Knox: All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations!

King: This went through more than a few resets... Anyway, Someone asked about this, but I wasn't sure if I would do it. I'd never seen it and I wasn't sure if I would. Then again, life is odd. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, as usual. As for why. I knew a bit about it, but didn't get too far into things. That said, I opened the story and found it rather interesting. I actually appreciate they kept in the sinking of the Hood in the opening. I don't know. I liked it enough that I wanted to get this out there. So... here we go.

Inspiration: Azur Lane

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With everyone back together again, it was time to start a new viewing. That said, it was important to talk about the slight change in group composition. Cinder was now alone in her side of the theater, sort of. Raven had taken a place far in the back on that side because no one was there. For all intents and purposes, Cinder was alone. Mercury had moved to a side area not too far, but clearly on his own terms. Emerald, meanwhile, had moved to the opposite side of the group, as if they would shield her from Cinder's wrath, assuming she even noticed and/or cared at this point.

So the next world begins.

The world opened to a view of the sky, the vastness of blue stretching out over everything. Soon, the camera moved down to show a darker blue take over the bottom half of the screen. A small wave moved across to reveal this darker azure to be a vast body of water.

Neptune shook in his chair, seizing up at the clearly large body of water.

Sun placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to help ground him. Few people in the audience new about Neptune's phobia, and said blue-haired 'intellectual' wanted to keep it that way. But this also meant that Sun was the only one there that could try to help calm him.

Something flew across the screen, kicking up the water behind it.

Ruby grew up on an island, but she'd never seen anything that vast on the ocean before, "What was that?"

Jaune, whose home had a standing navy, wasn't too sure, but he tried to guess. "Maybe a speedboat? You know, a smaller boat designed to go faster than larger versions."

"I've never seen one before."

Tai nodded, "Most ships around Patch are either cargo, fishing, or ferries. We don't usually see any other types."

The camera moved across the surface quickly to try to catch up with what just passed it. When it caught up, it found something a little different than they expected. A foot fell onto the water, sliding along it like an ice skater, leaving waves behind them. The camera traced up to reveal a person sailing across this world of water. She was dressed in a red vest with a hood over her head. The rest of her attire resembled a modified navy uniform. The more interesting features, however, was the metal protrusions resembling parts of a naval cruiser; particularly two sets of twin batteries, one on either side. Torpedos were stored alongside the armor holding the guns. The girl slid across the water on what resembled skates. All of her armor was a bright, ruby red and her eyes were a glowing silver.

Ruby was geeking out over the weaponry.

Yang was in a mini laughing fit at the look and how Ruby totally would create a weapon system like that if she could.

Some of them were focusing more on the fact that Ruby was SKATING ON WATER!

Ruby came a halt, skidding on the waves before standing as though she were on land. In this world of water, humanity's ambition led them to create a new form of warfare. Ships formed in the visage of their creators. Ruby grabbed a pair of binoculars from her belt and looked out over the ocean.

Penny tapped her chin in thought. "Oh… I see. They are automatons created for naval engagements."

Ironwood tapped his foot on the floor of the theater. Pietro would have a field day knowing there was a way to make a whole army of robots that looked, and likely acted, like humans.

Ruby was soon joined by another girl with naval ship armor. She was about the same height of Ruby, however she was less armored over all. She wore a white dress and held what resembled a ship as a weapon. Her white hair was tied into a side-ponytail and her ice blue eyes looked out over the same ocean.

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

Ruby grabbed the heiress in a hug, "Go team RWBY!"

Weiss groaned and pushed her team leader off of her, "Blake and Yang have yet to appear, so it's just us at the moment. Not exactly the whole team."

Ruby would have waved that off as nonsense, but she'd seen enough worlds where Jaune was a psychopath to see what her partner was saying.

Weiss glanced to Ruby for a moment, "You see anything?"

Ruby returned her binoculars to her armor belt. "A few old style boats. Thankfully, no ships so far."

"Thankfully?" Weiss turned to Ruby, "What's that supposed to mean? You think we can't handle a battle?"

Ruby sighed, "Suffolk, did you forget Bismarck is in the area?"

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Suffolk? Is that supposed to be her name?"

Kali placed a finger on her cheek in though, head tilting slightly, "Codename, perhaps?"

Weiss nodded grimly, "Be that as it may, Norfolk, we can't let those boats through. We need to take care of them."

Ruby groaned, "Right…"

They both skated off across the water toward their incoming opponents. The boats looked more like traditional vessels, but were lacking in crews. They were automatic boats that were easier to create than the ships like Ruby and Weiss. As they opened fire, Ruby and Weiss snaked through the incoming fire with ease. Ruby's batteries leveled toward one one of the boats and erupted, sending explosive shells into the hull and sinking the boat. Weiss held her weapon like a giant cannon and fired a salvo to sink the other.

Ruby went from geeking out to a full blown freak out. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Neptune didn't agree, but only as a result of the location. He was coming down from his freeze up and did see what was happening as being cool. Ocean notwithstanding.

Ruby grinned, "That's how it's done!"

Weiss floated over and lightly smacked the back of her head, "Stay focused, Norfolk. We can't let our guard down."

Ruby nodded, "Okay, okay. I got it."

A loud sound grabbed their attention, a roar out into the world. A mad ship like them was charging forward in a mad dash, hull on fire and likely to burst. However, before she could get close, a heavy slavo ripped her to shreds.

Everyone was shocked at the scene, but also found it might have been for the best given the ship had planned to blow herself up and take Ruby and Weiss with her.

Ruby and Weiss turned to see two more ships skating up toward them. One was dressed in naval regalia and jacket, skirt, and tall boots outfitted with the water traversal skates. Her armor resembled a heavy battleship with larger, four cannon batteries on either side. She had a long cape over her shoulder and a thin blade at her side. She slid to a stop to let everyone see her shorter black hair with a pink streak along one side.

Nora giggled, "Oh hey! It's Li!"

Ren sighed, but didn't find anything objectionable. It was more about Nora's laughter.

Alongside her was what looked like Winter Schnee, dressed in a long dress coat with a mantle over her shoulders resembling some form of flag. She was surrounded by four sets of twin-cannoned, heavy batteries. The back of her hair was set in a long braid that reached to her knees, tied into form with an anchor.

Winter admitted she liked her form in this. It was clear she was something stronger than what Ruby or Weiss were. If she had to guess, she was likely a battleship.

Weiss perked up seeing her sister's arrival, "Hood!"

Qrow snickered a bit. "Hood, huh?"

Winter rolled her eyes, used to codenames in the field. She was just glad it didn't have anything to do with ice this time.

Winter gestured to Li, "Keep an eye out. Bismarck wouldn't ignore this if she has the choice."

Li nodded and extended a radar array. It was rudimentary, but it worked for what it was.

Winter turned back to the dual cruisers in front of her, only to punch them both on the top of their heads. "What were you two thinking deploying out here on your own?! Did you forget Bismark was spotted in these waters?! Neither of you are equipped to take her on! What if you got into a firefight?!"

Nora chuckled, "Aw, she's just worried about them."

While Winter was scolding the two cruisers, the camera moved to focus on Li and the radar that covered her left eye. After a moment, a blip appeared, "Contact!"

This got Winter to shift her attention to the distance. "How many?"

"One ship, seven boats. We can knock out the boats pretty quickly, but the ship is a little concerning."

"Bismarck?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Li returned her radar to its starting position and readied her cannons.

Ironwood crossed his arms and sat back a bit in his chair, "I get the feeling this Bismark is going to be more powerful than any of them."

"But there's just one of this Bismark," Sienna reasoned, "and there are four of them. If they work together, that power difference won't mean much."

Cinder rolled her eyes with a grin. Overwhelming power would always break down whatever teamwork Sienna believed in. Fear would overwrite any sense of cohesion. A feeling she knew well.

Winter's guns leveled to the distance. "Destroy the boats before they get too close. Suffolk! Norfolk!"

Weiss and Ruby straightened in surprise, shouting in unison, "Ma'am!"

"Get ready for combat. Intercept anyone getting close."

Weiss and Ruby moved together and moved in front of the two battleships. Li and Winter braced themselves before launching an opening salvo of shells toward the incoming enemy. Off in the distance, explosions ripped through the air, the light showing each boat as they erupted.

Winter looked up toward the scene, a certain part of her amazed at the coordination and power on display.

Li brought up the radar again. "Boats knocked out. They've stopped moving. The ship is still advancing."

The camera moved off to show the incoming ship. She skid along the water dressed in grey, black, and red. Her armor appeared similar to Li and Winter, being a battleship. Her attire was a navy-like tank top, short jacket, and heeled boots. Her armaments had four sets of batteries, torpedo salvos, and anti-air guns. A pair of armor horns curved out from her mint green hair.

Emerald looked up toward the screen, a little surprised to see herself like that. Though, there was a part of her that could see things playing out as they were before her epiphony and subsequent turn.

Emerald grinned seeing the four. "Well what have we here? Is that the King George V?"

Li growled, "Prince of Wales."

This got Nora to pause, "Wait… so is she a he? I'm confused."

Ren tapped his chair in thought, "I think it's a naming convention for the ships. My guess is that Ruby and Weiss are named after locations while my counterpart and Winter are named based on people."

"Oh!" Nora smiled, "That makes sense."

Emerald rolled her eyes, "Whatever. All you Royal types look the same to me."

Ruby and Weiss glanced toward one another and nodded.

Emerald's grin turned to a smirk, "Now, why don't we get started!" Her guns were soon leveled against the four.

However, Ruby and Weiss were ahead of the curve and fired a heavy volley of shells toward Emerald. Emerald skated across the water, avoiding the shells and moving to attack the two, only to have the sea erupt in front of her as Li and Winter provide supporting fire. Emerald had little choice but to dodge the incoming heavy shells. After one spin, she slid into a firing position and loosed a set of torpedos toward the cruisers. Weiss able to skate to the side to avoid it, but Ruby was in the middle of the radius. Ruby sped around and leapt over the incoming explosive.

Ruby was starry-eyed at how cool her alternate version looked in that moment.

Li and Winter had an easier time dodging them as they were farther along the path, given them wider opens to avoid the attack. Winter slid to the side and fired a volley of shells toward Emerald, a heavy shell breaking against her armor. Emerald was knocked off balance for a moment, almost falling into the ocean, but she was able to right herself, only to find herself surrounded.

Emerald chuckled and set her guns to fire around her, unleashing a powerful volley, only for most of the shells to miss due to the lack of targeting time. Though, it did give her enough time to escape the circle.

One shell, however, hit Li's armor belt, bouncing off and into the water. Li was surprised for a moment. All the intel said the Bismarck possessed greater firepower than anyone else in the Royal Navy, but that felt like heavy cruiser fire at most.

Winter's eyes narrowed, "She isn't this Bismark…"

Li held fire for a moment, "Hold on! She isn't Bismarck! She must be the escort craft!"

Emerald smirked and spun with a little flourish. "I am the KMS Prinz Eugen! Proud vessel of the Ironblood! And you," Emerald's grin widened to a toothy smile, "are in range."

Li's eyes went wide and returned the radar to her eye. The line went across the area and revealed a new contact some 15 miles off in the distance.

The camera flew off and away over the ocean. Soon, they saw someone else on the water. The camera swung around to show her from behind. Her uniform was a similar black to Emerald's, though hers was a more full uniform rather than Emerald's tan top and jacket. Her uniform jacket was adorned in gold, her skirt had two streaks of gold and red to accent the black, and her boots reached up her thighs and ended in fur. A long cape fell behind her, giving her the appearance of royalty. Her sets of twin-cannon batteries surrounded her on her armor. Said armor had extra hinges to allow them to open a set of mouths like those of sharks. She held a staff in her hand with a red, black, and white flag flying behind her. Her golden blonde hair was long, but controlled beneath her military cap. Her sapphire blue eyes looked off toward the group with a look of sorrow.

Nora gapsed, "Jeanne is the Bismarck they were talking about?!"

Ruby was awestruck at the arms and armor on display. But something caught her attention after a moment. "Hang on… her weapons are…"

Jeanne took a breath and sighed, speaking to herself, "I'm sorry…" Soon after, her batteries unloaded their shells off toward the group.

15 miles. To some, this could be a great distance. A person walking 15 miles would take a long time. Biking could cut that time to be manageable. A drive at average speed limits would take minutes. But here, on the vast waves with shells raining down, this was seconds that few could afford. Li tried to warn them, tried to move, but Jeanne's fire would fall upon them soon. She did what little she could, shouting to evade.

The camera hung on the group as the shells fell upon them before erupting the sea around them. One of the shells tagged Winter's armor belt and tore it apart like paper. Winter was a refitted battle cruiser. Jeanne, however, was a true battleship; a ship designed to destroy any and all opposition in her path. Winter skid to a painful halt as the plunging fire continued. Her eyes went wide as she looked up toward the end. The sea erupted around her before finally a massive burst ripped the ocean apart in an inferno.

Weiss was cold from shock. She'd seen versions of her sister being killed before, even one more sudden. But the scene was unnerving. Even if they were robots and could be rebuilt, it was hard to watch.

Weiss screamed as her sister was torn apart.

Emerald leveled her weapons, but the radio cut her off.

"Fall back, Eugen. Our mission is to reach the open ocean. Let them mourn and salvage as best they can."

Emerald sighed and raised her weapons again, turning to rejoin Jeanne. Emerald soon met up next to Jeanne. With both beside one another, they now saw the differences in size. Emerald only reached to Jeanne's chest. Jeanne's armor and cannons were gigantic in comparison. Emerald had to skate across the water just to keep up with Jeanne's strides.

Yang whistled, "Dang. And we thought she was tall before. Hold up," she turned to Jaune, "First time we saw her it said she got your dad's height. What's that about?"

Jaune shrugged, "I mean… Most of my family is taller than the majority of the population. My dad's height is rare, even in my family."

"Anyone else in your family that tall?" Coco asked.

Jaune paused for a moment, "I don't know… My dad is the tallest person in my family, probably on all of Remnant."

Emerald looked off to the horizon, "If we were supposed to escape unnoticed, we'd have been better off taking them out too."

Jeanne shook her head, "It was too late for that. Once we were spotted, it was too late for discretion. We needed to focus on our escape. And once we reach the open ocean, we'll need to conserve ammunition." Jeanne was silent after that.

This drew Emerald's attention again, "You alright?"

"No, Eugen. But I doubt I'll ever be. We have betrayed our alliance and sunk someone I called a friend. I've no doubt this will haunt me for as long as I live." Jeanne looked out onto the horizon, allowing the scene to transition.

There was a certain somberness that fell upon them. They'd just watched Jeanne turn Winter into scrap metal. But, thankfully, she seemed to have no joy in the situation. It was painful, but at least there was still a humanity to it.

A flag flew over a large harbor, a blue and white visage of the Royal Navy. As the camera moved around, they heard someone speaking in the background, sounding a lot like Peter Port. "The Ironblood have turned their backs upon us. In their grasp for power, they have taken lives from us. Today, I regret to inform you all of terrible news."

The scene moved to show Winter on something like a hospital bed, her body torn in half with her lower half missing. Wiring and oil fell onto the bed like blood and gore.

"The jewel of the Royal Navy, the HMS Hood, has been destroyed."

This just made the feeling in the room worse. It was one thing to assume her death, but to see the actual effect was a horrifying aspect.

"And so I call upon all the vessels of the Royal Navy! To every ship in our service! This is an order from Prime Minister Peter Port! Sink the Bismark!"

The camera showed Weiss as she improved her armaments.

"Sink the Bismarck."

Another shift showed Li sitting by the sea, face down and hidden by a military cap as a tear fell.

"Sink the Bismarck!"

Another showed Ruby as she relayed what happened to another ship in the service, a battleship that looked an awful lot like Yang.

"SINK THE BISMARCK!"

The screen turned black with those three words across the screen before fading out.

Yang turned to the viewers, hoping to diffuse things a bit, "Well… that was a thing."

Weiss shook her head, "Yang… just stop. It won't help after something like that…"

Yang looked between Weiss and her older sister, understanding. "Right. I got it."