Chapter Nine: New Developments
As König and the others made it to the docks. Maruyama was already there waiting for them with Bismarck and Tirpitz. All three had expressions of worry and surprise on their faces.
"Just what the hell happened out there!?" Maruyama demanded. "You all shouldn't be back for at least a few weeks. Next thing anyone knows our base censors are going nuts and you're all suddenly back like you never left."
The hybrid exchanged brief glances with each of his superiors before giving his answer. "I think it would be wise to call a meeting with all the faction heads. To make a long story short, Meta ships showed up." The eyes of Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Maruyama widened at that news. As did those of the others as König hadn't told them that bit yet. "To be specific, I encountered Ember and another Meta ship that was no doubt a version of Yorktown."
The Eagle Union officer sucked in a breath sharply at that. "I see, I call an emergency meeting at once." She seemed to run some thoughts through her head before asking one more thing. "Did you manage to complete your mission by chance?"
"Ja, it was completed." The battleship answered. "I can move forward with my theory now and hope it works. Did you get the schematics I sent you Kommandantin?"
"I did and they've been approved. Construction has already begun, and they'll be secured in storage. Until you feel the need to break them out. Now then I need to inform the other faction leaders. I will see you all shortly." With all that said the Commander turned on her heel and left them all.
"It's going to be a very long day." The battleship mused to himself as he made his way to the meeting hall.
The meeting hall in the port was basically a large room that held a large round table. Where the leaders of each respective faction sat around. Meetings in said room only happened for two reasons. First, is the monthly meeting between all groups at the port. Secondly, when something major happened that required a meeting between leaders a.s.a.p. Obviously, the current situation was the latter. As König and the others made their way inside and stood in place. The leaders of all the other factions on base were already there and seated.
At the head of the table was Maruyama, going clockwise from her. He saw Enterprise, Queen Elizabeth, Richelieu, Jean Bart, Nagato, Rossiya, Vittorio, Harbin, and finally on the opposite side of the commander sat Bismarck.
All eyes were on the group, mainly on the hybrid. König had heard of all of the leaders of the respective factions though he had yet to meet them all. He decided to try and get feel for those he was unfamiliar with. Nagato kept a perfectly calm mask that betrayed no emotion. Vittorio was eyeing him up in with genuine curiosity. Harbin didn't seem to know what to make of him. Richelieu kept an even yet welcoming look upon her face. Jean meanwhile looked as though she wanted to sneer in contempt at him. Though from what he knew of her. That was her default feeling when it came to the Iron Blood. She was still rather sore about what happened with France years back.
"Commander, what exactly happened that required this emergency meeting?" Enterprise started, breaking the silence in the room.
"I called this for good reason Enterprise." Maruyama replied, "You see during König and his team's recent mission. The Meta's or 'Ashes' as we have also come to call them. Made themselves known when none other than Ember herself confronted König. Not just that but a new Meta made themselves known. One that was a version of Yorktown."
That sent a ripple through the gathered kansen, excluding Bismarck. Enterprise herself was understandably the most off-put by this news.
"So, it isn't just a version of myself amongst these Ashes but a version of my sister as well." The Eagle Union CV mused in uncertainty.
"There's much more to it from what I experienced." König cut in grabbing everyone's attention once more. "Allow to me explain the whole interaction." So he talked about how he was pulled into a mirror sea by Ember. Their brief confrontation before Meta Yorktown appeared. Spoke to him and sent him away back to the port. Once he finished, the room had gone quiet as everyone took their own turns processing that info.
"This's most unexpected I must admit," Elizabeth announced breaking the silence. "It would seem these Meta ships are divided amongst themselves. The Ashes like Ember belong to those who seem allied with the sirens. Now an unnamed faction still allied on Azur Lane's side to some degree. That appears to perhaps be led by this alternate Yorktown." The Queen scowled slightly at these thoughts. "The more we learn, the more questions we have. Along with no proper answers for them, I do not like that."
"True, but there's not much we can do for now," Bismarck spoke up stating her own thoughts. "Though she told König she was not his enemy for the moment. That seems to imply that, while she may be an ally for Azur Lane. She may decide to attack König at a future point. That's what I gather from her wording."
"But why would she make such a distinction in his case?" Vittorio wondered out loud.
"Perhaps it has something to do with what Ember said about him." Nagato chimed in, having kept quiet till now. "Ember seemed rather disturbed by his existence and would've attacked. Had it not been for this mysterious Yorktown's intervention. Though she may have saved him, she seems to be cautious of him all the same. Perhaps, she's willing to trust him for now since he's allied with Azur Lane. However, is more than willing to deal with him should that ever change for whatever reason. As unlikely as that is." The leader of the Sakura Empire looked directly at the hybrid. "Would you say that is more or less the feeling of the situation?"
König gave a nod of his head. "I would agree with that assessment. Though why the Meta's would view me in such a way is odd to me. I know my existence amongst kansen is an anomaly. However, I can't help but think there's something else to it all. Though I'm at a loss for what that could be." The hybrid spoke out loud before mentally musing to himself. "I should look at the files of fathers' other research and whatnot. While a longshot maybe there could be some sort of clue within them."
"I have a question about all this." Richelieu piped up suddenly. "Just what was the mission you were on exactly? That led to these circumstances?"
"I'm afraid that's still classified for the moment," Maruyama answered. "His mission technically hasn't ended just yet. Plus, only König and I know the specifics of it. However, once it is completely concluded you'll all receive a personal report from me about it."
The room went silent once more as all the faction leaders processed that fact. Finally, it was Harbin that spoke up first. "All right Commander, we'll trust you on this."
Maruyama gave a small smile of appreciation before addressing the room. "With that said this meeting is adjourned. König, if you're up to it start the next phase of your assignment."
"I shall begin work immediately Kommandantin." König mused but just as he was about to leave. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked to see it was Bismarck.
"I'm not going to try to pry an answer about what is going on since the Kommandantin is backing you. I will say I'm looking very forward to whatever it is." Mused the leader of the Iron Blood.
The hybrid couldn't help but smirk a little from behind his mask. "Trust me, Lord Bismarck. If all goes well, you'll be very pleased with the results." Bismarck simply nodded her head and left. Not wanting to waste a moment he immediately went off himself.
König had been working for the last few hours in the research division of the Iron Blood HQ. While he had everything planned out before he had to obtain the required data. It still required proper and careful set-up. Now that was all out of the way. He was just waiting for Maruyama to show up so he could put his theory to the test. His attention was brought to the entrance upon hearing the door open and close.
"So, ready to see if this idea of yours will work?" Questioned the Eagle Union officer.
"Absolutely," The hybrid replied with cheer and a smile behind his mask. "Let me explain the setup and how the process is basically supposed to work." He pointed to a large circular device that held a pair of wisdom cubes. Electronic tubes connected to it and ran to the main computer console. "Now the process, in theory, is rather straightforward. The issue was making it work in proper practice. Wisdom cubes are used to effectively create kansen and bring them into existence. However, that process has always been rather random in nature. My father figured that the process of creating the kansen one desired could be very simplified. All one would need a wisdom cube or two and then implant all the data of the specific kansen. Into the wisdom cube or cubes to guarantee the desired result. We already do this in a way except it's never worked as well as we've hoped. Wisdom cubes contain traces of data for all known kansen and those muck things up. Essentially, we need to effectively overload the cubes with the data of the specific kansen were hoping to bring about."
"That's why you wanted to get those hull scans." Cut in Maruyama.
"Exactly, my father's notes indicated simple blueprint data wasn't enough to make this work. Now maybe you're thinking 'what about research kansen?', funny thing. My father theorized that this only really worked since research kansen never existed previously in any form, to begin with. Something about kansen having already existed in some form prior caused a type of disconnect. My father was never able to figure it out and frankly neither have I. However, I figured if simple blueprint data wasn't enough then how about going further? Using the latest 3D scanning tech and gathering complete digital info scan of the actual thing. That's one of the reasons I chose the hull I did. One, they currently exist. Two, they've been gone for so long that if it works on them, it should work for anybody. Thirdly, if this succeeds, I know a group of people who will be very happy about it. Finally, if this works, we could bring back anyone potentially lost back with ease. Now then without further waiting, let's do this."
König approached the console and took out the storage device and plugged it in. He punched in a few commands and then the console lit up and a red light was seen. Passing through the electronic tubes towards the device and wisdom cubes. Once the light reached the device the two cubes immediately glowed intensely, and a huge power surge went through the system. König and Maruyama both had to shield their eyes from it. After a few moments, the light died away.
"What's going on?" A new distinctive female voice stated.
The other occupants in the room, eyes snapped wide open and glued in the direction of the new person in the room.
The person before them held a remarkable resemblance to Hipper. Though she was different in ways. She had a scarf around her neck, and her eyes were red instead of Hipper's green. Not to mention her 'torpedo bulges' were noticeably larger than Hipper's. Before anyone else could make a move. The door to the lab swung open and Bismarck came rushing in.
"What in the world is going on here?! There was a wild power surge that came fr-" Bismarck's words died in her mouth as laid eyes on the other blond in the room. "It can't be…" she said slowly "It's really you… Blücher."
"Lord Bismarck!" Blücher exclaimed in surprise. "Do you know what's going on? All I remember is being in the waters of Norway, then nothing. Now I'm suddenly here and I'm completely lost."
Bismarck turned her attention to the hybrid. "How did you do this? We've been trying to bring Blücher back for years. Only to fail at every attempt and yet you've managed it."
"The Admiralty board is going to go nuts over this," Maruyama muttered to herself. "This's a significant breakthrough in kansen technology and research."
"Before we get too caught up in things. I think there are some individuals we need to bring here. If you catch my drift." König stated to the others.
Bismarck caught on to what he was saying right away. "I shall return soon." Was all she spoke before walking with haste out of the room.
König decided to make a proper introduction to the still rather confused heavy cruiser. "Hello Blücher, I'm KMS König first ship in my class of hybrid-battleships. Good to meet you."
Not wanting to be rude she decided to introduce herself. "KMS Blücher, the second ship of the Admiral Hipper class of heavy cruisers. Nice to meet you, König."
A group of footsteps could be heard walking into the room. Looking, the hybrid saw Bismarck had returned with all the other hipper girls in tow. He noticed Lützow was now wearing a whole new outfit. No longer was she dressed in Northern Parliament attire. Now she wore a uniform similar to Eugen's. Though Lützow's was primarily black with red and white. She had on a black, red, and white skirt. Along with black thigh high-heeled boots. She wore a choker with an Iron Cross around her neck. With a black commissar cap on her head with the Reichsadler on it.
As soon as the sisters laid eyes upon Blücher, they immediately froze where they stood. Blücher herself seemed stunned to see all her siblings as well. For a few moments, the room was quiet, except for the slight humming of the machines in it. As all the siblings stared at each other, reunited all together for the first it what seemed like forever. Then the silence was suddenly broken.
"Blücher!" Hipper cried out as she practically ran across the room and hugged her long-lost sister tightly. Soon the rest of the siblings came over and joined in on the hug. Eugen was noticeably the last one as she walked over, a stunned expression still on her face. For once, Eugen seemed truly speechless and at a loss for words.
"How? How did you manage to return to us at last? How wa-" Hipper began before she paused herself. She let go of her sister and turned to the hybrid. "You did this, didn't you?"
"I did, allow me to explain everything." König spent the next few minutes giving a rundown of everything. His research, the reasoning behind his recent mission, and so on. Once he finished speaking Hipper marched up and put her face a few inches away from his.
"You're an absolute goddamn madman, has anyone ever told you that?" The heavy cruiser questioned. "First what you did for Lützow and now Blücher." Next thing the hybrid knew, Hipper was hugging him tightly. Her head rested on his shoulder as she spoke in a low voice. A few tears streamed down her face. "Thank you. Thank you so very much. I finally have all my little sisters with me again. There's nothing I can do or say that could properly repay you for this."
"You don't have to repay me at all." Came his humble reply. "I didn't do this expecting anything in return. So don't worry about it."
Hipper let go of the battleship and looked directly into his eyes. "Bullshit." Was her simple retort. "I and my sisters are in your debt for all this. Somehow someway we will repay you for this. And don't think about arguing this, it's not negotiable."
Knowing he wasn't going to win this situation. König simply held his hands up in response. Satisfied with that response, Hipper went back to her sisters and they all left the room. Though Eugen stared at the hybrid with an indecipherable expression until she finally walked out.
"I must make a report about all this and send it out at once. Fantastic work König." Maruyama mused before excusing herself. Leaving just the two battleships in the room.
"König."
"Yes, Lord Bismarck?"
"You've truly done a wonderful thing, you know that?" Bismarck stated.
"I know, I'm just glad I was able to actually make this all work," König answered back. "If you'll excuse me, Lord Bismarck, I think I'm going to head to my room for the time being. If that's alright?"
Bismarck nodded her head giving permission. König made his way out and towards his room. As much as we would like to relax, he needed to see if by chance his father's records. Held any clues about the Meta's.
"Son of a bitch." König growled in frustration as he put away another pile of research papers from his father. He had been digging practically through everything he had with him for the last couple of hours. He had been combing through folder upon folder. Sadly, he found nothing of relevance regarding the situation with the Meta's. He picked up the next container to dig through. It was a small ornate wooden box. He recognized the box his father had always forbidden him to look in it. His reasoning for it was that what lay within it wasn't something for König to learn till he was older.
The hybrid flipped open the box to see two things within it. Two pieces of parchment paper, one larger than the other. He picked up the smaller one and unfolded it. To discover it was a letter, a very old letter at that. Curious, he decided to read through it.
26 August 1834
"To my dearest daughter, by the time you're able to read this letter. I will have long since departed from this world. While I have managed to evade those who seek to end my life and by extension yours. With the help of my most trusted aide, alas my luck has run out. Giving birth to you left a heavy toll upon my body and I cannot recover the strength needed to continue evasion. Thus, I have given you to my dear aide and friend to take you to safety and watch over you. No doubt my pursuers will frame my death as some unfortunate turn of events to cover it up. They fear what you represent, the firstborn child of the rightful and future king of Prussia, Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig. How I and your father love each other but alas higher powers refused us to be officially together. But that did not stop our love and you are the result of it. However, that is also why they seek your death. Those who will have an official claim will see you as a threat to their positions. Regardless of whether such concerns are legitimate or not. That is why you and your future children and so on. Must keep the truth of your heritage secret until the time is right. For however long that maybe. My only regret is that I will not be able to raise you and see you grow up. Into the splendid woman, I know you will be. Know this, my daughter, I love you and always shall. Both in this life and the next."
"Sincerely with Love,
Elisa Radziwiłł"
"This…This can't be right." König whispered to himself in shock. He put down the letter and unfolded the larger paper. He saw right away it was his family tree. Near the bottom, he found his name, his old one anyways. Above that was his father's, next to his father should've been his mother's name. However, the only thing written there was 'E'. As odd as it was, he decided to ignore that for now and focus as he went through the rest of the family tree. He traced further back and found his grandparents and so on. Which ultimately led directly to two names side by side. Elisa Radziwiłł and Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig. The latter was better known as Kaiser Wilhelm I of the German Empire. From the Prussian royal House of Hohenzollern. This meant that he was a direct descendant of the Kaiser. He was apparently of royal lineage.
At that moment König remembered from the past. Something Queen Elizabeth said during their meeting together. "When your father and I had chats, once or twice he mentioned something about his family having ties to the upper parts of the old empire,"
"She knew this." He said with his eyes narrowing as he did. König immediately stood up and left his room. He needed to talk to the Queen, and he was doing it right now.