[40:1]
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
—Friedrich Nietzsche
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"Ah... I really... hate the taste of saltwater..." the strained, tired and rugged voice of a barely conscious male sounded through the empty beach, his clothes were drenched as much as his hair, and he all but lost his coat and hat, revealing the decorated black uniform beneath the large article of clothing just as it did his now sand-covered black hair.
Bismarck's unmoving body lied still as a stone, he didn't need to breathe, nor did he have a heartbeat, so he truly appeared as a dead man to the naked eye. His crimson eyes were half-lidded, tired after the events that have transpired. What could have possibly happened to a legendary battleship such as himself? There was a small number of existing warships that could even think of going toe-to-toe with his vessel, yet here he is bruised and beaten, if he had blood he'd be bleeding all over the place. In all honest,y, he's thankful he even made it out with his core intact. Now, I'm sure all of you find yourselves asking something like this: "What in the world happened?" Well, to tell you that, we have to rewind time back a few hours...
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Across the blue waves of the Atlantic Ocean sailed a ship, a ship so massive and so heavily armed it was hard not to call it a battleship. In its wake were wreckages of tens of Fleet of Fog vessels ranging from destroyers to u-boats to cruisers. Its sight was set on the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Japan and one ship in particular. A so-called "right ship for the wrong war", a super battleship that couldn't reach its full potential because of the era it was built in.
Yamato
She was Bismarck's target. It was stupid, if not downright suicidal to provoke someone of Bismarck's calibre, no matter how powerful you believed yourself to be. The male battleship already made preparations for the grand battle and began moving his orbital weapons platform into position. To some, it may seem petty that a so-called King of The Ocean would throw a tantrum over being ignored. But to Bismarck, pride is all he had. In the end, what was he if not the flagship of the Kriegsmarine? Who was he if not the beast of steel, sailing across the seven seas? He would never admit it, or perhaps he himself was unaware of it, but Bismarck didn't want to become one of the many white sheep in a big herd. He didn't want to become insignificant. Bismarck chose to become a black sheep than just be another disposable member of the herd.
-BOOM-
He was brought out of his daydream by a sudden strike to his Klein field by a corrosive torpedo. Bismarck's super-advanced equipment didn't detect the approaching warhead, which meant it was fired by a vessel with exceeding stealth. A submarine. Tens of missile and torpedo tubes opened across his entire hull before launching a barrage of high-yield warheads in the general direction the torpedo came from. Most of them exploded harmlessly, but one managed to score a hit and tell him where the enemy was hiding.
"Rust on the seabed," with those final words, he fired a full salvo of his 15-inch main photon cannons whilst his vessel was tilted to the side, allowing his guns to have a good enough angle to hit the submerged enemy.
One salvo wasn't enough to break through the submarine's wave-force armour, so he fired another along with a small volley of corrosive torpedoes. He didn't fight back the small smile that appeared on his face when he saw the surface of the water explode, a signal that the enemy has sunk and their nanomaterial was his to assimilate. Bismarck wasn't an idiot, he had his pride but even he knew how quickly submarines could transmit information, now the entire Fleet of Fog would know of his rebellion.
But his lips twisted into the shape of an animalistic smile nonetheless. Bismarck's grin didn't falter as the quickly approaching silhouettes of warships appeared over the horizon. Oh no, this was just another show of force that he had at his disposal. And so the battleship with its course long plotted only steamed ahead at full speed, bearing its full armament at the oncoming enemies.
The hunt for Bismarck has begun.
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Dark clouds loomed overhead, tall waves and powerful winds blew across the Pacific Ocean. The crack of the lightning splitting the ground, the thunder of tens of large cannons is sounding across the chaotic waters. Crimson spheres exploded around Bismarck's vessel as hundreds of red photon beams struggled to do any significant damage to his wave-force armour. Baptized in fire, the mighty battleship continued ahead flank as it fired salvo after salvo, sinking the Fog warships by the dozen and adding their nanomaterial to his own. Outnumbered 40 to 1, but not outgunned, not by a large margin. Thick fumes of smoke covered the battlefield in such darkness only the glowing markings on the vessels could visually tell of their location. Through the black smoke ripped red beams, splitting destroyers in half with a single salvo. Bismarck didn't bother to make any records of the ships he fought, they were just target practice. Insignificant ants that had the audacity to stand in his way. His hull pierced through the black cloud of smoke and emerged into the clear seas yet again.
"If this is the true might of the Fog then perhaps that Fraulein wasn't wrong about being able to eventually best us," his tone was laced with disappointment and venom, but he pushed on nonetheless.
He's seen the greedy and disgusting nature of humans, but he also saw their ability to learn from their past mistakes. The World Wars were such a staple, they showed the humans what horrors they could unleash onto one another on a whim. This helped them grow, pain and suffering helped them evolve. But Bismarck didn't care about helping the Fog right now, he only cared about his personal vendetta.
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Not far from Bismarck's location was another fleet, it too belonged to the Kriegsmarine. The most notable ship in the formation was a battleship, very similar to Bismarck in terms of size, shape and overall design. But instead of its markings glowing red, they glowed blue. In the formation with the mighty battleship was a considerable number of destroyers and heavy cruisers, and down below the surface of the water were tens of U-boats, ready to strike at a moment's notice. On the very end of the bow of the largest battleship in the formation stood a figure, male in stature and unmoving as it gazed into the distance where dark and eerie clouds loomed overhead.
"Oh, Bruder, what has caused you so much hatred?" asked the male melancholically as he ordered the entire fleet onward.
The man wore an outfit similar to Bismarck's, but it was more of a proper uniform than a modified one. His hair is starch white, a direct contrast to the person he referred to as a brother. His eyes are blue and his skin is pale. A neutral, if not sad expression adorned his features as he watched the ominous clouds slowly become larger and larger as he got closer and closer. The male Mental Model sighed as he tipped his hat slightly. His name? Many simply know him as "The Second in Command" or "The King's Brother". He is a person who looks up to his brother a lot, and he bears the name...
Tirpitz
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Before the fleet of Kriegsmarine warships could make it to Bismarck's location though, another fleet engaged the steel beast before them. It was a sort of signal that Bismarck entered the Pacific waters. They were Japanese ships, most were not worth mentioning, except one. A battleship, the first to ever pose as an adversary to Bismarck. Even with its seemingly outdated design, the battleship continued to rain corrosive torpedoes along with its own salvo of photon beams. But Bismarck's wave-force armour stood strong against the adversary. Even though his own guns seemed to be having about the same effect as the enemies. The super-dreadnought battleship-
Nagato
-Faced Bismarck's wrath with bravery, despite the many sinking vessels of what used to be her fleet. Her main battery was actually a bigger calibre than Bismarck, but she still found herself being pushed back. Not even her castmates were doing enough damage to his crimson wave-force armour. The Mental Model of the Nagato stood on the bridge of her superstructure, gritting her teeth as the battle continued to tilt toward's Bismarck's favour. She was a very short, yet elegant young lady with long black hair and pearly white skin. Her clothes appeared to be traditional Japanese kimono of sorts in the colour red with a very large white cape.
"Grgh, why are you doing this?!" yelled Nagato, her voice laced with anger and frustration, yet there was a hidden trace of guilt as she watched her comrades forever sink into the cold depths of the Pacific Ocean.
Their combat didn't stop, but Bismarck merely looked at her from his position with an uninterested look. He only spared Nagato a side-glance as his and her vessel quickly passed each other's broadside. Nagato couldn't quite see his Mental Model properly due to all the commotion that was going on, but she managed to capture a glimpse of a sadistic smile that appeared on Bismarck's face.
"Why? Because Yamato disrespected me," despite all the loud thundering of their guns, Nagato managed to hear his words, and they shocked her deeply.
"W-What?! All of this because-"
"Because Yamato dragged me across the Atlantic and then ignored my calls. So here I am, on a death march towards your precious leader," Bismarck's tone was dark, yet Nagato could distinguish something... eerie in his voice.
It was almost impossible to put into words, but at that moment, in the tone of his voice, Nagato swore she could hear the most sadistic, evil and terrible laughter. Of who? Or rather... of what, she didn't know. But it managed to invoke something new within her emotion emulator...
The dreadful sense of fear.
Unbeknownst to her, Bismarck was experiencing something similar, yet the feeling coursing through his body was something completely different to what she felt. It was a feeling of what he could only describe as a mixture of excitement, bloodlust, and satisfaction. His emotion emulator going into overdrive as it continued to intoxicate his mind. It was...
A feral sense of dominance.
The bone-chilling smile never wavered as Bismarck turned his ship around, but strangely enough, became stationary after doing so. Nagato raised an eyebrow but just a split second later her eyes shot open as Bismarck's hull horizontally split to reveal a massive barrel underneath. The barrel of a Super Gravity Cannon. Deep crimson gravitons quickly began to charge at the tip of the barrel, preparing to launch a beam Nagato knew she couldn't withstand. Her wave-force armour was already quite saturated, and there's not a snowball's chance in hell that her hull could withstand the force of a Super Gravity Cannon. So she did the only logical thing she could and began charging her own Super Gravity Cannon in response to Bismarck's. And then, they both fired.
Two incredibly powerful beams of gravitons collided, and with their collision came a great flash that was visible for at least a hundred miles. The sea split, and in the centre was a bright sphere the two beams created upon colliding. Neither battleship faltered, both gave their respective their all. Nagato grit her teeth, despite rerouting all of her energy into her Super Gravity Cannon she still couldn't push back Bismarck's attack. It was like trying to push a mountain. She didn't know why, but the reason was very simple. Bismarck's Super Gravity Cannon was modified, quite heavily so. One could say he was a fan of over-the-top single-shot attacks, and as such his Super Gravity Cannon was modified to be stronger, much stronger than any conventional cannon and with the option to divide into a multitude of smaller but weaker beams. It wasn't some supernatural force that was helping Bismarck, it was simply better technology.
"Auf Wiedersehen, Fraulein!" and then Bismarck stopped playing along to Nagato's game, and used 100% of his Super Gravity Cannon's capabilities.
The crimson beam of gravitons tore through any opposition it encountered along the way and quickly impacted the Klein field of Nagato. The wave-force armour didn't stand much of a chance and was oversaturated in a matter of seconds before breaking.
Nagato's final words before her departure from the world were quiet, unheard by even Bismarck, or anyone for that matter, "What have you set loose on us... Yamato..."
And then, an earth-shattering explosion erupted from the point of impact. The resulting shockwave blasted all clouds aside, along with pushing Bismarck back and nearly tipping him over. The force was so great it created waves that would've toppled any other ship in an instant. Bismarck shielded his eyes from the intense light, and as it died down he inspected the damage he caused. Nagato was... all but gone. Giving credit where credit is due, she put on a valiant struggle, but in the end, she was just another battleship without much going on for her. Just another stepping stone.
"May you rest on the seabed forever," his hull closed, hiding the immensely powerful Super Gravity Cannon behind layers of armour.
The Mental Model of the great battleship let out a prolonged sigh, he actually struggled a bit to defeat Nagato through conventional means and worked his processor to its limit firing that Super Gravity Cannon the way he did. He should just fire at full power next time and stop messing around. But the thrill of battle, the sense of utmost if not downright feral domination in combat he experienced was something he didn't know could feel so... euphoric. But his moment of peace was short-lived.
-BANG-
The thundering sound of battleship-calibre guns broke the short-lived silence as blue-coloured photon beams collided with the saturated Klein field of Bismarck's vessel. The wave-force armour held strong, but it was clear it was starting to reach its breaking point. When Bismarck looked to see who so foolishly just engaged him in combat his face paled slightly, or rather, it was overcome with a state of shock.
"...Bruder...?" his mouth slightly agape, Bismarck stared at the approaching flotilla of warships... from his fleet.
"Grüße, Bruder," stoically replied Tirpitz as he fired again, his fleet following the suit as it too started firing at their former flagship.
Bismarck grit his teeth, thin veins being visible in his eyes as his confusion turned into a look of fury. He aimed his guns... and fired back. He fired and fired, but their numbers were simply too much for the battle-worn battleship to thin out in time. His Klein field began to quickly oversaturate, and in time he knew it would collapse completely. Explosions rang from every direction as he was bombarded with corrosive torpedoes, missiles and photon beams. He sank a destroyer after destroyer, but it was getting him nowhere with how much damage he was taking head-on. Tirpitz took with him almost the whole Kriegsmarine fleet, with the exception of the really exceptional warships like Prinz Eugen.
"Why are you surprised to see me, Bruder? You've begun to wage war against all of Fog," something about how calm and cold Tirpitz was irritated Bismarck.
It was that same level of respect Bismarck had previously shown to... that unimportant Admiral from the UK. And that only worked to enrage him further. He couldn't possibly use Super Gravity Cannon now that he was being bombarded from every side, but, he still had an ace in his sleeve. But he wasn't sure if he could fire that either. If he did, the Fog would know of its location. And he also wasn't sure if he could survive the resulting blast. But as his wave-force armour began to crumble, Bismarck seemed to lose all sense of reason. He wasn't going to be sunk by these hunks of junk! No, he is a KING. And a king always goes down in a blaze of glory.
TARGET: ACQUIRED
POWER OUTPUT: 25%
"...Hehehehe..." Tirpitz rose an eyebrow when he heard his brother start to chuckling.
"Have you finally fallen into insanity, Bruder?" but his question only seemed to be met with more laughter as the big brother's Klein field continued to deteriorate, "HAHAHAHAHA, AUF WIEDERSEHEN, ARSCHLÖCHER!"
And then, a very bright light began filling the sky, and for the first time, Tirpitz's emotionless visage faltered into a panic. He knew damn well what Bismarck was doing, but he couldn't find the words in time.
FIRING: 3... 2... 1...
A positron beam descended from the heavens.
And an explosion engulfed the entire fleet, its shockwave circling the Earth multiple times.
In its wake was... nothing. Just large waves and lots of quickly cooling molten rock on the bottom of the ocean. Almost everything caught in the explosion was vaporized, instantly and without mercy. Almost everything...
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"-COUGH- I need a day off..." coughed the prone body of Bismarck as he laid on the beach at an unknown location.
How did he manage to escape certain doom at the hands of his own weapon? Rather easily really. As everyone was distracted with their oncoming demise he quickly surrounded his body in nanomaterial and created a quick but fragile sort of missile pod for himself to escape in. Unfortunately, the force of Der Hammer firing was so great that the pod didn't last for long and was broken into pieces. Then, Bismarck has simply drifted around with the current. And now, he's here, wherever "here" is. His processor was overheated and overloaded, not to mention he was really low on nanomaterial. Fortunately for him though, someone rather kind has managed to stumble upon him before any greedy scientist or government official could.
...
...
...
"Hello, mister? Are you okay?"