The adventures of Prinz Eugen and the young engineer Volume 1.

No. 4 Chapter 8

One and a half hours later the young engineer arrived at the gate to the old Submarine assembly plant. The normally almost abandoned place was now heavily guarded. The young engineer could see over 50 naval infantrymen on guard just from his position at the gate. He handed the gate guard his papers and orders to be checked before he was let through. Parking his bike next to two two staff cars, he was greeted by an engineer who hurried over to him. "Good morning. We did not expect you to arrive here this fast. I am Ingenieur-Oberaspirant (Equivalent to Sub-Lieutenant of the engineers in the Royal Navy) Schulz. It is nice to meet you. L.I. Mahler has sent me to pick you up." He explained while catching his breath. The man in front of the young engineer was at most 18. Not that much younger than the young engineer but he was still treated by him like he was an established person of respect. A fact the young engineer was uncomfortable with. But he realised that he was as Marine-Oberstabsingenieur (Equivalent to commander in the Royal navy.) with 4 years of service by now. Worlds ahead of the young officer he just met. Following Schulz they passed the old submarine bunker and walked to the outfitting pier. The young engineer's heart dropped.

Fastened to the pier was the hull of the last ship of the Admiral Hipper class of cruisers in Ironblood. Seydlitz was the second to last of the series of 5 ships and was almost completed as a cruiser when the decision was made to convert her to a carrier. Her conversion was stopped when the conflict with the Royal Navy and Eagle Union escalated some 60 years ago. Since then and because of the changes the Sirens brought, she had been laid up and no work to finish her had been done. The last time the young engineer saw the ship was when she was laid up at one of the piers of the AG Weser in the fishinghabor in Wesermünde, when he was a child. He and his friends used to go to her after school and play on and in the ship. Running away whenever one of the few guards of the ship were onto them.

Walking onboard the ship, the young engineer finally saw his friend Fritz. "You guys are finishing work on Seydlitz?" He asked the obvious question. "Hello my friend. Indeed, many ships that had been started to be built during the war and before the Sirens appeared have been restarted and work is progressing on them. It turns out we were not the only ones to think of the possibility of awakening new ships. But we probably figured out the last piece of the puzzle to make it happen." Fritz Mahler greeted his friend and started to explain the situation. "Since Seydlitz was the hull that was most completed, I was informed of the secret work on it after I made my report on our ideas. I was immediately told to get here and set up for trials and to get you here and to try out our theory. We are supposed to awaken Seydlitz." He concluded. The young engineers' excitement grew. "You mean you ordered me here to help you awaken Seydlitz?" He asked not believing the idea. "Yes. That is the idea. After all, you were the one who figured out how to transform the rigging as well. You see, that is the issue. No one has any idea where to start and to infuse the wisdomcube into the ship. There is no convenient plug for it after all." Elaborated Fritz and presented the issue they had with a smirk. "I see. So you guessed that I would know out of my gut where to infuse a wisdomcube into a conventional ship's hull." Answered the young engineer with a tone of sarcasm. "Who knows?" Added Fritz. The young engineer rubbed his chin. "I guess we could try it out. But we definitely need protective gear. I don't want to end up like last time." The young engineer cautioned while agreeing to the plan. "No problem. We have steelworkers gear to protect us against heat and light." Answered Fritz Mahler. "We also got half a dozen Wisdom Cubes to try to get our project going. At least we guess that we need more than one judging from the energy and power level difference between cruisers and destroyers." Added Fritz while pointing to a couple of crates next to him. "So, how about we get dressed and grab a couple of those things and explore the ship?" Fritz invited his friend.

After changing into the hot suits the two engineers grabbed each one of the laundry basket

sized containers which held two wisdom cubes each. Both wore earbuds and microphones attached to radios to communicate with each other and the rest of the researcher outside on the dock. "Are you ready to go?" Asked Fritz, his colleague. The young engineer nodded. The two men that looked like astronauts from a bad science fiction movie entered the interior of the ship through one of the doors in the superstructure. "Any ideas where we should try out our idea first?" Fritz continued his questions. "Not really. I am trying to figure out suitable places." Answered the young engineer. "What about we try out the vitals of a ship? I mean if we think of them in terms of human anatomy, we should try to figure out vital organs right?" Fritz proposed. "This stuff is so far gone from any normal engineering, we might as well consider that." Agreed the young engineer. "So let's get to the engine room then?" The young engineer asked and Fritz gave him a thumbs up. "Good idea. After all, some of the destroyers always said that as long as their engines run they would be around." The two struggled through the ship in their protective suits.