From the depths

[Icebreaker]

It was cold in the submarine pen, and the steam from Captain Bischoff's breath mingled with the smoke from his cigarette. He was leaning against his docked ship, the MPS U-691, squinting at a letter bearing the official seal of the Count of Discontinuity.

After reading it for several minutes, he sighed, folded the letter and placed it in his shirt pocket. One of his crew members disengaged himself from the nearby business of loading the submarine with supplies and approached him.

"'Scuse me, sir, could you spare a light?" Bischoff nodded and leaned over to light the serviceman's cigarette before leaning back again and taking a long, thoughtful puff.

"You know those rumors goin' around recently, Tim?" The captain squinted off into the distance of the pen, where several other subs were undergoing similar preparations. "'Bout the cause of our alert state, and the current mission we're undertaking?"

"Well of course, sir. To be honest, it's got me an' the rest of the boys a little shaky." The crewmember looked down and fidgeted with a lapel before continuing. "Hope there ain't no truth to it, though, sir, 'cause ain't never done an operation like that before."

Bischoff shook his head, threw the stub of his cigarette on the ground and stamped it with the heel of his boot. "Well, son, I ain't supposed to say nothing until we get underway... but I will tell you this: you should probably call that sweet little fiancee of yours before we launch, just... you know, resolve any fights you guys might be havin'. That sort of thing." He gave a quick nod to the serviceman as he went to supervise the last load of supplies being loaded.

The (somewhat sparse) navy of Discontinuity was undocking. And according to the rumor mill, this time wasn't a drill.