"Spread out! If this thing goes up, I want none of you nearby." Bismarck said as she applied full reverse to the props.
Heinrich and Zara moved up past Bismarck as Elizabeth turned hard to port, putting nearly 500 meters between herself and Bismarck. The Steamer dropped speed and increased their distance from Bismarck as the warships prepared for battle.
"Does anyone have any idea who or what this is?" Bismarck asked as she stood on the bow of her ship.
"It's a small group, no more than 3. They're small." Zara said.
"Okay, but what are they? We cannot proceed like this. Not when I have material capable of turning this section of ocean to glass." Bismarck said.
Zara was about to answer when several columns of water shot up around her hull, flaring her shields and rocking her vessel.
"Torpedoes in the water!" Zara yelled as two ships came into view.
"Siren warships coming into view! Two heavy cruiser class." Heinrich said as she moved her vessel to cover Bismarck.
"Two? Didn't Zara say there were three?" Bismarck asked as she spotted several metal tubes gliding through the water. Calling upon her rigging, she fired her guns at them, causing them to explode far enough away from the hull of her ship to prevent any damage.
"Lord Bismarck? Now isn't this a surprise. I had thought Eugen and Roon would have had you beat. But that just goes to prove how powerful you really are, doesn't it?" A voice spoke from the waves.
"What?" Bismarck asked as she looked for the source of the voice that sounded so familiar.
"Come now, don't tell me you have forgotten me, Lord Bismarck. Because if you have forgotten me, then you have forgotten what I can do. And that, is a very dangerous gambit indeed." The voice spoke.
"Parzival." Bismarck whispered as a crack appeared in her calm demeanor.
"Wow! You remembered! I am so honored." U-556 said as her vessel was spotted beneath the waves.
"Heinrich! Come in!" Bismarck yelled. She waited but got no response.
"Trying to contact her will not work, Lord Bismarck. I have ensured that your communications will fall on deaf ears." U-556 said.
"What are you doing, Parzival? Did you no always come around saying you'd protect me?" Bismarck asked, rooting through her memory, recalling all the times the little blue haired sub would throw her arms over her shoulders and ask to play.
"I'm trying to protect you, Lord Bismarck. I'm trying to protect you from the Siren's wrath, and from your own sense of justice." U-556 said.
"Protect me? You're attacking me!" Bismarck cried out.
"As much as it pains me... If I sink you... I'll be fulfilling my oath to protect you. The Sirens wont be able to use you like they've used me. That insect won't be able to use and hurt you. I'm going to protect you, Lord Bismarck. So please... sink peacefully." U-556 said.
"Parzival! If you sink me, we ALL die!" Bismarck said as Heinrich and Zara engaged the two Siren Heavy Cruiser drone ships.
"That works for me. Then I can finally be free of this hell. The mind games they play. The torture of being told to hunt you like a dog. The pain and agony, it can finally come to an end." U-556 said as she slowly swam from her vessel to the surface and jumped to the deck of the Bismarck.
Bismarck nearly threw up at the sight of U-556.
"Well that's awfully rude of you, Lord Bismarck." U-556 said.
"Parzival! What did they do to you?!" Bismarck asked as real tears formed in her eyes.
"This was punishment for holding out against them. They took my arm, Lord Bismarck. Every time I mentioned you and the memories I had of you... they'd cut me, tell me that the Lord Bismarck I knew was dead. After a while... the memories stopped, and I began to question why I stuck around you so much if it would only lead to such pain." U-556 said as she showed Bismarck the bandage that covered an armless shoulder.
"I'm not dead, I'm right here!" Bismarck spoke as she tried to hide her tears.
"I know. My eyes still work. You see, that is the one thing they didn't touch. They wanted me to see the moment you submitted to them. The moment you gave yourself to them to rule Ironblood for them, so they could focus their energy on the Insect." U-556 said.
"Then why?! Why sink me?" Bismarck asked.
"Because... this will be my last defiant act against the Sirens. Either way, they can hear me. So it doesn't matter. You're going to kill me, or they will. And I figured... at least if I died by your hands... It would be quick." U-556 said as she approached Bismarck.
Bismarck looked at U-556, finally realizing why she had been singled out in the attack.
"Parzival..." Bismarck said as she got close enough to see U-556's neck.
"They didn't put a black cube in your neck..." Bismarck spoke, realizing what this meant.
"That's right. This is me. Not a corrupted cube. I was another experiment to them. One meant to break my spirit... as you can see... here I am." U-556 said.
"You don't have to do this. I'm here." Bismarck spoke as she held out her hand.
"No... this is the end... for both of us, Lord Bismarck. I won't let them have you." U-556 said as the sound of crunching metal was heard in the water.
"I won't let you sink her. We did that once, and it was a decision that has haunted me for years. I won't let someone as feeble as you carry that burden." Elizabeth said as she smashed her bow into the vessel of U-556, giving Bismarck the chance to go on the attack.
Bismarck closed the distance between her and the Submarine. The submarine braced herself for the worse, but was grossly mistaken when Bismarck knelt down and hugged her.
"I'm sorry." Bismarck spoke softly as she pulled the sub to her chest.
"W-what?" U-556 asked as she too began to tear up.
"I swear on my name, and my life, that I won't leave you behind again." Bismarck said as she held the small submarine.
U-556 pounded her only remaining fist into Bismarck's chest.
"I couldn't do anything to save you then! Why won't you let me save you now?!" U-556 cried.
"Sinking me again won't save anyone. Elizabeth said that her 'commoner' has been making great strides against the Sirens. And it might be my pride, But I am willing to bet my life on that man, rather than throw it away by allowing myself to sink once more." Bismarck said as she hugged U-556 tighter. The submarine broke down further and began to cry, realizing that escape was impossible and her mission had failed.
"Jeez. these shields are no joke." Heinrich said as her guns punched holes through the shields of the drone heavy cruisers, only for the shields to regenerate during her reload.
"You can say that again." Zara said as she was having the same problem.
"Heinrich, come in." Bismarck's voice came over the radio.
"Yes, Lord Bismarck?" Heinrich asked.
"This attack was U-556. I have her aboard. I'm trying to coax a surrender. How are you two holding up?" Bismarck asked as Heinrich swore she could hear Bismarck crying.
"The shields on these cruisers are no joke. Every time I punch through the shields, they regenerate, setting me back to zero." Heinrich said.
"Once I manage to get U-556 to surrender, I will move up to help you. Hold on as long as you can." Bismarck said.
"I'm on my way." Elizabeth said as she tore away from the hull of the now sinking U-556.
"I'm dead." U-556 said softly.
"Why are you dead?" Bismarck asked, refusing to let the submarine go. U-556 didn't seem to mind.
"The Sirens are going to find me and kill me. I failed my mission." U-556 said.
"I don't remember giving you any missions, Parzival. The fact that you came to me is enough." Bismarck said.
"You're not making sense, Lord Bismarck. I tried to kill you." U-556 said.
"You could have done so easily. A single torpedo would have killed us all. But you came to me, and abandoned your ship. Clearly your conviction was not to kill me, Parzival." Bismarck said.
"I-I didn't want to... but it would have been a fitting end to my life... I failed you back in the Atlantic... that day haunted me until the Royal navy sunk me too. It was the Sirens who revived me. I had tried to stay strong..." U-556 said as she began to cry once again.
"Shh. Chin up my dear Parzival. I won't let them hurt you. You protected me to the end. Now it's my turn to return the favor." Bismarck said as she petted the small submarine's head.
"I-I-I..." U-556 tried and failed to find words to say in response.
"Now. Let's send those who hurt my little knight a message." Bismarck said as the turrets behind her turned towards the drone ships.
"Heinrich, Zara, move back. I'll deal with those shields for you." Bismarck said as she picked up U-556 and held her like the child she never had.
"Enthaltet aus meinem Anblick euch unheiligen Wesen. To hell with all of you Sirens. Your corpses will become my stepping stones to glory." Bismarck spoke as a light hum rose from her hull. Bismarck fired her main guns in the gap between the drone ships.
"Bismarck... you missed." Elizabeth said.
"Did I?" Bismarck asked as Elizabeth looked forward in horror.
It was as if the gates of hell had opened on the battlefield. A flash of blue followed by the decimation of the enemies' shields. Water was sucked up into a small vortex that stood firm between the two drone ships.
"What the hell?" Bismarck asked.
"YOU DIDN'T PLAN FOR THAT?!" Elizabeth cried.
"No... I tried to pack more powder and explosive into an HE shell. Ironblood HE is exceptional against Siren Shields." Bismarck said.
"Bismarck!" The purin cried as she ran above deck.
"What?" Bismarck asked.
"Whatever you just did, don't do it again! You just pulled from the Wisdom cube dust! The barrel has been torn open. Thankfully I was able to seal it." The Purin said.
"You mean to tell me that the wisdom cube dust caused a black hole?!" Bismarck asked as the singularity waned and disappeared, leaving two sinking Heavy cruiser drone ships.
"We still don't know about them! When something fell on the powder, it made a massive explosion. Maybe your words gave it meaning? Wisdom cubes react to the desires and wills of those who use them, after all." The purin said.
"What did you say, then?" Elizabeth asked.
"She wished for them to vanish. The leave nothing behind." U-556 said softly as Bismarck held her.
"That I did..." Bismarck said.
"Well, either way, until we can make the shells, please do not do something like that again. We risked a massive explosion or worse." The purin said.
"Well, as long as the Sirens keep their distance, it won't be an issue." Bismarck said sternly.
"Then let's keep moving. We'd be foolish to stick around here when we just unleashed such an attack." Elizabeth said.
"Exactly, let's go. We have lost precious time due to this." Bismarck said as she comforted the sleeping sub in her arms.
"North Carolina and the others are here, Commander." Norfolk said.
"Understood. Then we can begin the briefing." Isaac said.
"Actually... I was hoping to go and visit Nimi. Could I bother you to do the briefing, Commander?" Norfolk asked.
"Sure. You deserve a break. Go ahead, I'll be fine." Isaac said as Norfolk disappeared.
"How is she able to do that?" North Carolina asked.
"Vengeance made another projector onboard the Z-23 and wired it to this ships electronic systems. So she can go to that projector as well. Anyway we are getting off track. Time for briefing." Isaac said as she stood in front of everyone.
"North Carolina, Atago, Baltimore, Odin. You four are going to commence the mission to retrieve 13 and Laffey from enemy territory. They went AWOL over 2 days ago and have already advanced deep into enemy controlled land. They have gone far outside the range of any guns in the fleet, and I can't risk giving them away with continued flyovers by the carriers. That's where you four come in." Isaac said.
"Alright. So what is the plan?" Odin asked.
"Sergeant Dawson is going to take you four up in the Catalina. You will fly to where 13 and Laffey are, and drop in to support them. Odin will remain on the plane. You all will be given harnesses and Baltimore will be given a pack containing a small AA balloon tied to a towing cable. I figured a rope would snap under the pressure of five girls being ripped from the ground. So, it is a cable that can attach to each of the harnesses. Once you escort 13 and Laffey to the cubes, send up the balloon and the Catalina will return to pick you up. Odin will tow you all in and help you back onto the plane before making the return trip. I'm sure I don't have to say this, but you will be deep in enemy territory, well outside of any constant support. Support each other. I will not tolerate a loss. Understood?" Isaac asked.
"Yes sir." They all responded.
"Alright. Grab a visor and put it on. The moment you leave the range of the Norfolk, they will turn on, allowing me to see what you all see, giving me perspective on what is going on." Isaac said.
They all followed the order and began filing out.
"Hey." Isaac said sternly. Everyone turned to look at him.
"Good luck." Isaac said with a small smile, allowing everyone to leave. Odin stayed behind for a few moments.
"Something wrong, Odin?" Isaac asked.
She remained silent as she went up to him and pulled him down to her level. She locked her lips with his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Isaac hesitantly placed his hands on her back and indulged in what she had given him.
"What was that for?" Isaac asked as she finally released him.
"For luck, Dear Kommandant." Odin said as she ran off to join the others.