=================

"What are you planning again...?"

The aggressive assault of the Sirens, trying to pierce through the defense of the Ironblood and Azur Lane, was again, thwarted even with a new, mysterious foe that stepped into the battlefield.

And this new foe is no slouch. Defeating the crane sisters easily and it took the whole fleet to focus fire on her specifically.

After the battle was over, the exhausted Caster let the Royal Navy girls negotiate the terms they need for the 'ceasefire' or the Ironblood reunited with the Coalition that is Azur Lane.

And with the Royal Navy girl's classiness and their intellect, they managed to get a deal out of the Ironblood girls.

But in one condition.

The snowy mountains that Caster's fleet discovered, will be explored once again. But with Caster's fleet in the mix.

Not much of a condition since that IS both side's intentions from the start.

Now, Caster's plan is just that. Explore what mysteries that snowy, run-down town has to offer.

=================

"Hmm..."

The waters of the Ironblood waves slightly, most girls that 'wield' these ships don't really get affected by it since they ARE from the sea. And live. And fight on it.

The Ironblood. For the longest time, they were a faction no other can contend. What they lack in brains, (at times.) they certainly make up for brawn.

And unsurprisingly, one of the best, and the most intimidating ship comes from this said faction.

Bismarck.

Like her fellow legendary ship, Amagi, wherever they go, destruction will follow. As they decimate countless Sirens during the first war.

And since her death... The 2nd generation or the remains of the 1st generation of the Ironblood had a rough time without their greatest leader is gone.

But someone has to lead them.

Eugen was unsurprisingly the favorite amongst the girls. But Eugen opted to let the 'sister' ship of Bismarck to be the one leading them.

So... Through the cold, Tirpitz was called.

Tirpitz... Having not much knowledge of her legendary sister, did not know what to do. And instead, had Prinz to guide her along. Since she was also the assistant/co-leader alongside Bismarck.

It was like 'deja vu' all over again for Eugen. Like her younger sister, Bismarck was also incredibly incapable to lead a group. Not until she finally got some victories under her belt and her battle capability grew to be the best of all time.

And with the recent discovery of Bismarck's diary and it's curiosity-filled information it has and knowing the legendary Battleship very well, she wanted to know...

What happened.

What happened on that day?

And that intentions firmly put into her mind, Eugen, is on the KMS Prinz Eugen currently about to go back to the snowy mountains. And for now, she's particularly interested...

In Caster.

=================

"Ug..."

Eugen just stared at Caster as he yawned and he finally woke up from his slumber.

Caster saw Eugen and just stared at each other. Either of them not reacting to each other's presence.

The drowsy Commander finally got back to his senses and inched away from Eugen. Silent and not wanting this situation to turn into a misunderstanding.

But as he was inching away, Eugen was also inching *towards* him.

"Could... Could you not?" said Caster. With a tone of slight annoyance.

"You really are unemotional." She commented on Caster's scary calmness.

Caster himself was confused with that statement. Is she saying that he never makes any emotion? Or not reacting to things that would definitely get a reaction out of any other man?

But before he could respond, he felt something.

He looked at his attire.

"What?" He said in confusion.

He touched his uniform. It's completely dry. It felt like it was new clothes.

"Oh, seems that you also figured it out," said Eugen. As she walks to the railing of her ship, and leaning on it, facing the Commander.

'This otherworlder...' She thought as she stared at Caster getting panicky.

"How did I manage to get changed while I was asleep?!" said Caster while staring intently at Eugen wanting immediate answers.

She was... Also unemotional. Not saying anything about it. Hood and the others probably must have told her that.

Now he is really skeptical.

"Did you..."

"No. I did not do anything to you," said Eugen. Interrupting Caster in his sentence.

"Then what happened?"

"Your girls called some backup supplies from your base. And they also asked for some new clothes for you." Eugen explained.

This explanation just made Caster a bit more knowledgeable about the situation he was in while he was asleep.

But that explanation is not close to enough. He wanted more.

"Still, how though?" asked Caster. As he said that, multiple renditions of possible scenarios are playing in his mind.

And each scenario progressively getting worse and worse. Until he got to the 'worst-case scenario'.

And that made him physically cringe. And Eugen, just seeing him cringe, she felt kind of bad.

And she was about to drop the biggest bombshell on him for this day.

"And... One of your girls. Personally changed your clothes." Eugen said, looking away.

"Stop."

Caster felt for the first time, he really wanted to have some alone time. Or just 'undo' himself. His worst imaginations have come true.

'Wait.' He thought.

"Can you tell me who was the girl who... 'Personally' changed me?" said Caster. As his mind speeding through on who could it be.

Eugen looked back at Caster. Silence.

Then a grin.

And that told the entire story.

"You sure you wanna hear it?" asked Eugen. Tilting her head a little bit.

'I would be fine not knowing... Should I know?' He thought. Questioning everything. 'Also, I'll never sleep with the girls around me. I swear.'

"Too late," Eugen said.

"It was Roon."

...

...

...

"..."

"No."

"Ja~"

In response, he just... Stood up and left. Not even saying a word to Eugen beforehand. His body is straight-up shaking.

Eugen foresaw this reaction coming anyway. But Eugen, in her mind, thought of what he looks like without his uniform.

Though she would not admit it.

=================

'I can't believe it.' He thought. Absolutely bewildered. 'ROON OF ALL PEOPLE?!'

"So basically, a few hours ago, I just got violated." he summarized his last few hours asleep.

"Without knowing..."

The image of Roon changing his clothes is playing in his head and he is not liking it one bit and wants to remove it in his brain forever.

He started to hit his head with his hand in frustration.

And the girls in his 100-meter radius were worried about what the hell he's doing. And some Ironblood girls thought he was going nuts.

He was freaking out so badly that he almost bumped into one particular girl on the KMS Eugen. He stopped immediately before anything bad could happen.

"Um..." The girl looked and inched away from the Commander.

"Oh, very sorry about my attitude." Caster lowered his head.

The girl nodded. Very timid it seems like. As her scarf, she's wearing gave off an indirect clue.

Caster was curious. He didn't meet this girl when he met the U-boats along with Gneisenau and Graf.

He wanted to know her name, but he didn't want to get too direct with a person he literally just met and almost bumped into.

He needed another way.

"Actually, I don't see my sniper rifle anywhere. Do you have any idea where it is?" 

"..." 

After a few seconds of awkwardness, she got a bit flustered and started jittering. 

She really didn't know where it was. And she's panicking on what to say as a response. 

"Graf? Are you okay?" A lady said. Walking up to the scarf-wearing girl.

'Graf? Another one?' 

The lady stopped and eyed Caster for a second. He felt the hostility from her one-eyed stare. 

'She's also a pirate.' Referring to her wearing an eye-patch. 'Looks cool.'

"Wait, you're that 'otherworlder'? My sister met you right?" The girl pointed at him having a bravado that only a few other girls in her faction could match.

"Yes? Is there a problem?" 

"No! You were very respectful to her! Thank you!" She took out her hand and offered a hand-shake. 

He couldn't help but smile a little bit from the burning passion as she spoke. It was infectious. And it did infect Caster a little bit. 

He also took out his hand and shook hands with her. 

"My name is Scharnhorst! Don't you ever run away from a battle! You hear?" She lets go of the handshake.

"You bet." He smiled back. Lighting up the mood a little bit. 

At that time, the other 'Graf' came back. Holding his Intervention. She took the time to search and ask around the ship on where his rifle was. And she found it via Eugen herself and came back with it.

And of course, made Caster happy.

"Thank you so much!" He grinned. As he's checking his rifle for damage.

"Um... Y-you're welcome." The girl nodded. 

"What is your name, may I ask?" Caster asked like a true gentleman. 

A-kun: lul simp. 

"G-Graf... Spee," said Spee as her face was turning pink. 

Scharnhorst looked at Spee and whispered something to her. In which Caster already turned around as he had no business with the 2 anymore. 

Spee's face turned even more pink as she pushes Scharnhorst to another location. 

Caster as he's leaning on the railing. He stared on the other side of the ship. 

'Oh. I didn't know that I was bringing them along also.' He thought.

On the other side, it was the crane sisters. Zui and Shoukaku. They were not looking at him, rather, the ocean at the direction the ship's going. 

He didn't remember that he was also bringing the 2 along. Or at least did not specifically call them out in his plan.

But after that, he turned around and took a deep breath. 

'I'm prepared. I'm prepared. I'm prepared. I'm prepared.' 

=================

The ships finally arrive in the same place where Azur Lane met the Ironblood for the first time since their 'breaking off' of the Azur Lane alliance. 

Caster got dropped off by Zuikaku and Shoukaku in the same place where he started his 'infiltration' plan. 

The weather since last time has gotten a bit worse. 

But he was at least warm because of the new clothes and the new coat he got. But he would rather ignore that recent memory since that would demolish any focus he has. 

But he was still nervous. He didn't want to really go in there alone. 

"Zuikaku and Shoukaku. I want you to help me with this one." 

And the 2 nodded. 

=================

After the trek back to where he was before with Helena, Caster is back but now with Zuikaku and Shoukaku. 

The 2 still didn't get instructions on what to do. But they followed anyway. 

Caster was looking right back at the town. 

"Commander, you still didn't tell us what to do," said Zuikaku. Gripping her coat very tightly. 

"You seem rather cold. Can you handle what I'm about to tell you?" He asked worried for Zuikaku. Shoukaku seems to be handling the cold well. "I'm asking a pretty tall order amidst this cold."

The 2 nodded and indirectly told Caster through their body language: "Get on with it!" 

"I'm asking you to spot me as I get into the town. Just be my 'guardian angels'." He asked of them. "But it's also cold. So you see the problem, right?" 

The 2 nodded and really wanted to help. But they had to add a 'catch' to the order of Caster.

"If it gets too cold or if we can't see you, we're leaving this spot to find somewhere warm," Shoukaku asked Caster. She also worried about her beloved sister's condition. 

And the good thing about Caster that he always accepted ideas of others. Even if it doesn't help him at times. 

So he respectfully agreed with the terms. And went off on his own. Walking back to the broken town. 

"Commander... Be safe." 

=================

"Eugen. I'll be back and this will be done quickly." 

"But for now, surround the island and check for any Siren backup coming." 

"You got it, ma'am." Eugen smiled as she waved Tirpitz off to walk off on her own.

Tirpitz and the other Ironblood members went on a different route to the town. And the Lone Queen of the North will be tackling this situation alone. 

Though Tirpitz was unaware of Caster that he's on the island, Eugen however, is aware.

And that's why she didn't follow Tirpitz. She had this tendency like her legendary older sister that she would tackle every problem alone. 

Eugen indirectly put her trust in Caster to protect her. And other than that, even if Eugen wanted to join, Tirpitz wouldn't allow it one bit. 

=================

"Hah... Hah..." 

Heavy breathing and nervousness in anticipation of what he's about to discover. 

The weather has been pretty tame. But a few powerful winds were suggesting it would not be the case soon. 

Before he stepped in officially into the town, he took down mental notes on what's notable in this town. 

1.) Buildings are destroyed, not much cover to go around.
2.) The 'jammer' that Helena mentioned half a day ago is still present. Tech is disabled.

3.) The weather is not going to be peaceful for long.

With that in mind, he finally walked into the town. Into the unknown. 

=================

In another dark room somewhere...

"How could you get defeated? You had all the weapons in your arsenal. Yet you failed?" 

"Shut up!" Observer Beta snarled at the person she's conversing with. 

The Observer Beta played back the fight in her head. She saw where she went wrong. But surprisingly, she didn't do much wrong. 

The crane sisters and the Commander just had the reaction time and skill to avoid and keep up with the Observer Beta until she got bombarded with the rest of Caster's fleet. 

But in the recording, she still didn't know who the hell got her arm broken with a single bullet. 

"No time for being a whiny little runt this time!" The mysterious voiced bellowed.

And after that, a holographic screen showed up in front of Beta. She stared intently with rage.

She saw Tirpitz and well, Caster. 

"They're at the town, and they're about to discover it." 

"We have learned everything about it."

"They don't. Keep it that way." 

The Observer Beta blasted the holographic screen with all of her lasers in rage. Making a large crater.

"I'll make sure of it..."

=================

"This town is sure reminiscent of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It's so creepy in here," said Caster. Making a small callback on one of his many missions in Pripyat. 

He already looked into the buildings in the town, and that reaffirmed his statement. As some of the houses still have furniture. Although almost all of them damaged, still intact nonetheless. 

But time is of the essence in this situation and he got to the center of the town very quickly. 

In the center of the town...

"Interesting... What is this..." He looked down into a large, dug-out hole in the Earth,

A very large circle that was holding a structure. The materials he saw was pitch-black metals. Some gears and some cranes going all around it. 

He sure recognizes the dark metal.

'Seems that they already came here. They know about this.' He thought. 

But in the middle of that structure, was a large, white crystal floating in the air... The ominous vibe it gives off already reminds him of the Ironblood Fortress.

And it did not help that Caster also felt an unwelcoming aura by just him standing around that said crystal.

So he really did not want anything with it since it was still unknown on what it does. Caster isn't taking any chances. 

After some staring, something in his pocket was shaking...

He dug in his pocket to check it out. It was his communicator. 

He grabbed it and answered on whoever was calling him. 

"Commander," Shoukaku said on the other line. 

"Are you getting out of there?" said Caster. While looking at his surroundings for the weather. It was getting a bit fuzzy, but not bad yet.

"No... There was a..." said Shoukaku while stuttering. She doesn't know how to put it into words. 

"Come here..."

"Huh?" said Caster. As he heard that, he didn't recognize that voice. 

"Commander, I just saw someone..." 

"Come here..." 

The two voices ringing in his ear was getting too much for Caster. He put his communicator back into his pocket. He didn't need to hear anymore. 

Now the snowy weather is going to be a snowy storm. 

He looked back at the crystal.

"Come here." 

'The connection is undeniable. What do you want to show me now...?' 

A look of nervousness formed on his face. 

Then a sound. 

Tap...

Tap...

Tap...

'Choose now, Caster, come on!" He screamed into his brain. The uncertainty is making his body freeze up. Not wanting to move.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap,

Tap.

Tap.

The sound became more self-evident. 

So without hesitation, he leaped onto the crystal. 

=================

He opened his eyes. He looked around him.

'What?!'

He opened his eyes to a completely different place. 

He was in a bedroom. But it felt familiar to the confused Caster. 

'This...' 

"Is this the dorms of the Azur Lane base?" He said. Jumping to a conclusion. 

No one is in the room except him, of course. But there were still more beds. Bare and tidy. 

And lastly, there was a door to his very right. A weird placement. 

But he just accepted that the visions are turning themselves into puzzles rather than 'visions'. So he just went along with it and walked to the door and got out of the dorm he was in.

"Aghh..." He said in an irritated manner. 

What comes after he went out the door was blinding sunlight. So in response, other than getting annoyed, is to cover the sun with his arm. 

A weird twist since he was just in a cold environment prior. 

But speaking of a weird twist, he was now on a beach. And now he's really annoyed.

'Again, with these visions, I'm not liking it. So cryptic.' 

As he put his foot on the sand and looked at the beach landscape, he saw a round tea table and some chairs to accommodate it. And a big umbrella for shade from the sun.

There were 2 people sitting in those chairs, but one is empty. 

"Come here..." 

"That voice again." 

He listened to the voice and walked near to the tea table. 

As every step is taken, he could see bit by bit who was on those chairs.

"Who are the-"

=================

White light blinded his eyes once more. 

"Oh, damn it." He cursed. 

As his eyes open again, he's now met with white snow and ruthless cold.

'That vision didn't make sense at all.' He thought baffled. Summarizing his few minutes.

As his self-awareness kicked in, he now apparently teleported behind a broken building. 

He can still see the black metals from a distance so he didn't teleport far from the crystal. 

The buildings in this town were again, battered and some were about to collapse. But they provided great cover. 

So he got down, crouching and took his sniper spot and scoped in.

Though he can't see through the blizzard that has now formed around the town, lime-colored lights started moving near the crystal. 

"Oh, no..." 

It was the same Siren he fought a few hours ago. She's back and not giving mercy this time.

'I still do hope I still have bullets to even graze this monstrosity.' He thought as he looked at his ammo reserves. Not much left. 2 and a half magazines left. Each magazine holding five. 

But he took into account the weather. And how the storm could make him a ghost. 

'This setting is exactly what I wanted.' He was more or less happy that one thing went his way for this inevitable fight. 

"Otherworlder...?"

He shuddered and looked behind him. 

It was Tirpitz. She was concerned about why Caster is laying down. 

"The name's Caster." He sarcastically said. 

"I thought you were dead." Tirpitz plainly stated. 

He smiled at the statement. He thought of it as a joke, but Tirpitz's face would definitely have something to say about that.

"Look." He pointed at the Siren on the crystal.

"I'm going in." She said. About to go in and fight alone. What a surprise.

But before she can go forward, Caster held Tirpitz's right ankle and stopped her.

"Look, that one Siren defeated Zuikaku and Shoukaku." He told the fact that the Observer Beta was practically impossible to kill without numbers.

"If we work together, we can at least fend her off and probably defeat her." He continued.

"Please. You're strong, but we're stronger together." He pleaded to her.

And she didn't have a hard time disagreeing. Given the info that Caster just gave her just now.

Now, the fight begins.

A fight, amidst the snow.

Word Count: 3555 Words.

12:39 AM
8/9/20