The entire crew of "The Voids Wrath" was manning their stations or on deck in full ceremonial kit, the white of the Teutonic Order emblem shining as a beacon against the blue arctic ocean, half-phalanxes formed around the firing emplacements. Rifles and swords held high, shields at the ready.

Despite the striking image of this show of force the crew continued to whisper, even as they held the defenses together.

"What do you think it means? The world being the same but the people different?" whispered a rifleman.

"It's as the Captain said, god has given us a new mission." replied the man shielding him.

"I know but what do you think it means?"

"Are you asking God to justify himself?"

"No of course not, but while we cant know the will of God he isn't arbitrary. People the same but different, their minds, their lineages warped."

"You suggest that we aren't the warped ones." mused a grenadier as he checked his munition for a fifth time.

An air of tension permeated the knights until finally the port of Murmansk drew close. A solitary chaplain began chanting, by the time the Seaplane carrier reached the docks proper the entire crew was join in the low, almost dwarven chant.

Captain and acting Hochmeister, Sir Labrenz Hock swiftly descended the gangplank, flanked on his left by the acting Generalprokurator and on his right by a trio of grand-knights.

"Men of Volodyna, I am the last lord of the Teutonic Order, and captain of "The Voids Wrath", and we have many things to discuss."

Glasgow Council, Glasgow City Property

@IluvatarTO: Glasgow Local Council
FROM: USS Tulsa ZRCV 1

This is United States Navy airship Tulsa, Cdr. Roy E. Owens commanding. We have been ordered to divert to Glasgow by Liverpool. We require 100 ground crew or mooring mast.

"A mooring pole?" said Adaira, questioningly, in her soft Scottish accent.
"That's what they're sayin' lassie." replied Macdonald, the head coordinator of Glasgow's local defence system. "Do we have one of those?"
"Noo, not that I know of. Can they mooor to som'at else?"
"Eh, perhaps a flagpool?" Adaira gave him a withering look, odd to see on her normally pretty face. "Well, a church spire then?"

Adaira opened her mouth as if to make some remark. Instead, she closed it and picked up her radio. Pressing the receiver button firmly, she murmured a message into the machine.

[@QueenRaidne]TO: USS Tulsa ZRCV 1
FROM: Glasgow Local Council

Glasgow lacks the landing equipment you require. Can a similarly sized and shaped structure, such as a church spire, suffice?

HMCS St. Clair (165), 14Km East of Halifax
“Captain Pelletier we have redistributed the supplies to the coastal patrol ships and are good for two weeks but we have a lot of concern amongst the men about their families in the surrounding regions of the lost zones, Sir.” Said an aging executive officer from Toronto with a thick hazel mustache on his face as he stood in the captain’s personal quarters. “King is currently beginning peace talks with these people and hopefully we can dock, but tell the men to show them the discipline of Canadian Sailors and continue to hold tell ordered to.” Said a weary French Canadian captain with a slight accent. “Yes sir.” Replied the XO as he turned to leave. “Also inform each of them this is a very crucial time and that if we lose are cool we can spark a war for Canada and I wouldn’t want to be that man.” said Pelletier as he laid down the communique he was reading on to his compact desk.

Hawker Hurricane, Captain Foss, No. 106 Squadron 12km W of Saint John
Foss looked away from the instruments of his hawker hurricane and to the land around him it looked the same from this altitude to him. ”it is all newfoundland now what a perplexing situation we are in.” he thought to himself as he brought his view to the prime ministers aircraft as he continued flying. “This is Captain Foss of the Royal Canadian Air Force number one hundred and four fighter squadron flight of two with VIP aircraft in tow, requesting clearance and landing instructions at Saint John for negotiations , over.” He broadcast over the radio as he could see Saint John in the distance slowly growing as they grew closer to the island.

Deena Fontaine stared absentmindedly at the night sky, bored out of her wits. She had been working at the tower for two years now and in all that time she must have seen no more then 24 aircraft coming in to land, it begged the question why Newfoundland even bothered making an airport when a tent and a dirt runway would have been more then sufficient. She picked up her coffee mugged and swirled the contents around in the white ceramic vessel, taking only a small sip before placing it back down on her desk. It was going to be a long night and from what she could see of the other's in the tower, they thought so too, with their heads rested on folded arms on their desks and some even fast asleep under their consoles. She sighed.

Giving the room a brief scan, she acknowledged that no one was awake, this made her angry of course but she was too tired to voice her frustrations. Convinced that no planes were to be landing tonight, she switched off her desk lamp and took off her headphones before pulling a blanket over her shoulders and closing her eyes. As she did so, her headphones crackled to life with the tinny voice of a man, reluctantly she slipped the headphones back on and as she looked out of the window, she spied two military trucks and a fancy car pull up at the far end of the airport.

“This is Captain Foss of the Royal Canadian Air Force number one hundred and four fighter squadron flight of two with VIP aircraft in tow, requesting clearance and landing instructions at Saint John for negotiations, over.”

"CAF-104, You are clear to land," she mumbled, not bothering to check her ledger to see if the identification number was valid, "adjust course to 014 degrees and commence a shallow landing on runway three, choose any hanger you like, they're all empty." with that she took her headphones off and bundled herself into her blanket.

-Volodyna, The People's Republic of Kataylabinsk-

The cold arctic waters that splashed against the shore of the city of Volodyna rather amusingly weren't much of a change for its residents, as one of the most northern cities in the PRK. It's said that many people didn't even notice the change until they turned on their radios, since events move slowly this far north. The faintest sounds of artillery could be heard in the West, as PRK forces who were accustomed to peace were suddenly reacting to the invading forces of a country known as "Suomi" which appeared to be little more than a satellite of the great Deutscheland now threatening their western heartland.

Against this familiar yet strange backdrop, Colonel Yelisey Shulga, commissar of the Far Northwestern Military District, met with the representatives of the first foreign nation of this new world. A soldier on each side held aloft the flag of the People's Republic, and four additional soldiers on each side with their rifles' barrels resting on their shoulders in a sign of respect. The colonel's uniform bore some decoration, but the ordinary soldier's uniforms were quite ordinary. A diplomat of the Foreign Commissar's office stood behind the Colonel.

The first thing that struck Shulga about the crew of this ship of the Teutonic Order, in contrast to their own dress, was the decoration and ceremoniality. The PRK's military was quite utilitarian by contrast, preferring a low-key appearance. He nodded when Captain Hock approached, and agreed. "Indeed, we do. I am Colonel Shulga of the Kataylan Armed Forces, and this is diplomatic representative Minin. Would you care to follow us inside so that we may talk securely?"

When they had arrived inside the nearby building, there was a simple wooden table with chairs and a fire prepared. Cups of coffee rested on the table, steaming. When they had settled, the Colonel spoke again. "As far as we can tell, this event has affected the world. Radio reports from our eastern and southern borders speak of displaced forces, nations, and confusion appears to reign. So it appears that we are not alone. Nothing appears to be coming from the west, besides the occasional chatter in what appears to be your language and coded military transmissions. So needless to say our government is very... confused about the current situation. Do you know any more about it, or are you as clueless as we are? And does your nation even appear to exist in this world?"

Surprised at the openness of the Colonel, Captain Hock decided to reply in turn, "As far as myself and my senior staff can determine, 'The Event' as you call it is a deliberate and surgical action taken by an unknown party. Knights of the Teutonic Order were withing shouting distance of my crew members when the world warped, all those under my command remained, all those under different jurisdiction and their works were unmade, nation included we presume."

"As for the West, I'm not sure what happenings transpired in your worlds history but I will do my best to explain what I can. Despite the stoic defense of the Teutonic Order and other east European nations Germany was winning the global conflict by a vast majority, emboldened by their advances they broke their treaty with the U.S.S.R., the nation which in our world holds your lands, and began a surprise invasion. The effects of this betrayal can be seen in this world, as we discovered in Leningrad, my ship and crew were to regroup with escaping forces not far from there but it appears the east was less sturdy in this world."

"Having said all this our intentions are to liberate the Svalbard islands, taking the city of Longyearbyen and its various facilities to sustain a continued offensive against Germany. Any assistance, support or information you can offer would met with our gratitude and reciprocation." Having finished his speech Captain Hock downed the coffee, which thankfully was strong enough to offset the hours spent worrying on the bridge.

Germany Berlin | Victory speech listened in by every German in the new Empire

"My people...Children of the fatherland...For many years, we have been a broken nation...oppressed, conquered by those who desired war. I have rebuilt our nation, I have rebuilt our strength, and I have rebuilt our pride! We are strong once again. Sons and daughters of the fatherland, your destiny beckons. Stand with your brothers and sisters, stand with me, and together we will be undefeated. The past is our faith, the present is our strength, and the future... the future is our birthright! Our Enemies shall be crushed under our mighty steel treads!, their planes shall fall from the sky as burning husks and their civilians shall know our wrath. None may stand against our righteous cause and they will know We are Germany! and We will not be denied! Even now our armies prepare to take our justified vengeance on the ones who wronged us!"

-"Kapitän zur See, we have the latest progress reports from the scout planes... we have spotted what presumably is the coast of south Africa."The young officer reported to captain Kunz Hoehner, with exited exhales due to him running to the bridge to report.

-"Excellent, is there anything of note in our way?" Hoehner asked not expecting any problems.

-"Well sir...... i don't know how to say this....." The ensign continued, clearly lost his initial enthusiasm and now feeling at a loss, almost embarrassed.
The sudden change in enthusiasm alarmed Kunz and he stared at the ensign intently before speaking, his gaze clearly discomforting to the man.

-"Well speak out son, i won't know what the problem is unless you report it." He let out in an irritable command more than a request.

-"Yes sir... the seaplane pilot reported taking a closer look over the mainland...." The ensign making a short pause, clearly expecting an outburst, but then carrying on.
-"During his closer pass he spotted some flags.... they are not the flags of south Africa." With that Kunz Hoehner became rather puzzled.

-"Not south Africa? Then is it the commonwealth alliance colours? Or the empire of Mexico?" Kunz was worried, if the commonwealth alliance had claimed the cape good hope the german hope of winning this war was severely undermined. He looked at the ensign and spat out.
-"Well speak up!"

-"Here's a picture of the flag sir, it's..... Orange white and blue with some stag or something...." The ensign spoke and showed a simple but accurate drawing of the flag.
This was clearly not the right flag, but not any commonwealth alliance flag either. Then what was it?
Perhaps there was a rebellion, and a new local government took over. But Kunz had never heard of any rebellious movements in south Africa before, so while it seemed weird it seemed the only logical choice.

-"It must be some sort of rebellion flag, took over the local government or something.... since its not the correct flag nor any of the surrounding countries flags. Our current course of action is still in effect, maintain radio silence.... and prepare for a show of force, we aim to blockade Cape town!" Kunz Hoehner spoke, and with salutes and acknowledgements the crew scurried into action.

To show force, you had to show pride, and as such all the colours were raised. warstore.co.uk/ekmps/shops/marlina/ima..
The imperial banner waving calmly in the light wind as it adorned the aft of Bismarck, along with the two banners along the sides of the superstructure.
As the two schnellboots were lowered into action, they as well held the banner of the reich on their vessels afts as they skimmed along the surface of the sea.

The main guns of the battleship were readied and held aloft in a thirty degree angle as testament to their contained fury. At just a moment the captain of the vessel could have them trained on a target, and that is what this was to convey to any onlookers.
The seaplanes were launched and held long banners with the red white and black of the empire along their cloth surfaces.

Forming a wall, with the battleship at the centre, flanked by the schnellboots with the aircraft roughly above them, the sight was magnificent indeed.
Kunz believed this should catch the attention of the locals.

_______________________________

Meanwhile the republic of South Africa was getting the news of the sighting at sea to the correct authorities, this event was huge!

Kaigun daii (Lieutenant) Haruki , Mataba Mitsubishi F1M near Empire of Yamatai
Open skies surrounds the float plane as it was on a regular patrol after its launch from the IJN Yamashiro an hour earlier. The pilot Haruki, Mataba looked to his instrument panel seeing they had ten minutes until they had to turn back. “Over their off are port side.” Said Haruki’s radio operator over the planes built communications system, drawing Haruki’s attention to his port seeing a land mass off in the distance. The plane pulled into a gentle lazy turn to its port as he grew closer to the island, they closed seeing the shoreline of the country and seeing Japanese designed structures through a pair of binoculars. The landmass stretched into the distance. ”Inform command and send them info of our findings were returning to the Yamashiro.

Imperial General Headquarters
“Emperor I bring bad news to you my lord, we have multiple report from are intelligence of a highly disastrous event on a global scale. “Said an advisor in a rushed tone and he bowed onto his knees before the emperor in the large hall. “Tagata come forward!” said the advisor as an intelligence colonel came forward with an over filled document in hand. “My Emperor we do not have a full grasp on the whole situation but what we understand is a paradox has taken place your troops have reported, that many shifts have taken place of landmass and countries new organized governments have replaced nonexistent or prior governments.” pronounced the intelligence officer as he paused for a moment. "Japan and her islands along with Korea have remained unaffected by this shift as we a calling it but a new landmass has been reported by naval aerial reconnaissance aircraft in the pacific almost are size between us and Hawaii, we have lost all holdings in mainland china.” continued the officer as he froze as he finished speaking expecting wraith only silence filled the room as they waited for words from the emperor.

“This is a dire time for Japan but we shall endure through these changing times, we shall not waste resources on another attempt of attacking china we must consider are actions carefully with the loss of are troops and resources we must fortify Korea, continue with are currently planned moves but advise are people of this matter and prepare a massive memorial for those lost to this unfortunate event.” Announced Emperor Showa in a slow considering every word. Showa wore a calm demeanor across his face but was filled with grief and frustration. “You all are dismissed and please hurry to your task.” Said Showa as he looked to the group of advisors.

IJN Kongo, Kongo Class Fast Battleship Kaigun chūshō (Vice Admiral) Hiritoma, Babuyan Channel, Philippines
Lines of Japanese Battleships, Cruisers, and Destroyers were formed into line from east to west their guns aimed at the night shrouded Philippines coast lines as landing ships were already forming to head towards the coast. “Vice Admiral all ships are in position and ready for landing operations sir.” Said the ship’s captain as he gazed across the bridge. ”Begin coastal bombardment on my order, spread this order with all do haste.” Ordered Hiritoma as he grabbed a pair of binoculars and exited the bridge looking at the coast in the predawn light as the sky was slowly shifting from black to orange. “Sir they are ready.” Said the executive officer well the captain stood by the communications console. “Begin bombardment, fire at will and have the landing craft start their landing operation after ten minutes of bombardment.”

Silence of the night was broken in as naval guns roared to life lighting up the channel in continuous roar of thunder as over two hundred guns aboard the naval vessels unleashed this barrage of high explosive shells. Orange streaks from the naval guns streaked across the night sky as they traveled through the air before they impacted and from into a fiery pillars of earth and debris. Minutes after the coastal barrage as if on cue flights of imperial Japanese Army Air Service Mitsubishi Ki-32 light bombers in large wedge formations came from the ever brighter growing sky, Ki-32s broke from their formations and rolled into a steep dive before releasing their payloads of high explosives on their pre-determined military targets then pulled away and began heading back for Taiwan.

Gochō(Corporal) Katsumi, Chosi , Babuyan Channel, Philippines
Katsumi was knelling on the landing loaded down with his whole platoon and supplies other landing craft surrounded his , he looked to the coast with a thought of the mayhem along the coast as it was writhed in flames and continuous explosions even as they closed. He watched as his world lit up as the larger guns would fire bathing them in a orange red glow then quickly fade back to darkness. He held tightly to his rifle as they closed on the beach and the planes pulled into the distance. Star burst flare exploded in white high above them as the naval guns grew silent as the landing ships grew close to the shore line.

In the depths of Mindanao, 9th of August 1940

The soldier's guts were spewed out on the jungle floor, his eyes watering. Doom were in his eyes, a whimper of "mama" stuck in his throat. Blood flowed out of his mouth, head going limp. A rough, callous hand reached out towards the young soldier's destroyed body, closing his eyes. Lieutenant Abdul Ahmed stood up and turned away from a sight that he's seen too much. A young soldier charging into battle, only to be killed by a stray bullet or artillery fire. Another mother won't get to see his son again, another lover not see their boyfriend.

The 4th Scout Platoon just lost their newest and no doubt youngest member. At the age of 16, he signed up for the army to fight in the war overseas. Unfortunately, there was already a massive veteran contingent fighting in Europe, so he was sent to the Mindanao for live field training. He was in the 4th for one week before getting killed from shrapnel in the gut. A bad and painful way to die.

"Fuck!" Abdul kicked a fresh corpse in the gut, an enemy sniper they shot down. The very one that called the artillery strike on them. The one that killed one of their own. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" With each curse, he kicked the dead man, the insurgent. The so called "Freedom Fighter" of the South. In the midst of all the chaos World War Two, these farmers armed with carbines still find a reason to kill more of their troops. Troops who should be sent to Europe, not some backwater island in the middle of the UFS.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, smaller but as hard as his own. The Lieutenant stopped in his furious rage, head slowly turning towards the one who stopped him. First Sergeant Jane Turner, one of the fee American soldiers from the American base in the Visayas, Philippines. "Kicking a corpse won't bring him back Abdul" she said softly "leave the dead alone and let's come back to the river. Command is sending us home."

Jane took her hand off and walked off, shouting a few orders to carry Junior back to base. Abdul ran a hand through his hair, tears forming in his eyes. The stress of the last few days washed over him, hitting him like sledgehammer. The numerous ambushes and skirmishes was enough for a man to break down. Your freshly made platoon sent to the death, slaughtered in the first few battles. Brothers and sisters in arms staying in a hostile environment for almost two years, seemingly forgotten by their commanders.

It has been two years since he or most of the 4th Scout Platoon have seen their families. Sure there were some reinforcements but like Junior, most of them were green as grass. They usually learn this when they're killed in their first battle. They were the called the "Forgotten" for a reason. The only commander who really pays attention to them was General Long, a Malaysian man of Chinese descent who thinks that they were the key to killing off the insurgency. They have gone through village after village, farm after farm, and they've been successful so far. Didn't mean that they enjoyed being away from their family for this long.

"Lieutenant! Are you going to stay there or are you going to go home!?" Abdul turned and smiled for the first time in years. Those few words made him forget years of exile and blood. He was going home now.

---

Present Day

"-turned down ten promotions. You have led the 4th Scout Platoon for quite some time, yes? You've been given many medals, even the infamous title of the 'Premier Guerilla'." Miguel droned on and on.

First Lieutenant Abdul Ahmed looked at the President with a dry look. Here he was, stuck in an office in front of the most powerful man in the UFS. Giving him a run down of his career. Like experiencing it wasn't enough. Of course, it was still the President, you had to be polite in front of big wigs. Didn't mean that he liked what was happening though.

"-and so you have been chosen, along with your platoon, to escort an ambassador being sent to America on the war in the Pacific. Afterwards, you will fight alongside American troops against the Japanese. All troops are being rallied but it is taking time. You may be the first to experience the Japanese in battle."

Abdul's jaw dropped. "Wait, what?" Miguel smirked and hid the draft of a message to be sent to America.

@Monkeypants

From: The United Federated States of Thailand-Philippines-Malay 
To: United States of America

Greetings, we were your allies in the past. We shall be allies once more. We are sending an ambassador to serve as an extension of me in your country. Alongside them is a platoon of highly trained veteran guerrilla's to be sent to work with your troops. This would be a good exercise for your troops to be used to ours. We will have to work together in the near future so this will form bonds between our two countries.

The Lieutenant leading the platoon will be Abdul Ahmed, he is a veteran from the jungles of Mindanao, Bali and the forests if Europe. He is the premier guerrilla fighter and can train your troops. Likewise, we ask if you can train our troops as well. Note that these soldiers do not like to be undermined. If Abdul is away or missing, First Sergeant Jane Turner will act as Platoon Leader.

Kind Regards, Miguel Mendoza, President of The United Federated States of Thailand-Philippines-Malay

Miguel dismissed Abdul, smirking a little after seeing his face. His face turned to a look of worry as his gaze turned to the letter, sent from the General of the 8th Army. What he would find would anger him greatly.

---

Fort Lapu Lapu, Cagayan Valley, Philippines

Artillery rained down on the northernmost base in the UFS, severely unexpected. It destroyed man and vehicle alike for straight ten minutes and then silence. The enemy forces landed on the beach, finding nothing but carnage in the nearby town. They swept through the whole beachhead, only to find no opposition.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Nathaniel Ordonio led a group of civilians away from the village as long as several wounded and dead. The bombardment was a surprise but the General of the nearby Fort Lapu Lapu acted quickly and evacuated everything two kilometres from the beachhead. It was not an easy task and to get these crying, broken and shocked civilians through to the 8th Army in the mountains was going to be one hell of a trip. "Oi, Ordonio!"

Nathaniel turned to see Colonel Jonathan Osprey, one of the leaders of the operation. Osprey was sent here from all the way in the base in the Visayas and was planning to stay around in the Cagayan Valley for a bit of R&R. The evidence was clear to see, he wore civilian clothing and his face was covered with ash but he still had his .45 nearby, gripped tightly in his hand.

Jonathan came up to him and said in a low voice, "I need some men to stay behind to watch for us. We need to slow these guys down so that the civilians get to safety in the mountains. I plan to send you and a platoon of soldiers to hold up in the jungle, hopefully set up traps and ambushes. You up for the challenge?"

Nathaniel knew what he was looking at. There was nothing more obvious than a suicide mission, to slow down a never ending tide. But this was for his country, his Liberty and God himself. He looked determinedly at the Colonel and said "I'll do it."

An hour later, Ordonio and a group of 42 other men were sent to their deaths. They set up traps in the jungle, spike pits, rock crushers, tripwires, mines, trap after trap after trap was laid. They climbed up high in the tree's and waited for the opposition. Of course, this was all futile in the end. They will go through this "Death Trap" Jungle, kill them all and probably take over half of the Cagayan Valley. But this was just to slow them down.

Negotiations between the Knights of the Teutonic Order and Volodyna broke down despite effort on both sides to compromise, such is politics even in war. After a day of heated discussion all that could be shown for it was a refueling of "The Voids Wrath".

Disappointed but not overly hampered by this development Captain Hock quickly reorganized the crew and their mission to liberate the islands of Svalbard was under way, the rough, icy ocean standing as the only obstacle.

Rikugun Chūi (First Lieutenant) JIro, Kajiwara, Cagayan Valley, Philippines
First Lieutenant Kajiwara walked out of the temporary command tent set up under palm trees providing shade from the Morning sun; He trudged through sand passing trucks loaded down with ammo and supplies being pushed out of the soft sand by soldiers. He finally arrived off sand onto solid ground and took a final glance over his shoulder seeing the massive effort of troops, vehicles, supplies, and precious few tanks still coming onto the beach. “Lieutenant Kajiwara the platoon is ready.” said a sergeant as he approached. “Thank you, sergeant Fujimoto.” He replied as he approached seeing members of his platoon assisting medics with loading wounded civilians into an ambulance well they were waiting for their platoon leader to return. They all watched the ambulance depart as they follow instruction and formed into platoon formation. ”Are orders have come down, we are going to be advancing into the Valley and making as much head way as we can before the main advance, Everyone is to keep their eyes open we have lost five men to booby-traps and double that in wounded, We are currently aiming to travel twelve kilometers before nightfall.” Ordered Kajiwara as he showed his troops on his field map that contained the land island in a grid formation and terrain features other than that no information.

Kajiwara held his Mauser C96 in one hand as his platoon surround him as they advanced slowly forward with a young Corporal Chosi was leading the platoon forward. Chosi unleashed a cry of pain as wooden spikes penetrated the rubber sole of his boot and flesh alike. Two soldiers rushing towards their injured comrade and one collapsed as a bullet punctured his chest throwing him to the ground. “Find Cover and Return Fire.” Bellowed the Lieutenant as he rushed behind the trunk of a tree unleashing four shots with the heavy pistol as he ran, Japanese soldiers opened fire as they scattered to cover a soldier dropped onto his stomach and opened fire with his Type 99 light machine gun with a slower rate of fire. Chosi pulled himself free from the trap with the assistance of his fellow soldier a second before the soldiers neck exploded in a spray of blood and was dead before he hit the ground. “Mauri call in the Artillery well be slaughtered like this I want this jungle head of us gone!” Bellowed Kajiwar as he barely was holding his anger in check.

Gunsō (Sergeant), Usui, Cagayan Valley, Philippines
Six Type 91 10 cm howitzer were positioned within firing pit as Combat Engineers were still building fortifications and Soldier stood guard, Soldiers rushed furiously working loading and aiming the artillery pieces. Thunder Claps echoed across landscape in a flash of fire and smoke as the Howitzers fired unleashing High Explosives rounds into a high arc aimed at their target. Breach’s opened expelled expended brass casing to the dirt floor as another soldier slammed another artillery round into the breach and slammed it closed before another shot was made.
Rikugun Chūi (First Lieutenant) JIro, Kajiwara, Cagayan Valley, Philippines
Pillars of fire and earth reached skyward in expanding balls of fire repeatedly as shells kept kept raining in on their target incinerating trees and vegetation in the firestorm that ensued. “Cease fire, Cease fire!” Bellowed Kajiwara at his radio operator as soldiers winced with each impact as earth rumbled beneath them. Artillery fire slowly came to stop like someone had turned off a giant hose of hellfire. Kajiwara rallied and reorganized platoons looking at the four dead wrapped with their poncho well four soldiers

Pretoria, South Africa

"Are you certain they are not Germans?"

The minister of defense scratched his head in confusion while adressing Prime Minster Hoedemaker. "At first they would appear to be. The ships at Cape Town appear to be of German build, a bit outdated but certainly German none the less. But their colors and markings are distinctively Imperial." The Minister handed a few pictures that were taken of the ships off the coast; "It is as if they had come directly from the Great War. They fly the Kaiser's colors, yet bear no markings of the current government of Germany."

Hoedemaker responded in turn, "So if they are not Germans, what are they?"

"That is what we are trying to figure out, sir. We have sent several warships of our own to try and scare them into backing down on their blockade, as well as make contact with them and figure out what their motives are."

Cape Town, South Africa
The once vibrant beach was now desolate, no soul in sight save for a few military scouts survaying the situation. It was not long that these ships had appeared, and careful action was taken as to how to approach them. The final solution was, however, to bring around a team of 4 battleships, about an 8th of the total South African Navy, to approach from the sides, and then surround the ships, and hopefully encourage them to back down and cease hostile action. The ships were less than magnificent to behold, looking rather bleak and mediocre compared to the Bismark. But, the numbers compared to the lone battle ship and its schellboots themselves should be something to drive their wedge in. Within time they would take notice, and perhaps end without any fighting. That was the hope, but the South African's were prepared for anything. They had fought the british for their right to independence, and they would fight this strange ship if needed.

Off the coast of Cape town.
The mighty battleship Bismarck was still going strong, the formation holding except the scout planes alternating in scouting runs and refueling aboard the Bismarck itself.

Suddenly the scout plane that was currently out made a sharp turn, the lookouts confused of its sudden movements, almost scared or panicked.
After a short five minutes the scout was in radio range, the radio not good enough for long range communications, but good enough for short range communication within a few kilometers.

A young officer ran from the observations deck and hurried to the captains quarter, banging the door furiously until the angry old sailor opened.

-"What is it!? I was asleep, i hope it's something important for your sake!" Kunz Hoehner roared out, only wearing his undershirt and underwear.

-"Warships, at least four vessels. Big ones sir!" The heavy breathing mixed with the erratic voice of the officer. It was only met with the shocked awe of captain Hoehner.

Fifteen minutes later, Bismarck's meeting room
-"The problem is simple, what sort of action do we take?" Kunz Hoehner asked as an open question, expecting suggestions to help him figure out this predicament. A silent murmur with several scratched shins and worried emotions followed.

-"We could fight our way through..." One suggestion came, the inevitable suggestion.

-"I have thought about that, according to our scout forces the vessels seem to be of great war design, dreadnought type vessels. Each one of them posing little true danger to the Bismarck, but four of them at the same time.... and with no good knowledge what sort of supporting navy present..... i don't think we can outfight this one." Kunz told in a blatant way, no avoiding the problems present.

-"Then we should seek a diplomatic solution, speak to the bastards.... damn commonwealthers!" Another officer spoke, anger showing in his voice.

-"We have no way of proving these are commonwealth vessels, they fly the colors of the local government...." Kunz spoke but was interupted by the previous speaker.

-"What the heck else would it be? South africa is a nobody and everyone knows that. They can't pull four dreadnoughts out of their arse!" The officer was fuming, but not as much as captain Hoehner.

-"YOU BE SILENT, AND WATCH YOUR MOUTH!!!" Hoehner roared, then he calmed and spoke again.

-"We're not going to achieve anything with anger........ the vessels, they do not seem to be of commonwealth design. In all honestly non of our files have any direct matches for the ship types."
He made a short pause.
-"It may be commonwealth vessels, but we have to assume that it is some sort of hidden reserve held by south africa without anyone knowing. A true feat of subterfuge... i agree that we need to speak to them."

-"But how do we contact them? Our long range radios are busted, and we can't send in a scout plane within its radio reach since they will probably shoot it down." The same officer who had awoken the captain earlier brought to attention. Kunz solemnly remembered his lost slumber.

-"This is the biggest problem we face, our chance of fighting our way to the port is too slim, so the way of contacting our.... foe? Will be a dangerous task." The captain spoke the part 'foe' truly wondering what they were facing.

After a short time of murmuring and silence, the lookout officer spoke again.

-"Perhaps... a weather balloon... with a hole in? And a buoy..." He was met with utter confusion.

-"What on earth do you mean?" Came from the crowd, putting to word what everyone was thinking.

-"Listen, we take a weather balloon with a message, then we cut a hole in the top so it looses altitude slowly. Attach a buoy with a message to the... south africans... and then, i dunno, have a meeting?" The lookout officer began strong, but lost his confidence somewhere mid sentence.

After a pause where it looked like people couldn't decide if the idea was stupid or genius the captain spoke once more.
-"Since we cannot turn back, due to our low fuel storage, our only option is to go forward.... although we do not want to engage in unnecessary combat... i say we go with this idea." Many looks fell upon the captain, betraying their skeptic attitudes to the plan.

-"Let me speak." A rather lanky officer with a crooked nose and glasses spoke, and was gestured to continue by mr Hoehner.
-"I say that this is to risky, there is no certainty that the message will reach them, and by the time we manage to send a new one we will be in visual range anyway, and thus most probably within firing range. I suggest we go in at full combat readiness, and use signal flags as we close in."

Kunz Hoehner nodded agreeingly.
-"That is a valid point, we will combine the two. Get that message out, prepare it for immidiate launch. Bring the ship to full combat readiness, let us not be caught off guard. I want this ship able to fire at the first sign off trouble. Men, MOVE OUT!!" Kunz ordered his staff whom immediately left for their separate posts in quick paces.

As Kunz made his way to the bridge with a few other officers, a general message was sounding all over the ship.

*All personell, battle stations. All hands to battle stations.*

Which was repeated a few times until the command staff had made their way to the bridge.

Flagship of fleet outside Cape town of The Republic of South Africa
One of the scout planes was now visible again, and as the plane was about to enter AA range it turned and dropped something.
It looked like some sort of balloon with red smoke coming out of it, and with a buoy attached.

The device fell rather fast towards the surface of the ocean and during its last 100 meters it entangled itself and corkscrewed and hit the water surface hard.



The message was not one of friendship, but of need.
Kunz Hoehner knew that one on one the old dreadnoughts could not stand a chance against his vessel. But a four on one gun duel could force the Bismarck into a retreat, and thus loose precious fuel and ammunition for naught. Even worse the ship could sustain irreparable damage which would need a dry dock, and Kunz could not afford that to happen.

Finding the city of Longyearbyen not only abandoned but partially razed came as a shock to the crew of Teutonic Knights, they had expected an Axis occupation, a people to be liberated. They had attempted three courses of action in this strange mirror world, all three had met with events they could not have expected. Needless to say moral was low for the holy knights.

Then next week was spent taking stock of the city, repairing the damage of Operation Gauntlet, and fortifying their new Head Quarters. Finally the communications officers received their orders.

Cape Town, South Africa

As the South African ships began to close in, Major Jan Van Jaarsveld watched with a sardonic smile as the strange germanic blockade was surrounded. He was sure that it would be all over soon. As the Major was planning the next moves should the battleship try and open fire, a lieutenant approached him.

"Major Van Jaarsveld, our men have intercepted something interesting from the Germanic Ship."

"And what would that be?" the Major replied

The Lieutenant and several other soldiers showed him the message that was intercepted from the salvaged buoy by the nearby military personnel. As Major Van Jaarsveld read it over, he nodded in agreement with it.

"Very well, send one of the ships towards them, we will attempt to negotiate with them. If I am not mistaken, they appear to be anti-British, which could be in out advantage."

"What makes you say that, Major?"

"They want safe haven from a Commonwealth. Who else could that be? They cannot be trusted, but anyone against the British will be a valuable asset in our fight."

"Understood, sir." The Lieutenant replied as he went out to deliver the orders for a ship to be sent out."

A single ship raised its white flag as it began moving towards the Bismark. The captian shouted to his crew loudly in Afrikaans as they moved closer. It would be interesting indeed. Captain Oosthuizen was brushing up a bit on his German as they approached, filling in the gaps with dutch and afrikaans as needed. It was close enough to be understood, so he thought.

-"So they want to negotiate ey?" Kunz Hoehner said thinking aloud as he lowered his spying glass. He had been summoned from the bridge to the lookout post after hearing the news of the surrounding vessels.

All in all, it wasn't really a good position. Now they were properly surrounded by vessels of unknown prowess and of unknown origin, not to mention the Bismarck wasn't fully repaired yet either and thus lacked important communications possibilities to control the battlegroup.

As the large south African vessel approached the crew of the Bismarck gave it instructions via flags, hoping they would understand the standardized international code it used.
One of the massive double-barreled turrets followed the approaching vessel with its rotation, but not its barrels. The barrels were instead in a vee shape, completely useless in a fight, but easily adjusted. Just to make the local guests more... comfortable.

The Bismarck had slowed to a 4 knot crawl, as to not anger the locals too much with its approach. But the ship was still closing with Cape town, and could quickly change heading and speed at any given time.

-"Let's prepare a welcoming committee shall we?" Kapitän zur see Kunz Hoehner told no one in particular, he went to the officers meeting room which was slightly decorated with what local decorations they could bring up.
A not overly pretty version of the south African republic flag, a dark wood African masked sculpture and some blue and pink flowers which could use some water.

The cranes was prepared to tow aboard a small watercraft, and the gangway was ready if they chose to pull up next to the ship.
The waiting was tense, and it didn't help that the dreadnought was far slower than the German crew aboard Bismarck was used to ships going.

Cagayan Mountains, Luzon, Philippines

Explosions were heard in the distance, too far away to see but close enough to hear. Colonel Jonathan Osprey grimaced at the sound as he led the last few civilians into the mountain bunkers. 'I have ordered men to their deaths, I have done it before and I shall think about it now.' He shook away his thoughts and ushered the last few civilians in. Afterwards, he gathered what was left of the meagre garrison soldiers and planned to find the leader of the 8th Army.

It didn't take long, asking a few soldiers returning from scouting duty that directed them to the general's camp. Jonathan entered a small command tent, bolstering his gun and standing in attention. General Palmenco greeted him with a grim face and motioned for him to sit on one of the chairs in front of his desk. When he was seated, Palmenco asked "What is the situation, Colonel?"

"Sir, we have identified the troops as Japanese. We believe that they have made a beachhead on Fort Lapu Lapu and have levelled the jungle nearest to it, destroying our traps with it. I think their ETA is in an hour, sir."

The General rubbed his stubble beard in concentration, eyebrows furrowed. He sighed and looked the Colonel in the eye. "Unfortunately, retreat is not an option. With so much civilians here and with little time left, we would need to fight the Japanese head on. I have ordered my men to make trenches and traps along the mountains. I have an attachment of tanks that will be positioned on the more defendable parts of the mountain. They will drown in their own blood if they attempt to go into these mountains."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean attempt to go into these mountains, sir?" He queried. Palmenco leaned back into his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "This is where you come in. As an understrength regiment, I have no place for you on these mountains. There is a great possibility that the Japanese will go around the mountains, taking the longer but safer way. I need you to link up with the Forts around the area and make some sort of defence to the left of the mountains. Round up any villagers you come by and make some sort of defensive line. I have radioed command and they will buffer you with the 12th Army and 8th Armoured Regiment in two hours and thirty minutes. You better get going Colonel."

Jonathan saluted and exited the tent, the importance of his missions dawning on him much later.