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Das Meer und Das Unterseeboot1,559 words
Angriff1,887 words
Der Konvoi2,311 words
Heimkehr1,682 words
Das Ende3,440 words

Der Konvoi

Over the dark waves of the sea, distress calls in all forms of modern communication flowed out in all directions. One specific message however, traveled only 60 miles due north east of its origin point to reach its target. "What is its target?", one might ask. That has been more or less a secret that only the higher echelons of the Equestrian Navy up to the Princesses themselves only know. Not even the nobility knows this secret, as one can only imagine how large their mouths may become when at official events.

As the message made its through the chain of command, it passed through many hands and saw many faces until it came into the hand of "The Admiral". Upon seeing the message, the old sailor ordered his ship at full speed and to proceed towards to message's point of origin. He could only imagine the slaughter that was to commence.

*** *** ***

30 Minutes Later

Flames lapped over the oil-slicked seas as the sinking ship's boilers blew up and split the ship in half. Sea Breeze watched as the bow and stern bobbed over the flames for a few minutes as the Lapsis Taylor and the other ships within the convoy sailed full speed away from the point of attack. Never in his life did he ever want to see such a thing happen again since his time in the Navy, but there he stood, awestruck at the sight as the glow of the flames provided the only visible light that illuminated the darkened Lunar Star Liner.

As the Lapsis Taylor sailed with every boiler lit, she was still going at a slow pace due to her outdated propulsion system. Still, she was making 15 knots, which was amazing as a whole. But the threat of being caught by whatever beast that was plucking ships from the sea was still near and her slow speed could make her an easy target. As soon as the convoy was clear of the sinking hulk, Sea Breeze went back to the radio room.

Opening the door, he found his radiopony, Sparky as the crew called him, frantically scribbling down notes in one hoof and holding the headset on the other foot. The room itself was a near mess with papers lying everywhere on the floor. Normally, his Captain's instinct would've kicked in and he would've told the young radiopony to pull his head out of his flank and clean it up. But whatever sort of instinct that would've kicked in was lost in the frenzy.

"Sparky!" he called out, hoping that he wouldn't have to rip the headset from his hooves. Thankfully, it seemed like his hopes were answered as the young disheveled wireless operator turned his head to face his Captain.

"S-sir! I am getting a whole lot of traffic right now! I got messa..." The operator began.

"Sparky, I don't care about what other ships are saying right now. I need to know if the admiral has responded yet!" Sea Breeze said. Immediately, he could see the fear in the young stallion's eyes as soon as the admiral was mentioned.

For a moment, they stood silent, staring at one another. Sea Breeze knew that this was probably was the Stallion was expecting, so he switched into his "caring captain" persona.

"Look kid... I know you probably didn't sign up for this... Tartarus, I did not even sign up for this bull... I signed up because I wanted to escape this... so look at me now, you aren't alone in this. I just need to know if the admiral has gotten our signal." He said with a me sympathetic tone in his voice. It took a far minute, but it seemed like Sparky finally calmed down.

"They said that they will be here in a few hours." Sparky said with a gulp.

"Did they say anything else kid?"

"Nothing Captain... that.... that was it." With that, Sea Breeze almost felt his heart drop. It probably would've if it weren't for Riveted Keel bursting through the door after a mad dash.

"Sir! We just lost the Crystal Galley!" The Keel wheezed out. That came as a shock to Sea Breeze. The Crystal Galley was the fastest and most modern of the ships assembled in the convoy. The fact that they lost it meant that they weren't gonna last two hours. But... the Lapsis Taylor was the slowest of them all so if the Lapsis was left behind, the convoy could escape at a faster speed.

"Keel, get the inventory. I want everything transferred onto the next ship. We are going to buy the others some time." Sea Breeze order. For a moment, his first mate did a couple of double takes but soon he understood what the orders meant. With that, they both saluted each other and got to work.

*** *** ***

6 kills. 6 kills in a span of just over half an hour. Morale was high and torpedoes were beginning to run low. For Zimmern, this was his dream come true, serving Germany and the Fuhrer to the fullest. Even Steiner, the hydrophone operator who supposedly brought no good luck, was giddy with joy while he worked at his station as he overhead the cheers through his headset. Still though, more targets were out there... ready to be sunk in the name of the fatherland.

Peering through the periscope, Zimmern could see that most of the ships that were in the convoy were not fleeing west. However, something caught the corner of his eye... Something... Odd. The night was lit up by the stars and the moon, however... Just over the horizon, a black figure covered up the stars. It was hard to make out, but it certainly was not warship. Instinctively, Zimmern called over for his 1st Officer to get confirmation.

"Dietrich, I need your eyes... What does that look like over the horizon?" He said, passing the controls of the periscope to Dietrich.

"I don't know... It looks like the outline of a ship but it is hard to say... Do you think we should investigate?" His first officer asked.

"Ja... We can catch up the convoy later... Move up, silent 1." He ordered. Slowly, the Uboat began to sail towards the black splotch in the water.

*** *** ***

Sea Breeze looked through his binoculars and inwardly sighed in relief at the sight he saw. Through the glass of his binoculars, he could see what remained of the convoy sailing away over the night sky to it's destination. That was the only satisfaction he would be getting though for the next few hours as he now stood alone, with nothing his ship and crew left. Not even the escort destroyers (though they were outdated) opted to stay behind. All that there was between him and the unknown threat was the sea... At least, until the admiral arrived. But now was not the time to regret decisions and choices, now was the time for him to act like a true Captain.

Out of his trance, he made his way towards the dimly candle lit bridge to find all of his stallions standing at their posts, ready to follow orders. With a heavy sigh, he ordered for the ship to proceed slowly towards the origin of the threat, the location where the Starswirl has sunk.

*** *** ***

"He'rr Captain, I am picking up a contact. Seems to be coming from the north." Steiner said, listening in on the hydrophone. Immediately, Zimmern turned the periscope back up north and saw that the black outline across the see was gone.

"Verdammt" he whispered under his breath. He had just lost another target. Swiveling the periscope it's full 360°, Zimmern made his next decision.

"Gentlemen, prepare to surface." He stated as he began to order the ballast be blown.

"He'rr Captain... may I speak with you for a minute... in private?" Dietrich suddenly asked. Moving to the relative private Captain's quarters, Dietrich pulled Zimmern in with a strong grip.

"Zimmern, are you out of your damned mind? Why the hell do you think it is a good idea to surface just for one ship?" The disgruntled first officer began.

"Dietrich, there are no other ships in the area. Besides, we still need to identify it and setting a fire on her superstructure will help with that." Zimmern retorted.

"Are you mad? What if the Amerikaner are waiting for us to do that exact thing? You will get us all killed!" Dietrich hissed.

"You best watch your words Dietrich..." Zimmern warned.

"I don't care damn it. I won't let you sink us for some petty pride."

"The pride of the party and the fatherland depend on our actions you fool!" Zimmern nearly yelled.

"Where has the party gotten us now huh? Because of the party and the Fuhrer, we are being crushed on all sides while those idiots in Berlin want to fight this war to the end and take us all down with it! Can't you see that?" Dietrich said as her face grew red with anger.

All Zimmern could do was stand there in anger. He was furious as the comments his own first officer had just made about the party and the Fuhrer himself. It was absolutely disgraceful but as much as he wanted to throw the man overboard, he decided that now wasn't the time. He would get back at Dietrich though, in the name of the Fuhrer.

Making his way back to the con, Zimmern glared at the ballast operators and with the stern look on his face, they knew immediately what to do. Slowly, the U-Boat began to rise out of the depths to meet it's destiny.

*** *** ***

15 minutes later

The flames of the Starswirl stopped burning only a few minutes before, but the Lapsis Taylor was still far away from the site of the wreck. Sailing through the still burning seas to the point of origin of the convoy's troubles was clearly nerve-racking for the crew. Twice, Riveted had to make sure that the helmspony did not collapse from the constant shaking and had to carry to poor Stallion to the infirmary so he could be given a sedative.

Now, here he stood on the bridge with his watch officers while his Captain was up at the bow, checking up on everything. As the ship sailed through the water, a dark figure could be made out over the horizon through the thick smoke and flames. It didn't seem like anything large but it was still too far out to see. Immediately, he sent a runner to alert the Captain but deep inside he felt like he had just made the wrong decision.

*** *** ***

The deck gun was loaded with high explosive shells as was primed in the direction of where the phantom was ship was spotted. However, from the conning tower, nothing was to be seen through the heavy flames left by the burning oil of the previous 6 ships sunk.

For Dietrich, he was on edge and nearly wanted to through his binoculars over the side along with Captain Zimmern. How a man could be so blinded by false beliefs had made him sick to the core. He would've left the army as a whole if his nation didn't need him. He was compelled to at least serve Germany but not those who currently ruled her. Stories from his father of the days of the Kaiser made him long for that sense of elevated national and military pride. The Weimar days and subsequent Nazi takeover made him sick of politics though, which is why he joined the Kriegsmarine, to escape it all. However, like all officers back in 1938, he is as forced to sit down through some stupid National Socialist ideological class mandated by the Fuhrer himself. If he could fail it, he would've... But alas, if he wanted to keep his job, he needed to pass it. He never believed in it all but he never despised those who did. At least, not until just a few minutes ago with his argument with Zimmern.

Taking his mind away from the political nonsense that had just occured, Dietrich focused back on the sea, unaware and blinded by the smoke and flames that destiny was sailing right towards the U-boat.

*** *** ***

As soon as he heard of the object spotted in the water, Sea Breeze made his way as quick as he could to the bridge in order to get an update. When he got there, he found his first officer staring through the binoculars as the Lapsis Taylor sailed as quick as she could.

"Alright Riveted, what the Tartarus does this hulk look like?" He asked, pulling out his own pair of binoculars.

"Hard to tell Captain. She is very low in the water though. Spotlights might be able to get her if we pass through the flames." His first officer recommended.

"Alright, do that and make sure to have men on the bow ready if we need to board. Got that?" He ordered.

"Already on it Sir." Riveted replied, gesturing to the seaponies moving towards the bow, spears and crossbows in hooves.

*** *** ***

5 Minutes Later

"Contact spotted directly north!" One of the lookouts yelled out on the conning tower. Immediately, Zimmerm turned his head towards the direction his they were pointing in. There right before him, a hill sailing with spotlights blazing brightly was sailing towards them full speed.

"Full Speed! We need to get out of their path! Gunners, open fire!" He ordered as he yelled both down in the U-Boat and at the gunners. Almost immediately, the gunners opened fire with a single high explosive she'll that fell short of the ship and the engines began to pull the U-Boat forwards. However, nothing could stop destiny from playing out in the form of the Lapsis Taylor ramming the rear of Zimmern's U-Boat.

Author's Note:

Wow! This took a while guys! Okay... Well... It only took a while because my school district finally got online schooling working (it sucks btw). This week it gonna be very special for me as it is Titanic Week currently and the 108tj anniversary is in 4 days at the time of this chapter being posted. Be on the lookout for a Titanic story and maybe an update for "On a Sea of Glass and Ponies" in the coming days! Also... Try to guess who the Mysterious admiral is in the comments below. Now... I have to sleep! See ya folks!

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