Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia
June 11, 1942
6:00 AM
Lafayette just woke up from his last night's nightmare, which was Laffey-200 body-stacking a bunch of dudes in trench coats and fedoras. He grunted after recalling the bad memories of the previous night; his alarm clock snapped him out of his drowsy state.
His back was in all-night pain, a result of giving her a piggy-back ride from the Texas Bar to the port, powered by willpower and determination. But the journey had turned hellish, as Iron Blood spies tried to use chloroform on them, but, bad luck for them, they encountered the Second Amendment.
He got off his bed, holding his back, and went to the sink, muttering all the way, "Please let it be just a bad dream."
He washed his face, along with the memories of the previous night, down the drain. After finishing his morning routine, he went outside his ship and started heading to the ship's bridge. As he headed to the bridge, he saw William and an unknown launcher bolted amidships of his ship.
"W-William? Why is there a launcher amidships of my ship?" Lafayette asked William, pointing at the launcher.
"Oh... you mean that Mk-16 Launching System RUR-5 ASROC?" William remarked, pointing at it.
Lafayette shouted, "I know it's a fucking Mk-16 Launching System RUR-5 ASROC!" William was confused by the sudden outburst.
"Can you tell me why you bolted it amidships of my ship?" He calmed down and asked him properly.
William realized his mistake; he was supposed to tell him about this upgrade the previous night. "Oh... my bad. I didn't tell you last night... I was ordered by Miss Enterprise to equip you with this."
"Why is that?" Lafayette asked in surprise.
"The whole Atlantic is full of Siren subs. So... she thought adding this might help you combat those threats," William responded.
"I guess we're going with 'firepower by volume,' huh?" Lafayette said, touching his aching forehead.
"Seems like it, little guy," William just shrugged it off.
"Okay, I'm heading to the bridge now... so... goodbye," Lafayette said, walking towards the bridge of his ship.
"Hey. Can you tell me what all that commotion at the harbor was last night? I was inside the Cargo Bay doing some repairs,"
William asked because he had been inside his ship all night, looking at equipment he ordered from the US Military Sealift Command.
Lafayette froze for a moment and ignored him, walking towards the bridge without even saying a word to William.
"What's got into you?" William mumbled. He then opened a box of cigarettes to smoke early in the morning.
Harbor 8:00 AM
The Shipgirls that were sent to escort the Carrier Strike Group arrived at the port. They were all amazed at the sight of the modern vessels.
Modern Destroyers towered over the Light Cruisers moored at the opposite pier, but fell short in the amount of cannons on deck.
The Amphibious Assault Ship was often being compared to the Fleet Carrier in size, but, just like the modern destroyer, it also fell short in onboard cannons to combat aerial threats.
But the one that caught most of the attention was the massive Super Carrier that was moored alongside the Modern Warships, with its aircraft parked on the starboard side.
Heavily armed Manjuu patrolled the area alongside an unknown Mechanical Tank that followed them. No one in the port tried to venture closer to the modern warships without being confronted by these Heavily Armed Manjuu on sight.
The Shipgirls were Wasp, West Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, and Texas.
"So... this is what modern warships look like, huh?" Texas spoke to herself, as she eyed each of the ships.
"They are lightly armed for their size," Maryland said, as she looked at the weird boxes on the deck of each ship.
"Are you the Shipgirls that were sent to escort us?" A purple-haired woman wearing MARPAT and was accompanied by a woman with dog ears and wearing a JMSDF Naval Officer Uniform asked.
"Essex, how has it been?" Texas asked in a friendly tone.
"Still clinging to my position," Essex-12 begrudgingly replied.
Essex-12 reported that shootout to Enterprise-80, which she didn't take lightly. They had permission to take down Iron Blood spies in the shadows, but that shootout was in the vicinity of civilians. The worst part was that Laffey-200 was the one responsible; they all knew that Death Bunny was too dangerous to roam around without surveillance. And luckily for them, FDR covered it up, as the OSS director informed him that the killed spies were notorious ones that Iron Blood had sent.
That's a win-win for everyone, and that incident last night was covered up by the OSS and filed as one of their 'operations,' and the modern kansen just were there and helped them.
Texas nodded in understanding; the people of the Eagle Union are critical of gun violence happening near their neighborhood.
Texas then continued with the discussion. "And you must be JS Maya, correct?" she asked, as she tried to recognize the Japanese Shipgirl.
"Yes, I am JS Maya," JS Maya bowed her head to greet the four battleships.
West Virginia, Colorado, and Maryland were staring at her; they still had some doubt about her. They still had that memory when the Sakura Empire launched a surprise attack at the Azur Lane base.
JS Maya also felt unease with the three battleships' gaze at her; they looked at her with disdain. Her dog ears were also down.
Texas broke this awkward silence. She knew these three still had some grit on the Sakurans. "So... where are the two?"
Essex-12 groaned as she still remembered that fiasco last night. "Both are on their ships. Laffey is grounded and ordered not to roam far from the harbor and the moored ships."
Texas often found herself quivering at that Death Bunny's presence. She's just an untamed force of nature.
Below their radar or senses, Laffey-200 walked towards them without being noticed or detected, her presence unknown. Only then did she speak in her typical Laffey voice.
"Enterprise will be arriving at 8:30 AM. Half an hour, starting now."
West Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, Texas, Essex-12, and JS Maya jolted in surprise; they all looked at her in surprise.
"Don't startle us like that!" Essex-12 shouted.
Texas asked, "How was last night?"
She didn't care nor remember anything about last night. "What about last night?" she said in her typical Laffey manner.
Wasp noticed their shocked expressions and asked, "Is there something that I missed?"
"Well.... you'll just find out about it sooner or later..." Maryland said.
Wasp was not there when that shootout happened last night, having gotten her ass drunk at Texas' saloon. Laffey-200 did a kill streak of three that night. She just finished the patrols in the Eagle Union Atlantic routes that were infested with U-boats and Siren submarines.
"Okay... we just have to wait for everyone now," Essex-12 said, as she looked at her wristwatch.
~Half an hour later~
On the deck of USS Enterprise CVN-80, the four Battleships were baffled at the sight of the massive flight deck. The deck was filled with aircraft ranging from jet to prop. The 6th-Generation Aircraft were stored inside the closed hangar, hidden from any unwanted prying eyes.
The one that caught the four battleships' eyes was the plane that was parked at the starboard side of the flight deck.
"What is that?" Colorado pointed at the parked F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III was chained at the flight deck, and the air intakes were covered in red fabric that was shaped to match the angular shape of its air intake.
"That is an F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III. It's Miss Enterprise's primary strike aircraft," Essex-12 told them.
"Hornet???" Texas asked in confusion, as she slowly touched the nose of the aircraft.
"Well... think of it as Uncle Sam's pointy nails on the bat, and the bat is the Aircraft Carrier," William answered sarcastically. The four Battleships looked in the direction of the unfamiliar voice.
"Sorry to startle you a bit, ladies," William apologized, with a little flattery.
"My... that's quite a flattery," Texas said.
William replied, "Yeah, I know... sounds silly, right?"
Essex-12 and JS Maya thought, 'So, he likes older women, huh?'
"What does this plane do?" Wasp asked, while making a mental note of the jet.
"Well, its primary roles are fighter-bomber, ground attack, and fighter-interceptor. Many of its unnoticeable roles include electronic warfare, A.K.A. flying jammer, and air refueler."
"That's quite a lot of roles for one plane," Wasp said, amazed at the capability of such
"Yes, indeed. All of those roles were meant for separate Aircraft, but those aircraft have been retired. The Hornets are filling the missing capabilities, to save cost, of course."
"Poor thing..." Wasp said in a sad tone, as she rubbed the nose of the plane.
They then heard a chopping noise getting closer. They all looked in that direction and saw one of the most peculiar Aircraft they could imagine.
"Looks like they're here," Essex-12 announced.
CMV-22 Osprey
"AHHH!!! What's up with this aircraft?!" Queen Elizabeth complained about her first ride in the Osprey.
"Calm down, Your Majesty. It's just wind turbulence," Warspite said, trying to calm the panicking Queen.
Queen Elizabeth's first ride in the CMV-22 Osprey was a bumpy one, her bottom aching every time the aircraft jerked.
"Sorry about the bumpy ride, Your Majesty. You'll get used to it in no time," Lucas said, smiling at her.
Queen Elizabeth was holding onto her seat tightly, as this was her first time flying in this unfamiliar aircraft.
"How am I going to get used to it! Every second, this plane jerks up! And my buttocks hurt!" Queen Elizabeth exclaimed, tearing up a bit. This caused everyone to laugh at the sight of the Queen.
"Sorry about the military-grade seat, essentially cutting costs," he said.
The Queen's classy posterior met the high-tier military-grade seat cushion, the best ever produced, along with an aircraft that had a higher percentage of crashes. The best ride for their classy Queen.
Lucas leaned forward towards Queen Elizabeth and spoke, "Do you know why this plane is called 'The Widow Maker,' Your Majesty?"
This got the others' attention, and they began to listen to what he was about to say about the aircraft.
"Why?!" Queen Elizabeth shouted, quivering in fear.
"Because this plane has a tendency to kill everyone onboard by crashing itself into the ground," Lucas said, grinning evilly.
Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, Richelieu, the two Maids, and two destroyers turned pale after hearing that.
"Attend quoi!" Richelieu and the other two Destroyers screamed.
The two Maids tasked with escorting the Queen and her Corgi cried, hugging each other. They were prepared for the crash. Richelieu's prayers and Bible weren't going to save them from the fuck-ups of the US Military Industrial Complex, which was this plane.
"Why would they build such a plane?!" Queen Elizabeth asked, having a panic attack.
"This plane is built to military-grade standards and made by the cheapest bidder. This aircraft is made for high-speed deployment of troops; safety is secondary. All the men and women have balls of steel to fly with this aircraft, knowing that it has a high chance of crashing."
"I want to get the hell out of this aircraft...!!!!!!" Queen Elizabeth screamed.
"That's enough storytelling, Lucas. You're making them uncomfortable during the most uncomfortable ride," Enterprise-80 said, having a satisfied look on her face, as she saw the 'brat' shaking in fear.
"Yes, Ma'am," Lucas gave a little salute and smirked.
Queen Elizabeth mumbled, trembling in fear, "I don't want to die in this aircraft, I don't want to die in this aircraft. I don't want to die in this aircraft!!!!!!!"
Enterprise-80 returned to reading the headline news of what transpired the previous night. The newspaper read: OSS Agents got help from Modern Kansen to Eliminate Iron Blood's Spies. "The Spies were under the surveillance of our agency. Last night we tried to take them down; they fought back and injured some of the agents. Luckily for us, the Modern Kansen lent us a hand, as the President authorized the offered help. At the alleyway, close to the naval base, we conducted the operation and took them down once and for all." Below the headline was Essex-12 shaking hands with an OSS agent, her face clearly showing that she had to swallow her pride to hide her unease.
"We're lucky that this mess is covered up by the Government of Eagle Union," Bunker Hill-76 said with a composed expression.
"Yes, we're lucky.... But that doesn't mean we're safe from the deal," Enterprise-80 sighed deeply. "Laffey will be active in this proposed Spy Hunt Operation that President Roosevelt offered."
"Well, at least Laffey will be busy dealing with these spies," Bunker Hill-76 said plainly.
"Bunker Hill, this matter shouldn't be taken too lightly. Although... it's better to send her off with the assistance of the OSS rather than us conducting drone strikes on their location," she closed her eyes as she pondered.
"I guess we're hitting two birds with one stone," she uttered.
A few moments passed. The CMV-22 Osprey landed on the flight deck slowly, as Flight Crew/Manjuu started running towards it, forming a line and rolling out a red carpet for the Queen.
The rear door of the Osprey opened, and 18 people came out, along with 10 heavily armed Manjuu armed with M4s.
Queen Elizabeth unbuckled her seat quickly and ran to the rear door of the Osprey, not wanting to be in there any longer.
She was followed by Warspite, the two maids, Richelieu, and the two Destroyers, all breathing a sigh of relief that the plane didn't crash.
They were all terrified by Lucas's little joke about the plane crashing while carrying passengers.
Lucas was laughing like crazy. Enterprise-80, Bunker Hill-76, and Frigate Belfast were laughing a bit as payback.
"I'm not going to ride that.... aircraft again!!!!!!!!!!!" Queen Elizabeth's yelling could be heard throughout the harbor.
"Dieu Merci! We made it!" Richelieu knelt and prayed to God that they made it safe.
West Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, Texas, Essex-12, Lafayette, JS Maya, and William were visibly confused, looking at the terrified Queen, Corgi, Archbishop, and Maids.
Iron Blood Headquarters
June 12, 1942
8:00 AM
A Blond Flat-Board was walking down a hallway, her footsteps echoing throughout a building reminiscent of the Third Reich. The hallway was adorned with decorations of 'red flags' with iron crosses in the middle.
She reached her destination and knocked on one of the office doors. Someone spoke from inside the room.
"Komm herein," a woman's voice said inside the room.
The Blond Flat-Board, opened the door and entered the room. The room had typical 1940s villain vibes, also decorated with red flags.
A Blond Woman wearing a Kriegsmarine Admiral Uniform with a mini skirt and cap was sitting at the office table, signing documents.
She stopped what she was doing and looked at the person who entered the room, speaking in an authoritative voice, "What is the current situation in Eagle Union and their 'guests'... Hipper?"
The Blond Flat-Board was Hipper.
"Ja. Herr Bismarck," Hipper responded, starting to read the report in her hand.
"The last report from our spy, before we lost contact, is: The New Ships have joined to fight the Sirens and Crimson Axis Alliance. The fleet will leave tomorrow and head to Pearl to conduct its operation against the Sakura Empire."
Hipper finished her report and waited for Bismarck's response, getting nervous as the seconds passed.
"Order the wolf packs of U-boats to ambush this fleet of ships. I want to know their ASW capabilities," Bismarck gave her an order.
"Would the Royal Navy and Eagle Union counterattack if we attack them?" Hipper commented on the plan of attack.
"Nein. The Atlantic Ocean is infested with Siren submarine... that means no one will know it was us. Even if they found out we attacked them, they wouldn't have much time and resources to retaliate," Bismarck remarked and smirked.
Hipper sighed. "Are they enough to tackle the new kansen?" she asked, doubting the U-boats could pull this off on their own.
She also knew from the report of their spies in the Eagle Union, who were eliminated, how dangerous these kansen were.
"Ja. They crippled and sunk a third of the Siren fleet that was threatening our supply lines weeks ago in the Atlantic. Now send them an encrypted message," Bismarck ordered her.
"As you wish, Gnadige Frau," Hipper left Bismarck's office and closed the door slowly.
As Hipper left her alone in the office, Bismarck leaned back in her chair, looking at the ceiling and began to ponder.
'How did they find out about our spies in Eagle Union... and how did they dispatch them? If the reports from the spies are true, they are a real threat to be dealt with sooner or later.'
Bismarck pondered the report from one of the spies, about how one of their comrades got sliced clean like tuna. She thought of the Sakuran shipgirl among them, as she was the only one capable of using swords.
~Ze Flashback~
Eagle Union June 10, 1942 6:00 PM
(This is way before Laffey-200 turned Norfolk into Detroit)
A man wearing a trench coat was walking suspiciously down the street and reached an abandoned building.
He then went inside the abandoned building and pulled out a box hidden among the crates. The box, resembling an Enigma machine, prompted him to begin pressing its buttons.
Above the abandoned building, an MQ-9B Mojave loitered above the skies, searching for its prey. Infrared cameras and various other cameras and laser guidance systems were aimed at the man inside.
An AI voice spoke, "Essex, this is MQ-9B. Target has been acquired. Request permission to open fire?"
Onboard the USS Essex in the CIC, Essex-12 was looking at the monitor screen displaying live footage from the MQ-9B. Manjuu Operators were fiddling with another screen showing the radio frequency, which matched that of a WW2 Enigma machine. One Manjuu gave a thumbs-up to confirm.
Essex-12 held the mic. "MQ-9B, this is Essex. Target is confirmed... you are free to fire."
As soon as the MQ-9B received the go-ahead, an AGM-114 Hellfire missile flew off one of the four missile carrier/launchers of the MQ-9B and headed towards the target. The AGM-114 Hellfire was guided by laser.
The AGM-114 Hellfire MISSILE spread its six blades. The AGM-114R9X Hellfire Missile went through the window and into the target, cutting him to pieces.
"Target is eliminated. I repeat, target is eliminated," Essex-12 announced, as the Manjuu and Meowfficers in the CIC celebrated.
Denver-856 whistled. "American taxpayer's money ain't wasted," she commented, as she watched a guy get sliced while eating her ice cream.
JS Maya covered her mouth, as she saw the man being cut to pieces by the 'Flying Ginsu' in pieces.
"I can't believe you guys are so brutal when it comes to spies?" JS Maya commented on the entire operation of eliminating the spy.
"Well... this is America," Essex-12 replied with sarcasm.
"Brace yourself. We might conduct another operation like this against any spies in the near future, were not just fighting Aliens, but also humans too." Denver-856 said to cheer her up.
"I know... but... this is too barbaric," JS Maya could not stomach the 'American way' of dealing with spies. In Japan, they would have captured him and put him on trial for his crimes.
"Sorry if it upset you," Denver-856 said sincerely.
Essex-12 ordered one of the Manjuu, "Contact the nearest military base in the area and tell them to recover that Enigma machine and code book. Retrieving those is most important."
That Manjuu gave a salute and began contacting or sending transmissions to the nearest Military Base in the area near the site.
Essex-12 thought, 'Good thing we used the R9X instead of a regular Hellfire, or we would have destroyed that spy along with the Enigma machine.'
She then contacted Enterprise-80 on her phone. "Ma'am, target has been eliminated, and the Enigma machine is not broken. Yes, they are currently retrieving it now, as we speak."
"Good. Inform me of any information about the location of other spies hiding in the Eagle Union. I just informed the President about our Spy Extermination Operation."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll inform you." She then put down her phone and looked at the other screen showing different footage.
F-35B Lightning IIs soared into the night sky, their stealth making them undetectable. The F-35B was tasked with locating other Enigma machine signals throughout the Eagle Union.
It was also accompanied by an MQ-9B Mojave armed with AGM-114R9X Hellfire Missiles to take down the Iron Blood spies.
~Flashback end~
Hipper made some Hipper noises as she headed to the communication room. "Verdammt! Blücher, you are supposed to be the one who reports to Herr Bismarck, not me."
Hipper entered a room full of communication devices. The communication devices resembled early computers, big and bulky, and took up a lot of space. The entire system was an analog computer. She then informed one of the communication officers.
"Gotten tag, Kamerad Hipper. You look... kinda annoyed? Let me guess... Blücher?" the communication officer asked.
"Ja! Orders from Herr Bismarck. I want you to send this message to the U-boats patrolling near the Gulf of Mejico," Hipper said.
She then gave him the report paper containing the directive orders from Bismarck to the U-boats, including the location and routes of the new kansen.
"I see..." The Communication Officer then ordered one of the nearest Communication Operators.
"Kid... I want you to send this message to U-556, U-557, U-522, and U-110," and gave him a coded message.
"Jawohl!" the Comms Operator said.
The Communication Operator fiddled with the buttons of the Enigma machine. The mechanical gears of the Enigma machine turned, making a mechanical sound.
Atlantic Ocean 8:30 AM
U-556 pulled out her Enigma machine. "Hey. A message from headquarters." The Enigma machine turned its gears as it relayed a coded message.
"Is that another mission? We've been in the ocean for weeks now," U-557 complained, bored from patrolling the Atlantic.
"According to the coded transmission: The new fleet that joined Azur Lane is enroute to Pearl. U-556, U-557, U-522, and U-110 are tasked to intercept this fleet and asses their ASW capabilities. If things go bad, you are ordered to retreat."
"Finally, we can hunt something bigger," U-110 said.
"Guys. This mission is from Herr Bismarck herself. So, I want you all to do your best, because I don't want to disappoint her," U-556 said to them.
"Jawohl!"
The U-boats then headed to the interception point, where they were going to wait for their prey to come to them. They were tasked to use the 'wolf pack tactic' against the fleet to find out their ASW capabilities.
Well, these U-boats would find out the hard and terrifying way how Modern Kansen conduct ASW operations.
Iron Blood Communication Room
"Any news about our spies in Eagle Union?" Hipper asked, crossing her arms in her typical tsundere pose.
The Comms Officer scratched the back of his head. "Well... all of our spies on the east coast of mainland Eagle Union have been eliminated, but our spies on the west coast are untouched," he said with uncertainty in his voice.
"What are their reports about this?" Hipper asked, sensing something wrong about the comms officer's report.
"Same thing as usual, Eagle Union---"
One of the comms operators yelled out, "Sir. All of our contacts on the west coast have gone dark. We've lost contact with them!"
The F-35B and MQ-9B were only tasked to take out the Enigma Machine Operators and leave the other spies to the police and military, giving them the location of each spy by following their Radio Signals.
Hipper could only mutter one word in surprise. "What?"
The comms officer ran towards him and asked, "When?"
"Just now. I checked the others, but they're all the same... I have no response coming from them."
The comms officer slammed his fist on the table. "Verdammt! How did they eliminate them all?!!!"
The voice of the angry comms officer reverberated throughout the communication room. The other comms operators were silent, witnessing the fuming officer.
"They must be targeting our Enigma Machine Operators to sever our link with our spies."
They looked in the direction of the voice, which had a hint of a motherly tone. The men turned pinkish red as they saw her with her motherly stare.
"Friedrich! I thought you were sortieing in the North Sea with Scharnhorst?" Hipper exclaimed in surprise.
She hadn't even noticed her entering the room, as she was standing right next to her in the corner.
Friedrich rested her left arm on Hipper's right shoulder. "No need to shout, dear Hipper. I was recalled by Herr Bismarck about these New Kansen that Azur Lane possesses. I was 'intrigued' when I first heard that they have a Male Kansen."
The men in the room knew what she meant by 'intrigued.' She had a tendency to care for little ones, and they knew there was a kid among the new kansen that Azur Lane possessed.
"H-How was the North Sea, Ma'am Friedrich?" The Comms Officer asked, still red, along with the other men in the room.
"It's cold and lonely, as usual," she replied in her typical motherly voice.
She continued, "I think these new kansen are tracking our Enigma operators by means of radio wave detection."
"How? All of our Enigma encryption is the most intricate encryption in the world," the Comms Officer bluntly said.
"Ja, you're right, but Eagle Union Shipgirls are equipped with brand-new radars. That means they could detect our Enigma signals, but could not pinpoint their location."
"Wait, we're still developing this kind of radar. And they have it on their new kansen?" Hipper asked in disbelief at the absurdity of tracking down Enigma signals via ship radar.
"So, you're saying that these new kansen can detect and pinpoint the Enigma signals?" the Comms Officer said, holding his temple.
"Ja, my child. They can. I'm also listening to their transmissions when they were cut off, as soon as they opened their Enigma machines."
One of the Comms Operators raised a hand to express his thoughts.
"Umm... I don't want to barge into your conversation, but... did we just send an Enigma transmission to the U-boats to intercept these new kansen? And these kansen can listen and pinpoint every Enigma signal, right?"
Everyone in the communication room had a realization that they just sent a bunch of U-boats to their own deaths.
"Send a transmission to cancel the current operation!" the Comms Officer shouted an order.
"But, sir. It would take us another hour to reach them with---"
"Just do it!" he yelled at the face of the Comms Operator.
Hipper fell to her knees after realizing that she sent a bunch of U-boats to their deaths.
"No, it can't be... no...." she mumbled to herself.
"Tell Herr Bismarck. I'm going to sortie," Friedrich ran out of the communication room and headed towards the harbor. Many Iron Blood shipgirls could see her running with urgency, as she dashed at the gate.
Two Iron Blood shipgirls were standing at the harbor, checking some supplies for their next sortie. One was a blond-haired girl with twin tails and wearing a Kriegsmarine uniform that looked like Hipper's, with a "big" difference.
The other woman had ash-colored long hair and a hair bow shaped like a bunny and wore an underboob shirt.
"Blücher, Heinrich. With me, now!" Friedrich said as she activated her rigging and jumped off the harbor.
Blücher and Heinrich looked at each other in total confusion. "What??"
"There's no time to waste," she said with urgency in her voice.
"Jawohl," the two complied.
They then activated their Riggings and joined her in the water, heading out into the open ocean. The thick fog of the Baltic Sea covered them as if they had vanished in plain sight.
Bismarck's Office
Bismarck was signing some documents, as usual, when suddenly the door to her office burst open. She stopped and looked at the door, seeing Hipper with teary eyes and panting heavily.
"What's wrong, Hipper? Did something happen---"
Hipper cried out, "The U-boats are in danger!"
Bismarck dropped her pen in surprise. "What???"