A Royal Sovereign

Chapter 8 - The Cold North

3rd Person POV

The North Sea, Iron Blood waters

It was the start of Summer, and with it came many storms — something that the shipgirls were reminded of as rain poured down upon them heavily. The raging winds whipped against their frames, their relatively heavy clothing being their only protection. The sound of the waves crashing against their hulls and the howling of the wind drowned out much of their conversations – raising their voices to the point of yelling being the only way to communicate without breaking radio silence.

The sea was a dull bluish-green, the gray clouds obscuring any sunlight. The Iron Blood fleet powered through the waves, led by a woman clad in a white uniform — German tricolor of black, orange, and yellow decorating it — with a banner in hand. That woman was Tirpitz, sister ship of the Iron Blood's pride, Bismarck.  She was accompanied by a fleet of destroyers, which was highly unusual for a lone wolf like her; the destroyers accompanying her under the direct orders of Bismarck, who, while not showing it, deeply cared for her sister.

They were on a regular patrol on the lookout for any stray Siren Fleets. Despite their cooperation with the Sirens, Iron Blood trusted them much less than the Sakura Empire, owing to the fact that they were still attacked by them.

There was an air of uneasiness surrounding the small fleet because of Tirpitz, who due to her cold and stern aura, was hard to approach.

"Lord Tirpitz, have you found anything?" a destroyer, who was quite mature within her class, asked the cold battleship. They were sailing at a mere fifteen knots, the rough sea preventing the destroyers from going any faster without falling.

"Ja, 2 o'clock," Tirpitz said, slightly uncomfortable as she was used to solo missions. "A fleet of Sirens are close to us..." Tirpitz looked at her radar screen, looking for the Sirens. Because of the jamming equipment of the Sirens, radar used for detection was only accurate at very close distances, where it might as well be useless because the Sirens would be in visual range already.

"Any idea how big of a fleet it is?" the destroyer from before, named Z23, asked. She was the one placing the questions as she was the most professional out of the Iron Blood destroyers – the best one for the job being the least nervous around Tirpitz, owing no small part to the fact that she helps with restraining Roon, a prototype cruiser and one of the first ones of her kind, quite regularly. 

"... Mein Gott," Tirpitz murmured, loud enough for the destroyers to hear. "This has to be one of the largest Siren fleets we've ever seen." A slightly concerned tone sounded from her voice, clicking her tongue as she counted the Siren ships.

"How many?"

"Two hundred at minimum," Tirpitz answered quickly, her tone equally cold and worried.

"That's... nicht gut," Z23 said.

North of the Iron Blood patrol

Fog has settled in and veiled the entire area, the wind not dispelling it. Two lone ships sailed forward, their gun ready to fire as they expected a battle at any moment. Both of them were on the bridge of Sovereign's ship, where the sensor instruments were located, searching for any Sirens. They were sailing at a steady 20 knots, Cleveland's raised bow and Sovereign sheer size proving their worth, water drenching their decks as their bows plowed through the rough water.

Cleveland, who was dressed in heavier clothing that Richelieu provided them, sat next to Sovereign, who was looking at the holographic display in the middle of the bridge intently, searching for anything. Soothing classical music made the background noise, drowning out the raging sea and the howling wind that was outside. Sovereign chose the music, as it helped him focus, which was very effectively negated by Cleveland humming along to it. Then, a few red dots caught his eye, which he then enlarged.