Long Live Ironblood: The Greatest Defense

Deep Into The Unknown

"He hasn't woken up yet..." Bismarck says sorrowfully as she emerges from the repair bays.

Earlier

"I just want to know this, is he going to be okay?" Bismarck asks the repairmen as they work on the unconscious commander.

"He is technically an experimental ship." One of the repairmen replies. "He is more human than he is ship, I'd give that he's three quarters human as opposed to say, you being half and half. We'll do our best to get him up and going again."

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Bismarck asks. "We may be leaving for our homeland soon."

"At the very least, a few weeks. It's like doing surgery but all the parts are in all the wrong places." The repairman replies. "Not that I'm saying we CAN'T revive him. It's likely we can revive him but because of the way he was experimented on it'll be a while. Future repairs will be a lot easier as they go on, and if you do end up leaving we can always transfer him to your repair bay, where it might be easier to do repairs."

"Understood." Bismarck says, her head drooping down.

"Now come on why so blue?" The repairman asks. "You've seen him in the battlefield, you've seen him in the office, this guy's a do-it-all kind of guy! I'm sure it'll only take the least bit and before you know it he'll be good as new again."

"Thanks." Bismarck replies as she walks out.

"It's going to take a few weeks, at least?" Atago asks.

"He is considered an experimental ship after all." Bismarck replies. "I was his secretary ever since he became commander and he's put a lot of trust in me."

"I guess we won't have to worry about who's leading the Ironblood." Eugen says. "We'll be taking orders from you until he's back."

"Much appreciated." Bismarck says. "Well Takao, in a few days we'll be heading back to our homeland, but we'll be making the most out of our battle plans."

"I appreciate that." Takao chuckles. "But we suffered quite a few losses before everyone stopped fighting, I'm afraid we'll have to scrap some of them. For now we must heal our wounds, especially in your case."

"What plans are left?" Bismarck asks.

"We can't do any large scale assaults, but your commander and I did devise some reconnaissance missions that can get us a little more information on the Azur Lane." Takao replies. "And it may snag us some good resources."

"Man I wish U-556 were still with us." Bismarck says.

"Who's she?" Takao asks.

"She was one of our best subs, and one day she came up to me saying that submarine warfare was becoming obsolete. She's retired and probably in a much better place, I hope that one day I can visit her and see how she's doing. She was the one that saved my life after all."

"Was it during Rheinübung?" Akagi asks.

"No, I think it was after." Bismarck replies. "She saw me on the verge of sinking and got me all the way back into Ironblood homeland where Eugen and I were promptly fixed up. I'm surprised that she even made it."

"It was a matter of sheer willpower really, and escaping the hands of the Eagle Union." Eugen replies. "I think that was the only time my schwester was actually happy for me."

"Well scheisse don't call me out like that." Hipper chuckles awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "But still she's right, it was only by miraculous circumstances that they're still here. The commander on the other hand though..."

"They told me that he will be alright." Bismarck replies. "But I'm going to feel lonely without him to talk to, even with Tirpitz and all of you..."