Azur Lane: Light And Dark

Ugly sisters last stand

Western front, 1944.

A Royal assault was in full swing as they stormed a village just over the Rhine.

The "ugly" sisters Scharnhorst and Gneisenau manned their MG42 machine gun, firing down from a second story window.

"Das werden einfach nicht weniger!" (They just keep coming!) The one-eyed girl gritted her teeth, her finger pinning the trigger.

Just outside the village.

"This simply won't do, we need tank support immediately." Belfast said politely behind cover and grabbed a radio from Norfolk's backpack.

A few royals tried to assault the building directly as the Ironbloods' murderous fire sprayed onto their ranks.

A hail of bullets passed through Privates Ardent and Acasta with a sickening sound, killing them both instantly.

This caused Sergeant Glorious to pause for the enemy to change out their barrel, having seen a perfect spot to fire on the makeshift bunker.

It was a sprint, but doable, the blonde puffed her breath quickly behind a barn when the German gun went silent.

The two Ironblood girls began to yell at each other the procedure for changing out the glowing barrel as Glorious ran.

"Almost there!"

Suddenly the blonde stumbled and hit the muddy ground face first. Scrambling to her knees swiftly, she heard a loud patting of a helmet.

Despite cultural differences the sound was universal for "locked and loaded".

"Oh crumbs…" Looking up, Glorious saw a bright muzzle flash as a short set of rounds cut her down.

A Churchill tank slowly rolled into view of the village as Belfast pointed to the machine gun nest.

Scharnhorst's sight and fire passed over the tank as its barrel was pointing right at them.

"GUINEA RUNTER!" (GUINEA GET DOWN!) Scharnhorst grabbed her sister and dove away from a tank shell that completely destroyed their position.

The two sisters got to their feet, ran for the stairs and headed out the back door.

"Ist es nicht komisch das wir dauerhaft von den Royals weglaufen?" (Don't you find it funny we always seem to be running away from the Royals?) Gneisenau asked offhandedly, fixing her glasses.

"Gut das sie uns nie fangen werden!" (It's a good thing they can never catch us!) Scharnhorst replied sharply as both Ironbloods laughed and continued running.

Unknown to the sisters, Duke of York had moved between some of the buildings and opened fire on the two escaping girls.

"Uuughhh!" Scharnhorst gasped loudly as two rounds struck her in the back, causing her to stagger forward.

"Scharn!" Gneisenau pulled a stick grenade from her belt, pulled the cord, and threw it towards the advancing Royals.

"Mir gehts gut." (I'm f-fine.) The eye-patched girl groaned, pulling her helmet off as she started coughing up blood.

"Los, Hipper ist nur ein paar Türen in die Richtung." (Come on, Hipper is only a couple of doors down.) Gneisenau lifted her sister into a piggyback and ran for all she was worth.

The pink-haired girl rushed up a small set of stairs and shouldered open a door to find Hipper treating the injured with a red cross on her helmet.

"Meine Schwester! Sie braucht Hilfe!" (My sister! She needs help!) Hipper quickly helped unload Scharnhorst as she had to really pull the injured girl free of her sister and laid her on the floor.

"Wir müssen nach alledem hier über dein Gewicht reden." (We are definitely going to talk about your weight after this.) Gneisenau joked painfully, stretching her back.

"S-Sie ist… Tot." (S-She's dead.) Hipper looked up with surprise as Gneisenau pushed the blonde cruiser out of the way.

"Nein, NEIN! Schwester!" (No, no! Sis!) Gneisenau's eyes began to well up, kneeling down next to her lifeless sister.

"Wach auf…" (Wake up…)

"Wach auf!" (Wake up!)

"Wach auf verdammt nochmal!" (Wake up damnit!)

"Guinea, es ist zu spät. Sie ist weg." (Guinea, she's gone.) Hipper said weakly as Scharnhorst's good eye stared up at the ceiling, unblinking.

"Sag sowas nicht! Bitte Scharn! WACH AUF!" (Don't say that! Please Scharn! WAKE UP!) Gneisenau shook her sister violently now, when there was a loud click behind them.

"If thou value life, thou shall surrender." A British voice ordered with a gothic tone from the doorway as Hipper slowly raised her hands.

"Thousth find folly with my request-?!" Duke of York questioned this time and brought her arms to bear.

"Bitte! It's her sister..." (Please!) Hipper barked in half English as the war seemed to pause for a moment.

"Thou shall lay thou sister to rest later, now raise thou hands to the sky." Duke directed simply.

Gneisenau began to lift her hands when she suddenly grabbed Hipper's side arm and turned it towards the royal emotionlessly.

Duke's sten gun blurted to life, striking Gneisenau in the chest and neck, her body doubling over next to her sisters.

"It would be unfortunate if three graves are needed on this day." Duke turned her smoking weapon directly at Hipper.

"Nein…." (No…) The blonde cruiser shook head sadly, looking at the two sisters lying in pools of one another's blood as more royals secured the rest of the building.

Their war was over….