Defection (MentalModel!Brothers and OC)

Chapter 9

I leaned against the hand railing just underneath the large windows on the Admiral Hipper's bridge, the dim environment outside barely revealing the smooth seafloor bed that coasted just underneath the warship's keel.

"This is so unreal..."

"Are you sure that you want to stay on the bridge?" Todo asked from the front of the bridge, his focus entirely on the engine lights ahead, "I used some nanomaterials to create a room for you to stay in."

"I know you did," I turned to face him, looking away from the bottom of the Northern Atlantic Ocean as my tiny fleet skirted around the western coast of Ireland, "I just want to stay up here and see what's going on."

"If it all goes to plan, you won't be seeing much beyond this sad excuse of a trawling convoy."

"If it doesn't go to plan, don't you need me here to direct the fleet?" Glancing back at the unchanging scenery, I shifted my gaze towards the warship that was sailing just ahead of us. The dim glow from the Max Schultz' engines cast some light into the Admiral Hipper's bridge as the bow of the heavy cruiser practically rubbed against the stern of the destroyer while both warships followed Choro's lead through the tight channels that connected the Scapa Flow to the Northern Atlantic, an attempt to completely bypass a small patrol that had been detected only a few hours earlier.

"Not completely," Todo spared a quick look in my direction, "I'm not sure exactly how you humans command your ships, but Fog ships are completely autonomous and able to think for ourselves."

His eyes widened as they began to emit a bright pink glow, a soft clicking heard every few seconds before he let out a distasteful huff as the glow dimmed in his eyes. He cast a quick glance to me and motioned for me to stay silent.

I flinched in realization before shifting my gaze towards my bare feet, the socks and boots drying in the engine room. The rest of my clothes were waiting to be washed and dried as the dive order had come rather quickly from Choro, his sensors picking up two destroyers that were known to sail under Bismarck's command.

My brow furrowed in thought as I looked back out into the partially murky water, the bridge devoid of any illumination other than what Jyushi produced as he moved forward in the echo of Choro's engines.

Bismarck was the one that controlled all of the Scapa Flow fleet and also the same Fleet of Fog ship that allowed the problem within the European Fleet of Fog to fester, causing the evacuation of Todo, Jyushi, and Choro. It sounded like three others had also vacated shortly after Todo when a new battleship entered European waters: a Japanese super-battleship named the Musashi.

The ship wasn't the only concern.

The person Musashi carried was just as worrisome: a man named Shouzou Chihaya who proclaimed that the Fleet of Fog and humanity could live together in harmony, extending a faux olive branch while smashing apart those who stood against him on either side.

My hands rubbed against my upper arms as I shuddered, looking back towards Todo as he seemed to sense my unease. His dark eyes met mine as a calm smile tugged at the corners of his lips, shooting a quick glance to the only chair on the bridge. I took his silent suggestion and carefully maneuvered onto it, leaning back and watching as the destroyer ahead of us slowly came to a full stop, the heavy cruiser mimicking every move it made.

The plan that Choro offered was to sneak the Hipper and Schultz through a narrow channel as we progressed towards the Irish Sea, with hopes of finding some of the others that had evacuated the Scapa Flow fleet and gathering them underneath my banner. If they weren't going to fight for the Fleet of Fog currently, then they wanted to find someone who would use their raw power more effectively -- and my home was in desperate need of a capable defense fleet.