[Kancolle Bismarck]
"It's been quite a while since we've been contacted by the Atlantic HQ. What does that senile old motherfucker want now?" The Kommandant of the Pacific HQ asked as he joined Enterprise, Nagato and the others that Akagi had called in to join.
I began, "Herr Kommandant, let me get this out of the way first, I am not the Bismarck native to this world. I am currently trying to find a way to get back to my own world and return her here, but I am not particularly scientifically-minded enough to do it alone. Also, more importantly, I have learned about the… 'seniler alter Mutterficker' you speak of, and I want to do something about him. He's violated the rights and boundaries of many shipgirls here and he needs to pay for it."
The man immediately answered, "I'm in."
"That was fast." I said, surprised.
"Well, it's about damn time someone did something about that asshole. We've actually been working on a way to get you all transferred over to our HQ to have you all under my command. We already have plenty of space for everyone here. That abuser you have for a Commander is one of the only people standing in the way."
"I'm impressed, Kommandant. Perhaps this will be easier than I assumed."
"He may have friends in the higher-ups, but so do I. His friends have more power though, so it's still a pain in the ass to do anything he doesn't like. The paperwork is murder…"
"That's why you got us, sir. Glad to help out our friends over there." Enterprise said with a genuine smile. It's good to know at least one of the Kommandants actually cares about his girls. She looked at me and asked, "Bismarck?"
"What is it, Frau Enterprise?"
"I gotta know… Belfast… is she okay?"
I glanced at George to see if it's okay, and she nodded. I looked back at the hologram of the Union Carrier and sombrely answered, "She's alive, but… she's… broken. The Kommandant here has been taking advantage of her kindness and has forced himself on her an unknown amount of times and she's now prone to emotional outbursts and cannot do her job properly without having episodes over the smallest things."
That made everyone silent and they stared at me in stunned silence. As if the legendary Belfast being in such a state was something they never thought they'd hear.
Enterprise, however, had quite a different reaction. She slowly glared at her Kommandant with glowing yellow eyes and with a tone that scared even Akagi, she requested… no, demanded, "Sir. Send me over there. Now."
"E, we can't rush this!" He was quick to counter, "If we do something so rash, the girls there could suffer even more! Besides, you won't be able to do anything to him thanks to that damn Siren device of his!"
I caught him on that, "Hang on, a Siren device?"
George responded, "Yes, I'd like to know about that as well! If we can show that he's using a Siren device, we-"
"No, you can't." The Pacific Kommandant interrupted. "Sorry, King George, but every time he uses it, it wipes your knowledge if its existence. If anyone tries to expose him for it, he'll just use it again. We've had to tell you personally about it several times. We only remember it as we captured a broken Mirror Sea Generator and it passively negates the effects."
"Bloody hell…" the Royal Kansen muttered.
"Mirror Sea Generator?" I asked, clueless as to what he was talking about.
"Oh, yeah. Akashi, quickly explain what that is please." The man responded.
"Hai, nya!" A small green-haired Kansen with cat ears and sleeves far too big for her arms took centre stage, "Mirror Sea Generators are machines Sirens use to alter reality within a certain radius, nya! The biggest radius we've seen spanned about 5 nautical miles from the centre, nya!"
"What do you mean altering reality?" I asked the green cat.
"When it is deployed, the Siren in charge of it can change the parameters to whatever they want. They can make a raging storm in the middle of a calm ocean, or vice versa, they can reverse physics so our shots always miss, they could even make copies of ourselves to fight us. That's happened far too often, nya…"
"Anyway," The Pacific Kommandant added, "What's important is that we managed to capture one of these generators, but it was in a broken state. Akashi tried her best but most of it is unsalvageable. The best it can do is negate the effects of other Siren devices for whichever ship is carrying it, or for the whole base when it's plugged in here. We suspect that the machine your Commander is using is a Mirror Sea Generator. A very small, weak one, only capable of affecting his office. He must've programmed it, or asked someone else to, to block Kansen rigging."
I thought for a moment and asked, "But what about Kanmusu rigging? I come from an alternate world with different technology. I might be able to get around it."
"That's an interesting theory, but what if you're wrong and then you're alone with him?" The man asked.
"All Kanmusu have been trained in melee combat in the event we get up close and personal with Abyssals. From what I've seen, this Kommandant is a slob who doesn't do anything. I very much doubt he'd be capable of fighting me. He uses threats and blackmail to get what he wants from the girls here." I responded.
Geaorge nodded, "Exactly right. That bastard never works for anything. Azur Lane is full of corruption. Your girls are very lucky you're not one of them, sir."
"Well, I do my best." The Pacific Kommandant humbly replied. "Bismarck, let's talk about this covert operation of yours, just in case confronting him yourself doesn't work."
We then began discussing our unofficial backup plan. Ending the conversation with Enterprise, Nagato and the Kommandant of the Pacific HQ, Shoukaku asked me with a devious smile, "So… is our Akagi anything like yours?"
Remembering her quip about perfection being consistent across worlds, I smiled and replied, "Apart from her red colour scheme and hair and skin colour, they couldn't be more different."
The Carrier started laughing, seemingly very much relishing in the thought of Akagi not being perfect. So they have somewhat of a rivalry in this world. Perhaps like the Zuikaku and Kaga of my world?
Anyway, I then began thinking about how these Sirens can just manipulate reality with those Mirror Seas. Just how powerful are these creatures?
Could the Abyssals also be capable of such power?
If the Sirens win here, could they find my world?
The Kanmusu can barely fight the Abyssals… we'd be utterly powerless against the Sirens…
Mein Gott… The Kommandant here is one problem, but what could I even do against these monsters?
[Azur Lane Bismarck.]
I left my temporary accommodation the next day, feeling somewhat better for a change. Like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. This Admiral… he offered me help and only an apology to Ark Royal in return. If we had him back home…
Nein. These girls need him here. I could never forgive myself if I swapped him with our Kommandant. They don't deserve someone as awful as him.
Speaking of Ark, I was on the way to the cafeteria of the so-called Naval District to find her. This place was a lot like the Azur Lane Pacific HQ, open spaces with vendors, cafes and parks. You wouldn't even think it was a Naval base at first glance. It seems the designers prioritised the human sides of the shipgirls over the warships.
I eventually managed to track Ark Royal down. I asked around and I suppose my sheer presence and the memory of what I did intimidated a lot of them. That made me feel worse again. I thought that perhaps saying sorry and spending the day with Ark would repair relations.
"Ark Royal." I announced when I was in earshot.
The shipgirl froze in terror and then looked over her shoulder at me. All the girls around us fell silent as they expected a fight between us.
"Um… yes… Miss Bismarck?" The redhead responded nervously.
"I am sorry."
"…what?" She asked with wide eyes.
"You triggered a memory of mine that I am not proud of. It filled me with anger at myself and I directed it towards you. For that, I am truly sorry. I am very glad I did not hurt you." I tried. Apologies aren't my strong suit. I'm the leader of Iron Blood. It's part of my job to not create situations I'd be sorry for.
I'd already failed at that in a big way long before this incident.
"Well, in that case, I accept your apology." Ark smiled. "And… I myself am sorry for triggering your memory. I was not aware you weren't our Bismarck, and that's how I usually talk to her."
"Please don't apologise. It's not your fault." I pleaded. I didn't want yet another person thinking they're in the wrong for my actions.
"Now I won't have that. Come on, let's have some tea." Ark insisted as she pit her hand on my back and gently guided me over to the table she's sharing with her fellow Royal Navy shipgirls. Much like the American and German ships here, there aren't as many members as the Japanese faction. Why this was the case wasn't very clear.
"Ah, Ark. you're back… with her." The one named Valiant said with some hostility towards the end.
Before anyone could escalate, Ark responded, "There's no need for hostilities, girls. We've made up. She's apologised to me. Please welcome her as one of us."
"She… apologised?" The one with a small crown on her head asked with surprise. She added, "Well, in that case, welcome to the base, Lady Bismarck. Please, have a seat."
"Danke."
"Thank you, Warspite." Ark added. "Valiant, could you pass the teapot for our new friend? Or do you prefer coffee, Lady Bismarck?"
I heard the pained screams of the Warspite I knew as if she was just outside.
"Bismarck…? Why are you staring at me?" Their Warspite asked.
The screams became clearer.
Ark gently shook me and I snapped out of it. I looked at her after turning white as a sheet. She asked, "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I looked back at Warspite, who looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry…. I didn't mean to…" I looked down and tried not to spiral again. This time it wasn't the usual memories of my past, but what that animal did to Warspite in my world… now that I've spoken about the former, it seemed the void it was now being filled by everything else I had previously repressed.
"I just…" I closed my eyes and took a deep slow breath to calm myself. "I… we had a Warspite in our world, as well."
This Warspite looked surprised. She responded, "Oh? You said 'had'? What happened to her? Did she go down fighting the good fight?" She asked, smiling sadly with the others.
The screams got louder, as if they were coming from the alternate Warspite right in front of me.
Then, for just a second, she turned into the Kansen I knew. The panicked look on her face… pleading for help as bloody tears ran down her cheeks…
Reaching out to grab hold of something to pull herself to safety, only to see her forearm was already missing…
"… Excuse me." I answered as I stood up quickly and left, to their confusion, slamming the doors open and damn near ripping them from their hinges.
What the hell was that? I thought things would be easier after speaking to the Admiral! I've never had an episode like that!
I exited the cafeteria feeling stressed again. I instinctively wanted a beer, but remembered Hood got me to not be so reliant on it. I promised her I'd try so I shook my head to dispel the idea. I don't know why she bothered. Alcohol don't affect Kansen as much as it does humans.
Leaning on a railing overlooking the port, I tried clearing my mind and calming myself like how she taught me. I must admit it did help a little bit. That is, until the Warspite native to this world joined me. She softly asked, "Are you feeling alright?"
"Nein. I am not, Frau Warspite." I answered, trying not to look at her again.
Seeing she wouldn't get anywhere, she changed her line of questioning and asked, "It's peaceful here, isn't it?"
I sighed and nodded. "It is. I'm not used to it. I'm so used to constant Siren attacks both at the Atlantic HQ and against civilian shipping out at sea. Sortie after sortie… barely having a break. Being put into fleets consisting of sheer firepower without any thought of strategy or to optimise our abilities. We're just thrown at the Sirens and our Kommandant just hopes we win the battles. If we don't…"
"…then what?" The tall version of the Royal Battleship asked.
"Then sometimes getting sunk is the preferable option."
Warspite looked behind us to make sure we're alone. When she got confirmation, she looked back up at me and softly asked, "I'm dead in your world, aren't I? Is that why you can't look at me?"
I shrugged, "It's… complicated. I've never met you in my world, so I don't know for sure. The Kansen of the warship you got your power from, HMS Warspite, however… she is dead. I'm sorry. I remembered what happened to her… it was rather traumatic for everyone."
"I see… if I may ask, how did she die?" Warspite asked.
The memory of that incident flashed in my mind again, but in full detail. Just like the other haunting moments. I remembered the betrayed, terrified look in her eyes as she was scrapped by the Kommandant. Her Battleship losing its soul and becoming a lifeless husk, ready to be towed away and broken down for the metal. The guttural shrieks she made when-
"Lady Bismarck? If it's too painful, you don't have to-"
"NEIN!" I hit the metal railing so hard I bent it. If I were a human my hand would've surely broken. I took a breath and regained my composure as well as drying the newly formed tear from my cheek. "Sorry… it's alright." I finally looked at her with very little emotion and just told her straight, "We had previously captured a Siren machine called a 'scrapper'. It… breaks down anything that is put into it. Throw a gun in, gun parts and bullets get spat out. Put in a car, the same happens. The scrapper itself is about the size of a small house, taking up an entire room beneath the base, kept hidden from the world."
Warspite began to understand as her face started taking on an expression of sheer horror.
"The Warspite I knew died screaming as her body was torn apart slowly, bit by bit after being fed to the scrapper she felt full, agonising pain for 8 hours straight until she was unable to remain conscious. The Kommandant sees us as nothing more than disposable weapons, and has drilled that into our heads from day one. Warspite was made an example of and we were forced to watch her slow, gruesome death after her sister Queen Elizabeth had the nerve to stand up to him when he was assigned to the position.
Warspite stared at me jaw-dropped with wide eyes.
I added, "When I mention he threatens to scrap us, I mean it literally. He can't even be bothered killing us before throwing us in the scrapper to extract our Wisdom Cubes and parts for rigging upgrades, which he never uses on us anyway. We've lost many Kansen this way. We've lost even more to letting Sirens sink them to spare themselves the fate of living under his oppression. I myself have lost many Iron Bloods to that verdammt machine…"
"Have you… talked about this to our Admiral…?" The Royal asked.
"Ja… I told him everything I've experienced. It's made it a little easier. I can talk about some things now without completely breaking down, but it's still very painful… the sooner I'm back there and your Bismarck is safe here, the better. She has no idea what she's getting herself into if she confronts him."
"You should give her a little more credit. Our Bismarck may not be used to people like him, but she's not one to rush into these kinds of situations. She collects as much intel as she can and creates backup plans for almost everything. She's not very scientific, but she's smarter than she lets on."
"Is that so? That's good, then. I just hope he hasn't already done anything to her."
