Legends

Chapter 54: The Great White North

Lafayette had never been to Norway and now that she had she was wishing she'd never wanted to. After the paintball competition in which she could let loose and just be Normandie again, the fun ended all too soon and she was back in Europe, back helping the Brits. It was time to be professional again. Be Lafayette again

Lafayette didn't mind the switch. There were times where she wished she could be just a liner again. Racing Queen Mary, teasing Ile de France. But she equally understood the importance of her current work. It had been American negligence that sank her but equally American kindness that had given her a chance where Nazi Germany would've given her none at all. One only needed to look at what happened to SS Paris.

The American French flags flew at her stern. She was a ship of two nations now and always would be. And alongside her, serving as escort for this scouting mission ahead of an Atlantic bound convoy was another ship of two nations although Prinz Eugen did not fly her second flag. The Stars and Stripes was the only ensign they had in common.

Lafayette found the Teutonic cruiser to be a reasonable sort. Frisco and Lou tended to bring out what passed as her sense of humor even as their own jokes passed completely over her mast. Much to her flustered frustrations. She wasn't with them now. Her division mates were with the convoy. Lafayette didn't like the idea of putting all the liners together. Their speed had been their best defense in the last war. But given the Abyssal activity in the area, grouping them together was command's idea of hiding them. The ocean was vast after all and it was harder to locate one large needle in that haystack than numerous small ones. Once clear of Norway, the ships would scatter to their various destinations.

Mr. Murphy was a cruel bastard though as evidenced by the fact that an Abyssal plane squadron found them. Lafayette's CAP held them at bay but it also gave away her own presence. Unable to break through her impressive defense of the convoy, the evil bitches turned their attentions on her instead.

Eugen put up one hell of a defense. It was the kind of display her American counterparts would be proud of. Lafayette hadn't been particularly fond of her cruiser escort. Despite her efforts to display to the contrary, she was German and yes Lafayette would admit she held a grudge there. She had made no secret of that feeling either. But now, seeing her in action Lafayette decided she could have it in her to like Eugen.

The defense only delayed the inevitable. And it happened shortly after Lafayette overheard the "scatter" command to the convoy. The ocean liners broke free into the Atlantic where their fleet footed nature was a boon in evading Abyssals. Lafayette didn't have the luxury of joining them and by extension neither did Eugen.

The cruiser had been mauled by the planes that failed to get through her to the carrier she protected. Her superstructure was trashed. She had a large hole in her deck where one of her turrets used to be. And without doubt she'd lost oil and was flooding. Lafayette had to provide more and more support just to keep her afloat.

Scapa Flow was well out of their reach now. Hell, the British coast was out of their reach. But there was another option. Norway had endured the Abyssals like every other country that bordered the sea but they had it a bit differently. It had been mostly their fishing fleets that took a walloping in the early days of the war. The coastline had remained largely unshelled barring a few places. No doubt the fjords helped in that regard. There were just too many for the Abyssals to cause any real damage.

Lafayette headed for one now, all but carrying Eugen at this point. The effort drained her more than she cared to admit. She hadn't escaped the onslaught unscathed. Several holes marked her flight deck. And to make matters worse, just as they entered Erstfjorden, the Abyssal planes returned. They were determined to finish the kanmusu off and Lafayette was equally determined to get Eugen to shore and find cover. The problem was that fjords were notorious for being all cliffs and no beach. She thought she saw one at the very end of the fjord but that was still a grueling five miles away. Five miles to run a gauntlet of aircraft with no room to maneuver in this narrow channel. Cliffs on both sides which greatly limited her ability to put up a defense.

Three miles. Lafayette's shafts ached under the strain. Eugen had ceased being of any help at all at this point. Her wounds had forced her unconscious.

Two miles. Lafayette could see the village she intended to land in and a part of her felt guilt at exposing these innocent people to her war.

One mile. The very nature of the fjord kept normal wave action to a minimum but equally it was deeper than the open sea until just a few steps from the shore. And that worked against Lafayette now as a diving Abyssal made it through her defenses and put a bomb right down her stack. Her engine room gutted, Lafayette fell to her knees drifting to a halt. She was still holding Eugen and felt now more than ever that they were both destined for a watery grave.

"Davy Jones, Lutjins whatever your name is. I hope you will tolerate our presence in your kingdom once more." She thought.

Suddenly the attack ceased. The swarming aircraft backed off. Lafayette heard something that sounded like heavy shellfire but her head was spinning so badly she couldn't be sure of anything anymore. Before she collapsed completely into the sea a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and dragged her onto the beach. The last thing Lafayette saw was a pair of the iciest blue eyes she'd ever seen staring down at her in concern and then all went black.