Author notes:
Next chapter is up! And I do apology for the tardiness and lack of images in the new chapter. I had run into a conundrum, you see, for I couldn't for the life of me get Stable Diffusion to work. Attempts at getting it to draw while I write in the mean time ended with my PC crashing. Without writing in the equation, it froze my PC. Understandably, I can't generate new pictures, and I did lose a fair bit of progress, hence the longer delay than the usual 2-3 days.
But here we are! Still in business! Now I am not tech-savvy enough but I will try to get SD to work again. Troubleshooting will have to be done via Youtube and Discord I guess. Already contacting a friend who is more knowledgeable with this than I am.
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*GASP*
With a startled intake of air, Admiral John Tovey is just about to jump up whatever thing he is using to rest his back on, only to find out that he just can't as a rush of pain assaults his senses. Fighting back the sudden bout of fear, anxiety, and frustration that comes out of the woodwork, Tovey swivels his head around to examine his situation. He is shocked to see that his left leg and right arm are bounded in casts while gauze and bandages can be seen and felt all along his body.
His first instinct is to figure out how did he get himself in this tough spot, but then he gives up when a migraine attacks his mind instead of the answer he seeks. "Bloody Hell..." Tovey allowed himself a curse before resting his head on a surprisingly soft pillow. Knowing that he is not in the best of health to think too hard on matters, Tovey opts to scan the foreign quarter he is in instead.
He dares a one-second look and knows almost immediately that the quarter he's situated in does not conform to an Erusean vessel. Too roomy and too luxurious even by officer standards. The full-sized bed, carpeted flooring, wooden decors, a small kitchen with a table and a few chairs, and even curtains by the viewing ports? The amenities here will make the entire Royal Navy goes green in envy. Thinking thus far, Tovey knows that he has most probably been captured by his enemy, the Belkan Reichsmarine...
Wait a second? Capture?
It's all coming back to him now, scattered pieces but enough for him to get the gists of his conundrum. Tovey remembers the duel, the preparation, and the eventual decimation of the entire Home Fleet. He also sparsely remembers being knocked back, burned by something. Though judging from the look of it, he survived somehow, only going unconscious and being rescued by his men. And after that, they were pulled aboard by the Belkans when the combat was truly over.
Now then, Tovey has the fortunate ability to choose the emotion he will like to feel now that his mind is back in working order. You know, whether to be downtrodden at the loss of lives or to express anger and hatred at the enemy that sank them. He ponders, mulling deeply about the circumstances that led to this point before eventually settling on this particular feeling. Relief. Relief that, despite everything that happened, he is still alive, banged up, but alive nonetheless. This means that whatever comes next, there's still a chance for him to return home, back to Aida, back to his loving wife.
What follows next, however, is the emotion called guilt. Survivor's guilt, to be exact. Tovey has been in this line of naval military business long enough to move past that feeling though. Nonetheless, a part of him can't stop wondering whether things could have progressed differently. Maybe a different tactic? Or, God forbids, had he just turned away and waited for another opportunity? But even when going all over again what he had available at the time of before and up to the destined duel, Tovey knew that he himself wouldn't have done anything different than what had happened. They were truly and utterly outclassed, bested at their own game.
Perhaps it's only by Divine intervention that the outcome would have been much different than now. Although if what the Belkan propaganda had to say anything about then they have literal Divines on their side. That's not an odd Tovey would have liked to face again now that he is in this awkward position. He wonders, aside from him, who else has made it out alive from that slaughter.
But most important of all, just what will he say to Aida when they meet again? He can just imagine how Aida would react to the news that her husband is MIA on his mission. And he fears that the Association of Sailor's Wives, headed by Aida herself, would literally burn the Admiralty building to the ground if words get back home that he is in Belkan custody. They will stop at nothing to get their husbands and sons back.
Tovey allows himself a smirk at that. If things develop thus far, then those bastards Pound and Churchill deserve it for sending them on a wild goose chase, which ended in the hunters becoming the hunted. Too much crucial information was missing, with military intelligence being woefully inept at giving any credible intel to act on. An example would be the Belkans capable of crippling their comms system at will. Or that they need not a visual identification of the targets to engage. Other than those, there was also that devastating weapon that wiped out their cruisers and destroyers in one go. Tovey would have never touched them with a ten-meter stick from the get-go had he known of this.
Heck, he would gladly resign and be a farmer instead of getting involved in this mess had he known the things he needed to know. But it's too late to regret any of that now.
*Knock* *Knock*
Hearing the knockings, Tovey instantly assumes it must be his captors. Tovey can hazard a guess as to why they need to knock on their own vessel, and the guess he has pleased him. He can at least hope to be able to hold a civilized conversation with the other party if they could learn how to knock.
"Come in." Tovey squeezed out the two words a bit painfully, surprised that it had taken him an effort to do so. It appears he also has internal injuries to be worried about.
Having heard his acknowledgment, the door is pushed open, revealing four figures standing outside the quarter. They're two guards, a medic from the look of it, and a female officer with the epaulets and markings of a Belkan Admiral. The latter of which is no doubt Admiral Tallulah that challenged him to that duel.
Said Admiral Tallulah though, smiling politely at him. "It seems that you've been awake for a while, Admiral Tovey." The smile is pretty, and so does the lady speaking, but Tovey only has one true love and that is his wife Aida.
Tallulah then turns to the medic. "I hope that you can check him now that he's awake, doc. The man was badly injured in our scuffle earlier."
The doc nods before moving closer to Tovey's bed. "With what I've been allowed to give him, he will be able to make a steady recovery if he is allowed quality meals and rest." Once the doc pulls a seat to sit next to him. "Would you kindly allow me to examine you, good sir?"
Hearing the polite request, Tovey gives an acknowledging nod, letting the doc take readings of his health. After a few minutes of nobody talking, the doc puts away his instruments and turns to Tallulah. "Well then Admiral, he is good enough for a chat. Though I would advise against triggering any intense emotion, lest the patient worsen his recovering health."
Tallulah nods. "I will try not to doc."
The doc returns a nod before standing up and heading outside, passing the standing guards before closing the door behind him. Now left alone with the Belkan Admiral in the room, Tovey opens his mouth to say.
"So..." Ok, maybe he has no way to start a conversation like this one. He has no plans in mind for situations like this.
As if learning of his conundrum, Tallulah giggles before saying. "Perhaps you should let me do the talking then, at least until you know what to say or ask?"
Sighing at that, Tovey replies. "Fine by me then."
Nodding at that, Tallulah takes out a metallic case she has been holding by her side. Now that Tovey is allowed a closer look, it appears to be a mechanical device of some sort. Tallulah then pulls the chair the doc used earlier to sit on, sitting a bit farther away from Tovey, however. With deft flicks of her fingers on the strange instrument, Tallulah says. "By now, you should have inferred that I am Admiral Tallulah, the one that challenged you into a duel. And yes, I am a fine lady, in case you haven't known." Tallulah said that partly to test how Tovey would react.
She is pleased when Tovey makes no obvious expression of ridicule or negativity. "I am not sure how the battle has affected your memory but I dare guess that you aren't having a perfect recollection. As such, I will be starting from when we started engaging your flagship, King George V, at full force."
Tallulah then turns the device, her military tablet around, to show Tovey a high-definition picture of a heavily damaged King George V, taken by a drone flying unseen. At first, Tovey is surprised to see the quality colored image, but his face grows grim when he sees the flagship being beaten that badly. "Just how much munition did you waste on her for her to be like that?"
"That's the result of the first salvo by the way." Tallulah clarified.
"... Why am I not surprised. With what happened to the other vessels, I am pleased she was still floating in this picture then." Tovey admitted with a grimace.
Smiling lightly, enough to not cause any discomfort to her fellow Admiral, Tallulah adds. "For better, or for worse, King George V is still pretty much floating, Admiral Tovey."
"Say what?" Tovey was pleasantly shocked at the information.
Tallulah explains. "The first salvo, fortunately enough, only disabled the A and B turrets of King George V. It did, however, put you down until the rest of the battle. The blasts from our shelling did a number on your bridge with most of your men stationed there perished. And while you're unconscious, the men aboard still continued their attempts in engaging us with whatever they still had left. As such, we fire another salvo. This time, it crippled your C-turret and the secondaries on your starboard side. Effectively, your vessel is defanged."
Tallulah stops for a moment to let the new information sink in before continuing to show Tovey the next picture. This one shows the evacuation of King George V. "That second salvo also knocked out your engines. At that point, it appears your surviving officers decided that it was enough of a fight and gave the order to abandon the ship. They found and put you on a life raft alongside the non-essential and wounded personnel. The remainders stayed aboard King George V to help with evacuation before they too bailed out from the battleship. We fished you and the survivors all up after two hours or so. Gave them all the treatment befitting of their status, unlike what your propaganda would have of us, and you, one of our officer's quarters. We patched you all up and those that were able to are given a proper meal. On your part, you're knocked out for the day. With our medical expertise, however, it seems that you are well on the road to recovery despite your external and internal injuries."
After listening to the explanation, Tovey closes his eyes, mulling over the information he heard. Thinking it over, Tovey notices something. "How many survivors did you rescue?"
"I am just about getting to that part, Admiral." Tallulah smiled. "You see, I did say that King George V is still afloat, no?" Tovey nods at that, still surprise even now. "Turned out that your DCP sealed just enough of the bulkheads and put out enough fire that she can be towed back to mainland Europe. Or in this case, act as a temporary site to hold the able-bodied survivors until the Fur Spaniard convoy can rendezvous with us. After all, there are more than 937 of your men that survived and that is not mentioning the survivors from Rodney and Repulse. We could only hold the injured and high-ranking personnel on our vessels. Don't worry, before we cleared the King George V to receive the survivors, I sent a crew over to make sure the battleship wouldn't sink all of a sudden. Alongside them were the necessary supplies to keep your men healthy on the cold Atlantic. I assure you that when the transports arrive, they will also be well-taken care of. Like I've said before, we treat our prisoners of war well, unlike what most propaganda has painted us otherwise."
"That was... both a relief and enlightening to hear. I am glad that you're as civilized as I have hoped to be. I just have a question, with us soon being relocated to that convoy of yours, what will happen to King George V?" Tovey couldn't stop himself from asking that. Despite her rushed design, King George V was still a finer ship than the Rodney in his book.
Tallulah lets out a smile. "I sure hope you will excuse me for saying this but, as the victor, we are entitled to the gains of our victory. And despite King George V being a lackluster vessel, no offense..."
"None taken, because your Bismarck easily triumphed over her."
"...We intend to tow her back to our home port as proof of our conquest. After all, this is a big opportunity to bring down the Admiralty a notch. That is if they even still have a face left after the international community is done ridiculing them." Tallulah said her piece.
"As the loser in this duel of ours, Admiral Tallulah, I accept that... I just wish you can treat her right." Tovey said wistfully, earning an understanding nod from Tallulah.
"I will see what I can do, Admiral." Tallulah could only offer that much. The decision ultimately rests in the hands of the top brass.
"Moving on from that," Tallulah said. "You all will be allocated Belka prisoners of war status once we're docked. We will treat you for injuries sustained in battle before you will be moved to a camp. There, you will be screened and vetted for intelligence before settling down there for the foreseeable future, at least until an agreement with Erusea can be made for your freedom. At the camp, you're given the opportunity to work voluntarily alongside other prisoners, chiefly the Ustians, to earn credits that can be exchanged for specific amenities. Even without working, you're still given enough supplies to make your stay in Belka a welcome one. However, credits can be used for many things, and it's my opinion that you should get them whenever you can. The works don't allow any illegal activities, and mostly only involve community services so I think you won't have any reservations about doing them. That's the short rundown I can give you. The people back home can fill you more on that."
"That sounded way too good to be true." Tovey commented on that immediately.
Tallulah shrugs. "Compared to the rest of the world, yeah. But in Belka, we have the luxury to be better, more civilized than whoever painted us as vile. You can thank our Marshal for that though, for without her, you and I won't be having this conversation right now."
"I have been hearing more and more about this fabled Marshal of yours. And I admit not knowing enough about this figure... But I guess I will soon be having more than enough time to learn more later. That is if what you described to me is true." Tovey added.
"I can swear on my rank as an Admiral and my six-month salary that I haven't lied to you a single word, Admiral Tovey." Tallulah immediately said.
Tovey, however, catches on to a part of her statement. "What happened to your salary for you to say that?"
Tallulah visibly groans, much to Tovey's confusion. "Let's just say that I made a stupid mistake and that cost me half a year's worth of salary in one go."
"... I won't pretend to understand your pain because I haven't run into that trouble in my entire life." Tovey admitted, causing Tallulah to smack her face in an attempt to cover her embarrassment. "Damn it, me."
"Say," Tovey speaks up to change the subject. "Is it possible for me to contact my wife?"
"When we finish registering you all, each of you will be given an offer to mail your families, if you have any. Other than that, a small allocation of credits, enough to buy you more chances to write letters or save up for something else, will be given each month. Of course, all the letters will be checked for their contents for the reason that I am sure you will understand." Tallulah answered.
"That in itself is already generous enough of a treatment in my book. To be honest, to have such a polite and pleasant conversation with your enemy like this, surprised me." Tovey sincerely said that. The situation is quite surreal.
"You and me both, Admiral. You and me both." Tallulah chuckled.
"So what's next on your agenda, if you don't mind me asking? "Tovey asked in genuine curiosity. He can't imagine just what Tallulah, and by extension, the Bismarck battleship would do after multiple battles back to back.
Tallulah crosses her arms, pondering what she is allowed to say. Ultimately, she settles for this. "As I've said, we will guard this location until our convoy can get here to both handle the survivors and tow the King George V back. We would have been the one to chase your aircraft carriers, now barely able to defend themselves, had headquarters not assigned other elements to do the deed for us. With the Home Fleet gone in this area, our Reichsmarine has free reign on this part of the sea. I think you can understand that."
Hearing that, Tovey sighs, accepting his defeat with grace. "You said in that message if I run or fight, I would be destroyed either way, it seems that wasn't a bluff at all."
"That is correct. Despite the abruptness of the situation, our Marshal was still able to devise a daring plan to make the most out of it with minimal risk. Nonetheless, you and your men put up a damn good fight regardless of the bad hands you were dealt with. I can't think of any fleet that could do what you did." Tallulah gave her sincere compliment with the due respect Tovey deserved.
Tovey laughs good-naturedly at that. "And you, lassy, were a worthy adversary. I sure hope our duel was legendary enough to be written in the history book for years to come." And that is Tovey putting it lightly.
Disregarding any misgiving between them, the two Admirals join each other in a fit of giggles. It's not every day you can amiably chat with your enemy. As such, despite both parties skirting around a few issues here and there, they can be seen talking as if they're best of friends until it's time for lunch. By then, the Fur Spaniard convoy has arrived and duty has spirited away Tallulah for the rest of the day. But not without her leaving behind these words.
"Well then Admiral, I sure hope that this will be the start of a wonderful friendship, or rivalry, depending on how one may look at it."