This is probably the bit where I start saying
But you know what, I don't want to. . . . . Cause everyone who reads this already understands that fact. :)
Disaster . . . If Admiral Kempf could describe the retreat from the unknown fleet, it would be with one word; Disaster. Not only did Kempf lose most of his battleships, he lost whole sections of his destroyer squadrons, dozens of cruisers, and almost all of his transports. Even as the last of the transports where making their retreat with one of the few battleships left defending the small ship line, it still wasn't enough.
Even as Kempf watched the last of his ships pass the storm wall and into safety, he never did let down his guard. The smoke, fire and overall poor condition of the ships also did little to help claim his nerves.
It was only after his fleet reached a rough distance of 30 kilo meters away from the storm wall did Kempf let his body relax as a heavy breath left his still body. Slumping down against a guard railing, Kempf slumped his head down as he stared at his shaking hand. Swallowing hard and grabbing it with his none shaking hand, Kempf steadied his hand.
"Just what kind of monster did we stumble upon?" Kempf quietly asked himself as he reached for his hat. Removing his cap, he allowed his short cut hair to flow in the cold wind as he stared at the very cap he wore. The symbol of an eagle holding onto an anchor while spreading its wings out was the symbol of the navy. A symbol, he could only see falling from grace after the defeat he suffered.
". . . This battle . . . Was just a waste of materials and manpower. . . So many young man, and for what?"
. . .
Firing their guns again for what felt like the hundredth time this day, Graf Spee along with her sister ship continued to fire off their 11inch triple barrel guns. Landing hits on most of the outlaying transports and a few pot shots at the trailing dreadnought. The deck of the said Dreadnought was left in flames as the guns that still worked fired back with little to no effect.
Even as the dreadnought listed to the side and slowed to a near crawl, it still fought on. Something Spee could respect out their new enemies. "Fight all you want, a cornered dog will only do so much before it's finally put down." Spee softly spoke out as her guns fired yet again.
Direct hits all across the dreadnought's deck. More flames sprout up as one of the main guns explode. Falling down, the barrels of the destroyed gun fall onto the deck of the ship. Letting out a soft sigh, Spee slowly relaxes herself into the captain's seat of her ship as she watches the distant battle slowly come to a halt as the nearly destroyed dreadnought finally passes through the storm wall.
"Looks like our jobs done." Spee off handle said as the enemy fleet disappeared beyond the wall.
"Looks like it sister, shall we start heading back?" Called a bored voice. Spee, quickly closed her eyes as she tilted her head to the side, as if she was putting any thought into what she was doing next, she corrected her head before responding.
"Sure, our job is done and the enemy is all gone. Besides, the rest of the fleet had already pulled out when the enemy lost its 20th battleship and expended tones of its ammo on both destroyers and transports alike. I'd say we did a pretty good job. Let's pull out and head back to base, I bet everyone's already started drinking." Getting a small but excited 'Ja' over the radio, Spee willed her ship to change course and begin heading back up North toward their base of origin.
.
.
.
It's been about 3 hours after the battle was fought and won. The girls who were part of William's fleet could be seen all gathering at the main bar under the hotel HQ, drinking, jeering, and just celebrating their first victory. A victory they got to share with the one who brought them back. Yet, despite the lively atmosphere, that same person which they all hold in high regard could not be found within the crowd.
Instead, on the highest level of the HQ, locked away within his cold office, William could be seen looking over a world map. His expression was indifference, the atmosphere was heavy, and over a million words needed to be said, yet none were spoken as William looked at just a map.
There were no details. No markings, no boarders, nothing. Just an empty map that had no details besides a marking for distance and a simple number grid. Overall, this was something that terrified William, not because he didn't know where the enemy fleet was, but because he didn't know anything besides the land formation of this world.
Just like the map, it was a plain and simple observation, they knew nothing and are now at war with an unknown nation. Taking in a deep breath of air and letting out a long sigh, William sat with elbows resting against his desk while his hands were held together. His eyes were focused and his expression was still.
"We're not ready for a war." William spoke, stepping over to his side while keeping their eyes on the map, Bismarck held a look similar to William as she too looked hard and long at the map.
"Indeed, but we had no other choice." Moving toward the map, Bismarck went to the side of the table and pulled on a drawer. From there, she placed several markers all over the map, we'll specifically at the North. "We detected an unknown fleet of warships escorting what could be described as an entire nations merchant fleet, they asked for permission to pass and we denied them. Then, the decided to force their way through even through we turned them away."
Placing a flag marker for a base, then a marker for a ship, then a fleet marker and so forth, Bismarck continued to speak. "We then attacked the fleet, which was made up of mostly transport and merchant ships. We stopped their advance and had them retreat with their tails between their legs." Taking one last piece, she placed an unknown marker at some point below the North.
"All the while, getting involve in this world's power struggle where we don't know their politics, we don't know the major players, we don't exactly know what kind of technology they have, and what's worse is that we may have just dragged ourselves into some sort of major conflict between two superpowers." William finished Bismarck's words as he stared at the map.
The North was marked with several ship markers representing the fleet which were all currently at port, the base, and the one outlying marker which represents that Geais empire fleet they encountered, or what remains of it.
"If I had to associate this situation to anything, it would be like picking a fight without doing any of the basics." Staring hard at the map, William glossed over what was shown and what wasn't. "There is also the possibility that we just caused a massive power sway in whatever conflict is brewing. Which, if I'm correct will quickly be filled by who ever is daring or stupid enough to spend the blood and recourse necessary."
Sighing again, William unfolds his hands as he looks to the map with wary eyes. Bismarck, turned to stare at William's face. She knew there situation wasn't good, nor was it bad, currently they were in a type of limbo of sorts. "On the bright side, we're still currently unknown to the greater world, which means we can start setting up plans and fleets for the eventual battles which are to come."
William nodded at Bismarck's words, he'd be lying if he said they didn't have an advantage, and that was through technology and strategy. "Right now, we need to focus on building up infrastructure which can sustain the fleet, and allow us the expand. We'll also need to focus on those other research branches like the 'army' branch and 'aircraft'. Knowledge is power, but pure power is also very important in a game of war."
Nodding her head, Bismarck then moves back to the side of William's desk. She then grabbed a report file which held several paper logs of each ship that were involved in the battle at large. "On a less, grim note, it appears that the fleet overall did not sustain any note worthy damage. Fuel and ammo will probably be the main points of concern."
"Right, I'll go through them quickly, go on ahead Bismarck and celebrate with the others. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day." Looking at William's expression, Bismarck could see that his eyes seemed far more distant, like a pattern his seen time and time again, William began setting himself for the long night of work.
Seeing that she could do nothing more for Willian, Bismarck gave a quiet nod before leaving the room. Once Bismarck fully left the room with a click of the door, Bismarck gave one last look toward the door. A long look of worry and possibly fear. On the other side, William quickly got to work sorting through the papers.
Checking reports, signing requests, and making sure there weren't any kind of mistake or error. William would work hard into the night, all the while he had his computer turned on and began putting his plans into action.
. . .
One Month Later
. . .
It's another cold day in the naval base, though the base was particularly more busy with activity, marching about in grey blue uniforms, wearing modified Stahlhelm helmets for winter and armed with a Kar98k bolt action rifles. These were soldiers who could all be found in the base, though there was one common feature seen among them all.
They all had pale skin, faded emerald eyes, and silver blond hair. Though the most notable feature was the nearly identical face they all had. These soldiers, were nothing more but the homunculus William had created at the research and army development sector of his base found near the centre of the bustling base.
The general characteristics of these soldiers were mostly young men around either the ages of 18 or 20, through there were a few outlying deviants such as female soldiers, men with beards, or some other little detail which made them stick out from the regular rank in file soldier.
Though, whether this was done intestinally or by mistake, William cared little about it. So long as he has soldiers that could fight on land, then he will be happy with just that. Toward the harbour of the base, several dry-docks could be seen being occupied by several destroyer or light cruiser halls. All of which are at various levels of completion as the mannjuas worked at building the various warships.
Finally, located on the other side of the base, opposite of the harbour, was a large airstrip. Lined up all along the main airstrip were several old World War One style German aircraft that all had paper frames with wooden bodies. Some of these aircraft could even be seen taking off as homunculus soldiers dressed as pilots take off and begin flying through the sky while performing several different maneuvers.
At the centre of the base, was the HQ hotel. Though one noticeable difference about it was the flag pole which seems to be flying a flag. Though, the strange part about it was that it wasn't a German empire flag, nor was it anything from similar to William's old nation's flag. Far from it, it was something that could be a mix between a Norsemen nation flag, but with a symbol at the cross roads of the flag.
A white flower found in the red Cross with a yellow edge and dark blue background. The symbol of William's fleet. As the flag flew in the cold winter wind, William could be found standing alone in his office. He was looking outside to see the grey sky, the occasionally plane, and the general activity of the base.
Sighing, William took a step away from the window and returned to his desk where he started working out some orders and reports. "You are aware of what I'm asking you, Tirpitz?" Speaking while he sorts through his desk, the short silver haired girl of the North could be seen standing before William.
Her white uniform was as still as her own posture as she stood before William's desk. "I am, I also know I'll be sailing into unknown territory with only two escorts. One heavy cruiser, and one destroyer." Nodding his head, William affirmed Tirpitz's words before speaking again.
"You'll also be sailing toward the South East and scouting out the continent known as Atnna while engaging any warships you come across, I don't care if they are Geais empire or not. If they pick a fight with you, you shot back. I'll deal with whatever political shit storm that happens later." William said as he put down a report before looking Tirpitz straight in the eyes
He could see her unchanging eyes, her cold persona, and overall lack of fear and confidence. On the other hand, William held a worry look within his eyes as he stared at Tirpitz. "Admiral, I'd appreciate if you could stop looking at me with those eyes."
Sighing, William slouches in his chair before talking back. "So, it doesn't help that I'm still worried about you and the others. You'll be far from home and in trouble if anything goes wrong."
"Which is why I'm best suited for the job, after all I am the Queen of the North who fought with little chance of surviving." Again, William gave a sharp sigh as he looked down at his desk.
"Still though, stay safe, and remember that your safety and the fleets are above everything else." Cracking a small smile, Tirpitz gives a short nod before marching off and out of the office. Once she left, William let out a long and heavy sigh. "Ugh, this isn't going to be easy, is it?" Looking over to the side, William looked toward Bismarck who stood by his side with a reassuring smile.
"Well, intel is important, we're going to need it if we want to survive in the coming battles." Bismarck stated as she walked over to pick up the sorted files and paper work.
"Still though, a battleship with a heavy cruiser and destroyer escort? I don't like their odds if they run into a major battle group." William watched as Bismarck moved to the filing cabinet and began sorting through all the documents in their respective places.
"You worry too much, besides she's fought bigger ships before and came out on top." William scoffed at those words as he slumped down into his chair.
"That was because I was there to make sure she didn't sink." Bismarck gave a side glance toward William before sighing. Placing the last of the documents away, she then walked over to William before moving to the side of his chair. Still looking dejected, William paid little attention to Bismarck before she crouched down and laid her head atop William's lap.
Snapped out of his funk and looking at Bismarck with an empty stare. "What are you doing?"
"Making you pay attention to me." Bismarck snapped back as she kept her head firmly placed on William's lap
"Isn't that uncomfortable?" William asked with a confused expression.
"It is, but now I got your attention~." Looking up at William with a sly smirk, she then stood up again. She twisted William's chair before taking a seat on William's lap. "Und now I've taken my rightful seat for a job well done.~"
William was left stocked still as Bismarck gave a victorious smile toward the still William. His face visibly became a shade red when he looked away and tired to hide his face underneath his admiral's cap. "Who the hell do you think you are for claiming someone's lap as your seat? That's just. . . . Why are you . . . graahhh!" scrounging up his face, William tried to grab another report to work on.
Well tired to anyway, Bismarck being quick, took hold of William's hand before he could even reach the desk. "My oh my, trying to ignore the beauty who's placed perfectly before you with some work? My, that just won't do my~, dear~, ad-miral~."
"Gah!" Getting redder and redder by the second, William was being placed between a rock and a hard place. The rock being Bismarck's words and the hard place being her body. The atmosphere itself was even changing to fit a mood of some kind of cutesy moment between couples. 'Wh-what the hell happened to Bismarck?! When was she this assertive?! I-I don't understand, why is she begin so forward with me?!' Looking away while trying to cool his head, he was denied his chance of respite when Bismarck continued her assault.
Leaning in closer and taking hold of William's face, she forced William to face her as the two had their faces parted by just a mere inch of space. Her lips, her smell, her breath could all be felt by William's senses as Bismarck continued playing her dangerous game. To William, it didn't look like he was going to escape anytime soon whether he stayed and continued to fall deeper and deeper into Bismarck's hands. She wanted something, and that something was just an inch away from her face.
With a face as red as a tomato, William all but tried to remain claim in his situation. Though, it all failed as Bismarck continued to drag out this scene. 'I-I can't let this go on! I can't!!' Yelling into his thoughts and keeping his embarrassment to a minimum for what he is about to.
With all the willpower he had left, William took a deep breath before making his move. "Oh dear, it seems-" Letting his free hand he cups Bismarck's face. "-that I-" Taking his other hand, he frees his hand and moves it around Bismarck's waist where he then moves her body around to the point where their positions are now switched. "-don't remember, ever belonging to anyone one." With a gentle motion he moves his face close to Bismarck's.
"Only that you belong to me~." Now in a position of power, William had turned the tables around and was now keeping Bismarck seated below himself. Bismarck, on the other hand could only look at William with shock, before her face suddenly turned crimson after realizing everything that happened, from what he said to his actions to take up their current position. It would have been cooler if William wasn't still some what red from ear to ear as he stared down Bismarck.
"H-h-h-hey now, t-t-this isn't f-f-air!" Bismarck stuttered, William on the other hand was keeping his face as cool as possible as he stared into Bismarck's eyes. Though, that was just the outside, on the inside it was a complete mess.
"GAAAAHHHHHH!!! WHY DID WE SAY THAT?!?!?!" Said one mini version of William yelled out while pulling on his hair.
"God, just kill me now!!!!" Another was seated in a corner while it's face was red like the sun.
"SH-SHUT UP YOU IDIOTS!! W-WE GOT THE INITIATIVE NOW!!" One that had a blazing blush could be seen at some sort of control panel as he stared at a screen projecting what William was seeing.
"She-she-she so preettyyy, and smells like roses, aaahhhh~" Falling over to the side, another mini William fainted due to the overload of Bismarck's overwhelming beauty and smell.
"EVERYTHING'S GOING UNDER!! CODE RED! CODE RED!! ABORT THE MISSION!! ABORT THE GODDAMN MISSION!!!" On a separate screen, a mini William wearing a hard hat could be seen yelling into a screen as his background was nothing but fire and screams as other mini Williams battled a raging fire.
"WE'RE LOSING OUR REASON CENTRE!! MOTOAR CONTROL IS FALLING TO 50%!! AT THIS RATE WERE GOING TO START LOSING SPEECH!!!" One called out at a console that was just beeping red all over its screen.
"WE'RE ALL DOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEDD!!!!"
. . .
Ok, back in the real world. As both William and Bismarck held their positions, waiting for the other's next strike. A knock at the door snapped the two back into reality, however before the two could separate from their current position. The door slowly opened to revel Mainz. "Pardon the intrusion Admiral, I was wondering if . . . you . . . could. . . . . Gah."
Staring at the current predicament between William and Bismarck, Mainz and her mostly pure personality could only come to one sudden and complete conclusion while looking at the scene. That was, 'T-t-t-they were about to. . . They were about too-!'
"GAAAHHHH!! I'M SORRY FOR INTERRUPTING!!" Turing on her heels with a face as red as a tomato, Mainz quickly bolted out and away from the room while running down the halls like a headless chicken. Meanwhile back in the room, all the documents and papers that where originally in her hands all flew out of her hands and left a small mess at the foot of William's office door.
". . ."
". . ."
Left alone again in the room, the two look back to each other. Then at the same time, both their faces turned red as they quickly distance themselves while looking away. ". . . So, how are we going to explain this one?" Asked Bismarck as she stared into the window while seated.
"Probably label it as Mainz just being lewd again and making a scene." William said as he looked at some paintings of battleships and the like.
"Agreed, then will leave this as a draw?"
"Agreed."
The two then quickly switched positions and began working again as usual, through with the occasional side glance from one another. Something that became a little too common for a workplace environment as a dust of red could be seen on either of two's faces.
. . .
Out on the high seas, Tirpitz, along side Puncher and a destroyer marked as T-23, could all be seen sailing out in the greater world. There objective was the scout, but that didn't mean they couldn't cause some chaos while there at it. Leading the formation was Puncher, then followed by Tirpitz and finally the destroyer as the ship trailed behind.
A pretty small squadron, yet it was one that came fully prepared for the job ahead. On the bridge of the Tirpitz, the named girl of the ship could be seen seated on there captain's chair. She rested her head against her fist while she took a nap. It was the third week since they left port, and yet they have yet to reach land or make contact with anyone.
'Another uneventful day at sea' Tirpitz silently thought as she listened to her radar and sonar for anything. Yet she could hear nothing, no ping or blip on either her radar or sonar. Though, she wouldn't have to wait any longer when a message from the nearby destroyer came through.
"Radar ping at bearing 0-9-0, looks like we found some fresh meat~!" With an excited and joyful voice, the destroyer girl spoke with joyful glee as her message went over the fleet.
"Really? Your not pulling my leg, right Hobby?!" Puncher asked over the line as a wave of uncertainty and possibly doubt coated her voice as she asked over the radio.
"No, she's telling the truth, I'm also getting a radar ping and a faint engine noise over my sonar." Tirpitz quickly dismissed the doubt in Puncher's mind as she swiftly moved from her seated position to the observation deck of her bridge. Stepping out into the cool breeze of the ocean, Tirpitz could see that the weather was partially cloudy with barely any kind of rough waves to speak of.
"Oh good, I thought for sure I was going insane with all the pranks Hobby was pulling on me." Puncher spoke with relief, Tirpitz noted Puncher's tone as she looked over the horizon to the starboard side of her ship.
"H-Hey! That's rude Punchy! Shouldn't you be more kind to your fleet mates?" Hobby, the destroyer, asked with a clear sign of betrayal in her voice. Tirpitz gave a soft chuckle at Hobby's words, soon the channel began to light up with noise as the two girls continued their talk over radio.
Though, it didn't last very long when Tirpitz noticed something on her radar regarding the ping she got from earlier. "Alright you two, enough. Hobby did you notice the change in direction?"
"Ja, the fleet suddenly turned toward the West. I think they're starting to chase something? I can't really tell." Resting her chin against her thumb and fingers, Tirpitz looks down in thought as she takes in the situation before them.
'We've been out at sea for roughly 3 weeks now, we have yet to reach our target area and are now seeing some form of radar contact. They don't seem to be reacting to us, but are turning in to something else. What's more, we still have plenty of fuel spare and shells yet to be used. . .' Growing a small grin at the situation presented before her, Tirpitz opens her eyes as she looks out toward the supposed radar contact.
"Hobby, take the lead, we're following the unknown." Turning on her heels, Tirpitz walks back into her ship's bridge. Leaving the door open, the walks back in and takes a seat on her chair. Her smile never leaving her face as she seats down with confidence and excitement.
"Wait, we're going in?" Hobby asked confused over the radio.
"Wasn't our mission to scout out the shore of the land?" Puncher asked, the same uneasy voice shared with Hobby. Tirpitz, on the other hand, had her smile grow wider.
"Of course will do our scouting, however, that doesn't mean we can't go and skip out on some random unknown fleet? After all, we have a reputation to up hold for being the terrors of the sea." Like a domino effect, the wicked smile that grew on Tirpitz slowly spread to the faces of the other two girls.
Puncher's expression soon mimicked that of Tirptz's, while a hidden face showed her smile as well.
""Of course, where there is prey, there will be a slaughter~!"" The two exclaimed over the radio. Soon, the fleet began to shift its formation. Turning hard to Starboard, the destroyer over took the heavy cruiser and battleship as it gained the lead in the formation. The heavy cruiser then took up a position behind the battleship as the moving metal island of guns and steel remained in place.
Like a smooth, well oiled machine, the small fleet began to track down its prey of unsuspecting victims, ripped for the taking.
. . .
At roughly 120 km away from the approaching Germany fleet, a fleet of eight American style armoured cruisers could be seen sailing in a fixed formation of two lines of four in a square like formation. They were sailing roughly South-South-West, and were targeting a near by smoke stack they spotted over the horizon.
The ships in general looked something like a Tennessee class armoured cruiser, though a notable difference about the cruiser when compared to the world war 1 ship was that it's two main guns where noticeably larger in size and calibre.
Another, more noticeable difference about the ship wasn't it's overall shape and size, but the flag each ship sailed.
With a red background, a green base, blue arrow at the side and eight golden stars placed on the red. This was the flag of the Republic, more specifically the Republic of Arcadia that was once a colony of the Geais Empire. On the bridge of one of the leading armoured cruisers, a man dressed in a white admiral's uniform with a captains cap placed neatly on his head could be seen standing tall as he looked through the ship's bridge window.
"Sigh, another day hunting empire merchant ships." The man said as he looked to the horizon to see the distant clouds of smoke. He held a small smile as he watched the distant black smoke stacks slowly became more and more visible as they approached.
Soon, after roughly half an hour of just sailing without much to do, the captain was able to make out the rough outlines of a merchant fleet that was being guarded by a light escort of some cruisers. Smiling at the near defenceless fleet, the man was just about to give an order when-!
*KA-BOOOOOOMMMM*
Rocking the ship he stood on, the man lost his balance as he tried balancing himself on a nearby wall. Looking around, the captain could see the crew of ship were up in a panic as they all ran about. Frantic messages could be heard coming from the pipes as men screamed out in either pain or were yelling about fires.
"Wh-what the hell is going on?!" The man yelled out as an officer who was busy receiving a message spoke up.
"We've been hit sir!" Looking confused, the man looked out over the bow end of his ship to still see the convoy was moving without stopping. He looked back to the officer.
"How? The empire's fleet isn't even firing yet!"
"I-I don't know sir! I'm getting reports of fire spreading all throughout the engine room and it's not stopping!" Gone was the smile from before as a serious and strained look of desperation took hold.
"Where the hell did that shot come from?! I want spotters to find the damn the origin of that shot!!" Another officer came running into the bridge, out of breath and clearly shaken up as he yelled out.
"Unknown fleet is approaching from behind us!"
"What!" Rushing out of the chaotic bridge and out to the observation deck, the man quickly scanned the horizon behind his fleet of ships. Smoke and fire could be seen sprouting from the centre of the ship. Soon, serval columns of water could be seen sprouting out before another ship was hit.
Straining his eyes to the best of his abilities, slowly he was able to make out the distant form of what looked like to be a small island. An island, that was armed with some really big guns.
End of chapter
word (5113)
Ugh, that took a while. Anyway, here's there's chapter and I hope you enjoyed the little bit I had with Bismarck and William. Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time. :)
Warning!!
A new challenger has appeared, what will you do?
Note: all art, music, and content used in the making of this chapter is not mine. All credit should go to the proper creators. Thank you, and have a lovely day. :)