral gently pressed her palm on one of the turrets and closed her eyes. A familiar sensation coursed through her veins and she just let it flow naturally like a calm river.

"...?!"

Isomi thought deeply about the Fast battleship Princess upon making contact with the Abyssal as her primary instinct dictated her. All she felt is anguish and pain. The Abyssal herself is longing to see her younger sister and closest friend once again.

Gneisenau...where are you...?

Where are you...my little sister...?

Isomi couldn't recognize the girl Fast battleship Princess is longing to see once again, but she knows the person is very dear to her. She felt the two were...sisters.

It's best to lose one sister than both...

Gneisenau...I'm sorry...

Your sister...won't be coming home...

At least...I know Tirpitz will be safe...

Bismarck won't have to lose her sister too...

She tried her best to keep the memory "intact". She wanted to see the memory remaining deep inside Fast battleship Princess' mind. What she saw is the final moments of the shipgirl known as Scharnhorst, but she doesn't know that. All she saw are two battleships damaged and lost in the storm.

(It can't be. That's...the admiral...)

One of the shipgirls looked exactly the same as the admiral, albeit with a different hair color and expression on the face. The shipgirl even sounded like the admiral herself. Of course, Isomi isn't fully aware about Tirpitz's past, but she already suspected her identity.

I will fight to the last shell. That's just the way of the Kriegsmarine shipgirl...

Scharnhorst faced a death worthy of a battleship. She fell in battle, but she fell in the blaze of glory. She sunk with no regret, a bright smile on her face even. Since it was her last moments, she might as well aceept her fate and go down with a smile.

"Scharn...horst..." Isomi unconsciously called her

As a result, she inadvertently awakened Fast battleship Princess. Upon realizing what she had done, the rear admiral pulled away her hand ten seconds before the Abyssal opened her eyes. Filled with blind rage and unexplained hate, Fast battleship Princess struggled from her tight restraints.

"What the-?!"

Before Tirpitz could finish her sentence, the Abyssals snapped the chains binding her and activated her rigging. The cannons and secondary guns started to elevate and twist. All available weapons opened fired at once, causing everyone to run and flee from the rampaging Abyssal.

"Grrr...raaaaaahhh!"

Fast battleship Princess flew in a mindless rage due to how Isomi awakened her again unintentionally. Bullet bouncing away from her barrier further angered her so she she fired at the strafing of rifle fire. Shells can damaged her, but not bullets. To Abyssals like her, bullets are crumpled paper thrown at her yet she still doesn't like being shot at.

"Rrrrrr...!"

Isomi froze in one place as she watched the Abyssal blast everyone in sight in many pieces. Body parts and limbs flew everywhere...and she felt responsible for the increasing casualties.

"What...have I done...?" Her voice shook

Just then, Fast battleship Princess took notice of her, recognizing the terrified rear admiral and the one responsible for waking her up.

"Human...Abyssal...you...!"

Fast battleship Princess aimed her main guns at the rear admiral whose body couldn't move to escape out of sudden fear and shock. It's like being unable to move out of the way seconds before being hit by a car.

"Tsk!"

Tirpitz moved as soon as the barrage of cannonfire stopped, but couldn't just leave as soon as she saw her old comrade turned Abyssal prepares to blast the terrified Isomi into minced human meat. She moved her legs as fast as she could and grabbed the admiral to prevent any of the shells from instantly killing her. She doesn't really do anything to save the life of one mere human, but she can't afford the rear admiral to die just yet.

"Admiral!" Isomi covered her mouth as soon as she saw Tirpitz

"Run..."

"B-but..."

"Just...run..."

Tirpitz profusely bleeds after unable to fully dodge the salvo from the main guns of an Abyssal battleship. She stood up, her hand covering the part of her abdomen where flesh has been torn and blood begun to spill continuously.

(To think I'm doing this for just one mere human...) Tirpitz looked at the admiral

Tirpitz felt annoyed to a degree seeing how a seemingly ordinary day turned into one of the worst days she had. She stopped holding her abdomen which made Isomi feel even more shocked.

"Raaaaaaarrghhh!" Fast battleship Princess opened fired again

This time, she missed both people, as if she unconsciously didn't want to hurt them even if she's currently out of control. Deep inside, she recognized Tirpitz whom she last saw a year ago. She can't hurt her closest friend, yet she's currently not in control of her actions.

"Ad...mi...ral..."

Isomi couldn't understand how is such thing possible. Tirpitz smiles at her, amused at how baffled and shocked she looked. She liked the rear admiral's expression.

"I'm not...who you think I am..."

Tirpitz broke free out of her usual behavior and personality, scaring Rikawa Isomi as she saw an unexpected side of a person she thought she knew. The look in Tirpitz's eyes...it's entirely different.

"You're..." The Abyssal barely uttered a word

"...?!"

What Isomi saw next almost made her pass out. She couldn't do anything but watch as Tirpitz carelessly face against an Abyssal who blast humans in many pieces with her armaments.

EXTRA

Everything became vague shortly after the incident. Tirpitz laid on the ground, barely alive and staring at the sky where there was supposed to be a ceiling...but the rampage blasted just about half of the facility. While she still has strength to utter her frustration at the sky, she no longer has strength to move. Tirpitz had sustained so much damage, her body couldn't keep. Not to mention on how she stupidly protected one mere human with no hesitation. As brave as it sounds, Tirpitz wouldn't normally do something as reckless as this.

(I can't move my body. It hurts so much. I guess this is the punishment for doing something as stupid as saving one damn human...)

She loather herself for giving in to her own personal emotions...which lead her to the current situation. Fast battleship Princess had gone off somewhere after rampaging while Tirpitz was left to die on the ground. Rescue won't arrive in time.

(This is like that time with Central Princess a long time ago. Beaten to a bloody hell and left to die...)

This is probably the second time Tirpitz has been on a hospital. The first time is when she got shot by Arkhangelsk, the second time...Fast battleship Princess "almost" killed her. She never thought an unexpected Abyssal will actually do something like dragging her there while she's bleeding to death.

"Look at you. Left in a state like this. To think you were once the feared Beast of the north"

A somewhat unfamiliar voice spoke to her in a rather disappointed tone. Slow footsteps made its way just a few from Tirpitz's heavily beaten and barely conscious body. The figure bent its two knees, sarcastically smirking at the admiral who felt humiliated...for some reason.

"Being attached to those shipgirls have weakened you, huh"

"Y...you're..." Tirpitz weakly turned her head to look

"I don't know what you're up to, but I'll do you a favor...just this once"

Even with the figure's face shadowing the sun, Tirpitz managed to recognize the face even with the dark shade and weakened sense of sight. Without a second thought, the figure easily grabbed Tirpitz, dragging the admiral as if she weighed barely anything.

"So tell me...what are you up to? You wouldn't do something something like this without a good reason, right?"

The person who decided to "save" her continued to mock her in a rather teasing and smug manner. As much as Tirpitz felt humiliated not only because of being left to die, but also because she is saved by someone she never knew. Tirpitz closed her eyes, unable to notice how long time passed while she lied within her own mind. When she came to be, she woke up...in a hospital.

"Still under investigation, huh..."

Disgruntled escaped her voice after learning how the incident is still under investigation and how she is a person of interest, something between a suspect nor a witness. Tirpitz stood up and lifted her shirt, the scars on her body...no longer visible. She isn't fazed, not even after the doctors told her how her near fatal wounds healed in a day. After dying more than once, of course facts about death no longer surprise or even terrify her.

"First is Dreadnought Princess, now it's Fast battleship Princess. Knowing what about the latte, I can take a deep breathe of relief...for now"

It's unknown what Fast battleship Princess' intentions are now, but Tirpitz is confident nothing bad will happen. That's why her current focus is to find Fast battleship Princess, knowing she can't let her rampage any longer

"I have a think of a way for an end once the time comes..."

As Tirpitz sat back on the hospital bed and tries to devise a plan, the door to her room opened. The Russian destroyer Tashkent came to visit her admiral to check on her condition. Unlike the normal days, Tashkent doesn't seem to be in the mood for a friendly chat. Tirpitz noticed this knowing how Tashkent behaves so she didn't pretend like nothing is wrong.

"Oh. It's you..."

Tirpitz took a small sigh of relief, thinking it might be someone from the navy. With how the events turned out, Tirpitz wanted to avoid suspicion from the navy. It will jeopardize everything, including the truth of her identity.

"I thought it was someone else, you know" Even with the mood, Tirpitz forced as smile

Tashkent is merely silent as she closed...and locked the door behind her. At the moment, the atmosphere between the two grew heavy with every second that passes. Tirpitz quickly realized the mood of the situation and broke her smile. The look on her face changed, stripping away her relaxed and calm demeanor she always wears.

"It's hard to smile and pretend like nothing is wrong. It's not right...but it's necessary"

Tirpitz can break outside of her normal behavior if the situation requires her to. She's usually relaxed and calm, but she turns serious and cold blooded if the situation is dire.

"Did you come here to scold me about my recklessness, little Russian?"

"No. I came here to ask why"

Tashkent grabs the only chair in the room and sat a few feet away from Tirpitz who's currently sitting on the hospital bed. Her casual smile, upsets Tashkent seeing how she broke outside of how she normally acts everyday.

"..."

"You know what I'm talking about...admiral" Tashkent clenched her fists, restraining her intense emotions

"You're quite something, huh. It can't be helped then..." Tirpitz, on the other hand, felt rather upset

Tirpitz walked past Tashkent, her hand leaned against the window where she can see a peaceful view below her. At first glance, everything seemed normal even when it's not. With what happened...normal is out of the question. It's almost impossible to explain the current turn of events with words alone.

"Alright, little one. I will tell you the side of my story"

As much as Tirpitz wishes to avoid this situation, she knows there is no running away from this. She knows what she did was wrong, but to her, it had to be done. Accepting this fact, she faced Tashkent and with a regret filled smile, Tirpitz agreed to reveal...what really happened.