The adventures of Prinz Eugen and the young engineer Volume 1.

Chapter 30

Arriving there he went straight to the room of the heavy cruiser. Knocking, he waited for her to open the door. Shortly after the door opened and a drowsy looking Prinz Eugen looked at him while tugging her uniform into place. "You better have a good reason to wake me this early." She grumbled. Not taking notice of her question he asked her: "May I enter? I need to talk to you." His serious tone and complete disregard of her question made it more than clear to the cruiser, that something important was going on. Nodding she let him into her room. He entered the room and leaned against the window frame. "I just witnessed half of the Northern Palairment Shipgirls leave for the far east. Apparently the Sakura Empire attacked their base in the Pacific. Sovetsky Soyuz, Grozny, Tashkent and Pamiat Merkuria left. As did their teams. We should get in contact with high command and see what is true about that information and to figure out what we should do." Taking in the information the cruiser stood there for a couple of moments before starting to speak. "This will complicate things. If this is true the Sakura Empire might just drag us into a war against the Northern Palairment. What were they thinking?" Thinking over the next steps to take she continued speaking. "It will be for the best to contact HQ. Let them know about the developments here and receive new orders. We should get going and contact them." With her line of thought concluded she grabbed her coat and made herself ready to walk out.

Following the cruiser through the heavy snow, she and the young engineer walked through the empty streets of the city towards an internet cafe they had used before to send messages. They arrived there after about an hour. The little cafe had just opened and next to the staff the two were the only ones there. Logging in to her command code Prinz looked up the last messages she had been sent, while the young engineer ordered himself a tea. Drinking his tea and surveilling the cafe the young engineer waited for Prinz Eugen to finish her exchange with headquarters. The Cafe was a typical sight of a leftover part from 20 years ago. Along the walls of the cafe were boths with one or two chairs placed in front of a computer with coin slots to pay for internet access. The tiled floor had turned from white into a light shade of grey and the tables and chairs in the middle of the room were freshly cleaned but one could still see their age. The counter, the young engineer was leaning against was a weird mixture of tech support service and a diner counter. Behind it half of the space was taken up by computer and server electronics and behind it an open wall with a Kitchen for preparing foods and beverages. After some time the cruiser stood up from the computer she had used and walked over to the counter at which the young engineer sat. She nodded at him, signaling that she was done. He paid his tea and followed her back out into the snow.

Walking back towards the base, he looked at her waiting for her to share the new information. After some time, she started to speak. "So, the Sakura Empire and Northern Palairment are at war since midnight. Our information has been taken in. We are supposed to use the lack of personnel and focus on other things to get some more details about the warmaking capacity of the Fleet and then get out of here." The young engineers stomach cramped up. "So they want us to actively steal intel instead of passively gathering it? Do they know what that means for our prospects to continue breathing? I really do not like that order." He said, making his discomfort audible. "Well, orders are orders. Since Sovetsky Soyuz is gone, my guess would be that the Admiral is also transfering to the far east. So there will hopefully be a lot less administrative staff here anymore. As well as his secretary which would have been the biggest issue in infiltrating that building." Prinz explained. Rubbing the backside of his head while thinking about the proposition of what she just had said, the young engineer asked her again: "Are you really serious? You want to break into the office of the admiral? How quickly do you want to get us killed?" Looking him straight in the eyes she answered: "Not at all, this will be the fastest way to get us out of here. We will use the confusion that is the transition of forces and mobilization for war to our advantage. My idea is that one of us distracts the aid to the admiral, while the other gets whatever we can get out of his office desk." Nodding in understanding the young engineer knew that there was no other way if they did not want to disobey orders or fail at their task. "I guess you want me to do the distracting then?" He asked her. "No, I would be suspicious the moment I am seen. You dressed in your mechanics outfit, will just look like one of the dock space leaders. Also, you can speak their language and can possibly get away with being asked for what you are doing." Swallowing the young engineer felt the pressure of that decision. "So I am going to sneak into the office and steal stuff?" He swallowed hard. "I really hope that will go well. When do you plan to set your gamble into action?" He asked her uneasy. "Well, when we arrive there." She said chuckling, which made the young engineer even more uneasy.

Back in the base the young engineer and the cruiser split up. The plan they made on their way to the base was as easy as it was foolhardy. She was going to go through the main entrance and would try to distract the aid that was most likely at his post at the top of the grand staircase in front of the admirals office. While he would go through the side entrance, through which he had been escorted when he was introduced to the admiral. From there on out he was to break open the office desk and get whatever he could get. After that he was supposed to get out of there as fast as possible. That said, it would be as hard of a task as stealing the information themselves. He had prepared all his things to get out of the base as quickly as possible. Hiding his duffle bag in a snowed in shrubb outside of the base.

He walked into the canteen and changed from his uniform into his working clothes in the restroom, so he would be less conspicuous. Hiding his clothes and coat in one of the stalls he walked back out and out towards the entrance of the headquarters building. Entering he passed the guards and secretary behind the entrance desk without being noticed.

Walking down the hallway he had fist walked in a couple of weeks ago he arrived at the smaller staircase he had climbed weeks before. He felt exposed only wearing his shirt, working trousers and toolbag.

His thoughts started to race more and more through his mind. His imagination painted gruesome ideas in his mind if he was to be captured. But all these thoughts vanished the second he was able to look over the edge of the last stair step. He saw Prinz Eugen argue with the aid at the grand staircase. All his fears and thoughts vanished as he saw her do her part. Instead his resolve that was hampered by his fears before, finally made him push on. He silently walked up the last steps and quickly passed behind the aid and walked towards the desk of the admiral. He walked behind the big polished oak desk. It had multiple draws and he could also see the computer of the admiral still standing there. The computer was already disconnected from the screen and next to all the other items he remembered being there weeks ago, had apparently already been packed away ready to be sent off. He opened the drawers as silently as possible and grabbed all the papers he could find from them. Not looking at what he got, he shoved them into his toolbag. After finishing to  store them, he got out a screwdriver and undid one of the sides of the PC. He carefully disconnected the harddrive and slipped it into his toolbag as well. While closing the side of the computer back up, the young engineer could hear a third voice in the argument. One that spoke Ironblood as well as the language of the Northern Parliament. Knowing that Prinz would now not be able to harass the aide much longer, he wanted to get out. But the third person now translation between the two faced both Prinz Eugen and the aide. There was no way he could sneak past that third person. Realizing there was no way out the fear and excitement of the situation hit the young engineer again. Panicking he tried to figure out a way to hide or to get out. Hiding behind the admiral's desk he heard the three of them conclude their argument. Looking from the side of the desk he saw that the translator and Prinz had left and the aide was standing in front of the elevator. Which just opened and multiple men walked out and were pointed towards the desk by the aid.

Now even more in panic the young engineer crawled beneath the desk trying to hide. He heard the men come towards him. He heard things being picked up and moved. And then there it was. Someone came around and looked beneath the desk. A young soldier faced him. "What are you doing there?" The soldier asked. His mind racing as fast as his heart was beating he came up with an answer: "Uhh.... I am here to hmm, disconnect the electronics, which I am about to be done with." He answered the soldier in his language. The soldier nodded and looked at the computer. "So, can I take that one with me already?" He asked. The young engineer kept up the game and nodded. "Yes, this one is ready to be taken away." He pushed the computer out of the space underneath the desk, towards the soldier, which smiled and picked up the computer. Shortly after the men left again and entered the elevator. Luckily for the young engineer the aid went into the elevator with them.

Taking his chance the young engineer rushed through the office and down the small staircase. Arriving in the hallway at the bottom of the building he caught his breath and tried to walk at a normal pace. Pretending to be normal he walked down the hall. He managed to pass through the entire hall without any issue. When he managed to get outside he was almost overwhelmed by the rush of all the emotions and anxiety. He got weak knees and dazed out for some time.