Dialogue

February 19th, 2003 - Diego Garcia - Southern Expanse 

2147

"You want what now?" 

Fuji was shocked. This little girl had just suggested a military alliance on behalf of one of the strongest nations in the world.

"We would like to propose an agreement for joint military cooperation between your fleet and the Niemec Reich." The girl repeated, fear sounding in her voice. Her guards had stepped forwards, taking a protective stance, and moving to get in between them in case anything happened.

"Why would we agree to that?" Fuji asked, split between disbelief and confusion.

The girl paused, confused, as if she herself couldn't think of a reason why the Free Fleet should agree. She pulled out a piece of paper from one of her uniform pockets, probably instructions from her commander. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and looked up at Fuji, meeting her gaze.

"Since you are probably the target of this hunt, there is no doubt no place that you can't rest peacefully anywhere, at any island. If you agree to this deal, you will have unlimited access to all islands and harbours within the waters of the Reich."

Fuji glanced around abstractly, considering this. She knew that all Hasegawa wanted was to be able to live peacefully and without conflict, and this agreement could give him that life. She knew of course, that they were only suggesting this because they needed to survive the next few hours, and they could use Fuji and Hasegawa as tools to exert pressure on their enemies and bring about a favourable end to their war. All in all, it seemed like a good deal to her. 

But it wasn't her call to make. She had decided to devote her life to Hasegawa, and defer to his decisions unless they compromised his own safety. This was certainly a case where she had to defer to his judgement.

"I can't say yes to this agreement," Fuji began. She saw the girl's face fall immediately and realized that she probably hadn't said that the best way, quickly adding, "The Admiral can, though, so if you take us to meet your commander, they might work something out."

***

2204

Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya looked at the fleet before her. After 30 hours of continuous combat, the Red Navy's fleet had lost 3 destroyers and 4 submarines. Their foes, on the other hand, had suffered losses of about 40 light vessels, around two dozen submarines, one battlecruiser, and several hundred aircraft. 

The Gaul fleet had encountered an Oceanic fleet and the Hollandian main force, and they had joined together to try to fight off Gnevny's unstoppable fleet, but to no avail. They were stuck in a standstill, as the Red Navy simply didn't have the heavy firepower to break the allied battle-line.

Oktyabrskaya's phone rang, and it probably had been for a while. She had been in continuous combat for so long, she was barely able to focus on even just firing her guns. She slowly walked over to the phone, picking it up and accepting the call.

"Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya. Who is this?"

The voice that came through the phone was dripping with self importance, and made Oktyabrskaya want to punch something.

"Comrade Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, this is Admiral Frunze, arriving with the main fleet. I expect our Kommisar is still in good condition."

"Of course, Comrade Admiral," Oktyabrksaya replied, trying to keep the resentment out of her voice, "We have been waiting for you to make an appearance."

As she spoke, she saw Frunze's fleet join with Gnevny's. Her three sisters, and the only other three battleships in the entire Red Navy, Marat, Parizhskaya Kommuna, and Frunze, lined up alongside her. Each of them lined up her four triple turrets, and together they fired 48 12" shells at an enemy battleship, sinking her instantly. None of them were all that strong on their own, but together, they could defeat almost any enemy.

Her sisters weren't the only new additions to the battle. Two light cruisers, Chervona Ukraina and Krasny Kavkaz, along with dozens of destroyers and submarines, flooded the area, tearing away at the enemy vanguard like starving wolves attacking a trapped deer. With every salvo, Oktyabrskaya and her sisters sank another ship, and the backbone of the enemy fleet buckled.

The allied fleet began to split and flee, ignoring how many losses they were taking because of it. Just like that, the tide of the battle had turned. Gnevny steamed ahead, leading the way towards Diego Garcia.

***

2236

"I'm glad that we could come to an agreement on this matter," Hasegawa said, stepping off of Wilhelm Gustloff's hull and onto Salem's.

"Words cannot describe how happy this makes me," Blücher agreed, "that the people under my command will be able to live another day, and survive this wretched hunt."

After about half an hour of negotiations, Hasegawa and Blücher had come to an agreement. The Free Fleet would protect Blücher's fleet and ensure that none of its members were killed by a foreign fleet, and Hasegawa would provide repair services for fatally injured Reich ships, and in exchange, the Free Fleet would gain full access to the entirety of the Niemec Reich, as well as all of the information that the Reich had on Tirpitz and her fleet.

Blücher had promised Hasegawa all of the files on Tirpitz once they returned to Berlin, but had given him a brief rundown of the situation.

The summary was: at the turn of the century, in early January 2000, Tirpitz, along with all of the ships in her northern fleet, had disappeared, leaving behind a letter addressed to Bismarck, Tirpitz's sister, and the commander-in-chief of the Reichsmarine. The letter was a standard farewell, but there was also a promise to 'fix everything', but no one other than Bismarck knew what that meant, and she refused to allow anyone else to know.

Since then, Tirpitz's Fleet would randomly attack Niemec ships that traveled through international waters, forcing the Reich into a somewhat isolationist position. Activity from Tirpitz's Fleet had died down, and it seemed like the two factions of the Reich might make amends and end their struggle, but then an unknown force destroyed the Singularity, and the Neutral League closed their borders, something that the Reich believes was caused by Tirpitz's Fleet. 

From what Hasegawa could tell, it seemed like a situation of a civil war, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than that. Tirpitz had spoken of some far-off goal that required him dead, and her letter mentioned 'fixing everything'. It didn't seem like the Reich would have many answers for him anyways. His best bet would be to find Tirpitz and get answers from her directly.