9 [No Bullets Fly]
"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
—Aristotle
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The entire Blue Steel Fleet, including their "guests", were all gathered in the mess hall, the humans chose to sit on the surprisingly comfortable swivel chairs while the majority of mental models chose to stand, exceptions being Hyuuga, Iona and Kirishima who was, as per usual, being straddled by a nervous Makie. The situation that they have found themselves in was unfavourable by a massive margin. Gunzou was fully expecting the Fog to track Haruna and Kirishima down and come for them, Kongou was an obvious candidate for the job, but what nobody, absolutely nobody saw coming, not even Bismarck who was the most shocked out of everyone...
Was for the Kriegsmarine Fleet to come as well.
There was but one battleship on their radar, but it was a warship capable of going toe-to-toe with Bismarck himself. How? Why? Well, the answer should be obvious. Why couldn't a warship of the same design as him put up a decent fight? That's right, the lone battleship was none other than the warship Bismarck had thought he sank when he defected.
Tirpitz
Why was he here? Was Bismarck tracked? Impossible. Unless... Haruna and Kirishima provided the Fog with information. Yet they both denied doing so explicitly, they even hid the information on Makie from the Fog. So why... How did Tirpitz even survive a blast from Bismarck's Orbital Weapons Platform?! And why did his signature feel so different... He must have assumed the role of a flagship after Bismarck's leave. So that must have meant that Tirpitz has Flagship Equipment under his belt, and that alone spelt a world of trouble for the Blue Steel Fleet. Especially so since Bismarck had been unable to re-establish a connection with Der Hammer, leaving him without any functional Flagship Equipment to speak of. Dammit, all! And worst of all, neither Kongou nor Tirpitz came alone. Heavy cruiser Maya along with a small number of Nagara-class warships accompanied the First Oriental Fleet. Tirpitz meanwhile brought along a wolfpack of U-Boats, roughly eight of them and all quite capable. Dammit²!
"This... isn't good," thank you genius Kyouhei for gracing the room with your unbridled intellect.
"Yeah, this is worse than the worst possible scenario," Gunzou appeared to be deep in thought, already thinking about how he can escape from this situation with his screw and ship intact, "Bismarck."
"Yes," stoically replied Bismarck, not taking his eyes off the large screen showing the position of their enemies.
"Can you provide any sufficient data on the Kriegsmarine fleet?" ah, so Gunzou wanted information, smart man, knowing your enemy will always give you a much-needed edge in battle.
"My information on Tirpitz is outdated, his specifications must have changed as his readings are much different than what they used to be," Bismarck had no reason to withhold information, Tirpitz was his enemy, and if he posed a threat... well, Bismarck himself will make sure he rusts on the seabed.
"Sigh, not good," sighed Gunzou, taking a quick note at how all of the Fog warships were stationed around the island and none were moving or attacking, "Well, at least they won't just outright attack us. They must have noticed Hyuuga's modifications to this island, so they are wary. Bismarck, what about the U-Boats?"
Crimson data rings appeared around Bismarck's body as he shuffled through all the available information he had in his memory, "From the signature, I'd say Type VIIIB U-boats. Mediocre wave-force armour, good camouflage, good reload time, fourteen 553mm torpedo tubes. Transferring data to I-401."
"Transfer received and logged," stoically replied Iona as her own blue data rings appeared for a split second, the data Bismarck sent being quickly logged onto her mainframe and projected onto the screen.
"Hmm... What do you think our odds are of victory if we engage in direct combat?" Gunzou's question wasn't directed towards one particular person, but towards everyone present in the room.
Despite everyone's difference in optimism, not one person could deny that they were in for a tough battle. Especially with only Iona and Hyuuga fighting for them, they were in very rough waters. Kongou and Maya alone, they could manage, probably. But with their escort and now Tirpitz and his own fleet of U-boats... their odds of victory were...
Abysmal
"With the current armament of I-401 and the Iwo Jima island taken into consideration, you'll be able to avoid annihilation for less than an hour, I'd say... thirty minutes at best," one can only imagine how every human's heart sank when hearing those words come from Bismarck's mouth.
Gunzou seemed to ponder for a minute, gazing at the silhouettes of the warships that surrounded the Iwo Jima from all sides with a stern look, "Hyuuga, can you contact Kongou and Tirpitz?"
"Huh?" as one can imagine, everyone looked at the Blue Steel captain like he had said something incredibly stupid, which may or may not have been the case.
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A lonesome figure of a male clad in a black Kriegsmarine uniform could be seen on a large, imposing warship. The primary colour of the behemoth was black with many bright blue glowing markings running across its hull. Its impressive armament of four twin-barrel 380mm cannons were aimed directly at the modernized and occupied island of Iwo Jima in the distance. The man stood on the very bow of the vessel, near the glowing blue Iron Cross. His blue eyes gazed at the island with an empty yet somehow hopeful look. His hair was white, but when light reflected off of it just right one could see a few strands of light blue in it, similar to Iona's hair.
Light blue data rings formed around the man as he received a transmitted message, not from Hyuuga though, but from Kongou, "Why are you here, Tirpitz?"
"...Investigation," was Tirpitz's stoic and emotionless reply as he rudely cut communications with the gothic flagship, clearly not in the mood to talk to her.
Not long after, another transmission appeared on his data rings, but this one was not from Kongou or anyone he knew personally, but from a fast battleship known as Hyuuga, "Speak."
"Sheesh, someone's grumpy. Ahem, I will now proceed to relay a message from Chihaya Gunzou," Tirpitz's eyebrow at what Hyuuga was going to say next, clearly not expecting to receive such a message.
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"...You planned this," annoyedly replied Bismarck, feeling his ire rising just by looking at the smirk present on Chihaya Gunzou's face.
If Gunzou's previous order to contact Kongou and Tirpitz was a massive gamble, then his current order, or rather more specifically a request, was the epitome of an absolute madman. His allies and friends thought so too, but they knew their captain well, and Gunzou was anything but a man not willing to take huge risks and make gambles with their lives.
"If you say so," replied Gunzou, already knowing he had Bismarck driven into a corner, "I've already asked you before, but I'll ask again... Will you aid us in this battle?"
Bismarck sighed, remembering the conversation he had with the Blue Steel captain just a few hours prior. The man must have suspected this was going to happen sooner or later, so he wanted to make sure he could rely on Bismarck's strength should the situation go south. The situation didn't just go south though with the addition of Tirpitz, it went fucking ballistic. They were surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered. But, if Bismarck agrees to aid them with the upcoming battle, they will have the key element of surprise and a large battleship with incomparable firepower on their side. They could very well spare the last nanomaterial they had on hand and give Hyuuga her vessel, but the obvious, more favourable situation would be Bismarck fighting for them. It annoyed him slightly, the cunningness of Gunzou Chihaya was certainly not to be underestimated. But one quick glance at Makie who was giving me a hopeful look with puppy-dog eyes pushed him in the right direction.
"...Verdammt... Fine," Bismarck relented, Makie would never let him live it down if he turned his back on them now, especially since Makie seemed to like them.
Gunzou allowed a satisfied smile to grace his features, clearly happy with Bismarck's decision to aid them, "Hyuuga, transfer all the necessary nanomaterials to Bismarck."
"Okay! Head to Dock 3, all the necessary materials should be at your disposal," Bismarck really hated having to play someone else's game, but at the moment he had no other choice, the situation was dire.
And so, with no further need to remain in the room, Bismarck headed towards the underwater docks where I-401's vessel along with Takao's were anchored. Makie pretty much jumped from her chair to follow her first best friend she had made, Yotaro still clutched in her hands. Of course, where Makie goes Haruna goes too, and so she followed as well.
"You should go back," Bismarck's tone was dead serious as they walked into the underground docks of Iwo Jima.
"No!" Bismarck sighed at Makie's persistence, not looking at her and instead had his attention on the four large tankers waiting for him near the third dock, "I'm coming with you!"
"No, you are not," Bismarck's denial shocked Makie, Haruna merely narrowed her eyes, already predicting Bismarck's next few words, "You will go with Chihaya Gunzou and his crew."
"What?! Why?!" Makie was clearly not happy with Bismarck's decision, but not even the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes could change his decision.
Kirishima and Haruna remained understandably quiet, the reasons behind Bismarck's words were all but obvious to the two of them despite how little they knew the male mental model, "I cannot guarantee your safety, henceforth you will be going with Chihaya Gunzou. Kiri-... Yotaro and Haruna will look after you, right?"
"O-Obviously!" hastily replied Kirishima while Haruna gave a small nod.
"I will see you... sometime later," Bismarck's tone may have sounded stoic, but there was a hint of uncertainty and sadness in it, nevertheless, he connected his Union Core into the base's mainframe and started the preparations for rebuilding his vessel.
Despite all her intellect, Makie Osakabe was overcome with an emotion of betrayal and sadness, clenching her eyes shut tight as tears started to trickle down her cheeks, she turned on her heel and ran away, "Stupid Bon-Bon!"
Bismarck huffed as he diverted all of his attention to programming the extremely malleable microscopic material into reforming his vessel. He noted that Haruna had yet to follow after Makie but said nothing.
"...Don't die," was all that Haruna said as she turned to leave the docks after Makie and Kirishima who was involuntarily carried away, "Makie will be sad if you do."
Bismarck stayed silent for a moment, "...I won't."
That was the last tidbit of conversation the two had as the blonde walked away, leaving Bismarck completely alone to his own devices. As Haruna left the docks she suddenly found herself standing still, silently looking back towards the entrance to the room she just left before sighing.
"Please... don't die."
Now completely alone, Bismarck's mind swirled with emotions unlike ever before. Closing his eyes for a moment, he grits his teeth and clenched his fists in anger before letting out a long sigh, tilting his head backwards to open his eyes and look at the ceiling.
"I... refuse to fall."
Glistening silver matter exploded from within the nanomaterial tanks, swirling into a large whirlwind of microscopic probes that quickly began to rebuild the legendary battleship, piece by piece. The male mental model's body was for a moment surrounded by crimson light before it disappeared with a flash, revealing Bismarck's new appearance.
A black captain's hat adorned the top of his head, it had an Iron Cross in the front centre. Unlike his previous uniform, this one wasn't an actual uniform but more of a suit. Completely black in colour were Bismarck's shoes that reached just below his knees, his slightly lighter pants were neatly tucked into them in a true German style. A belt with a silver Iron Cross was wrapped around Bismarck's abdomen and a long black trench coat was hanging from his shoulders, acting as a sort of cape.
Bismarck's eyes flashed with deep crimson colour, lightly lighting up the silver cluster of nanomaterial that was reconstructing his vessel. If one were to look at him now they'd most likely run away in panic upon seeing the predatory smile that spread across Bismarck's already imposing appearance.
...
...
...
"Hail to the king, baby."
