The North PacificBoard

The first thing that came following a modest agreement to allow the barge to dock, was the realization of how frozen everything was. Unusual ships were constantly churning up what seemed to be ice that would’ve otherwise frozen the entire port, especially given the two staggeringly massive hulks of steel that seemed to have been constantly worked on by the natives of the region since the barge itself was guided by Tugboats into a spot on the port that seemed sized for one of those titans. Aside from the constant activity, what drew the eye was the massive vessel approaching the barge. A Titan of steel and concrete, it was the KMS Kaiserin Victoria II, one of the (unknown to the Madrueiji crew and complement) the four Austro-German Supercarriers. Approaching at a speed ill befitting of a vessel of its size, it quite easily dwarfed the barge itself, but as ice had grown over the edge of the deck, every now and then a sizable chunk dropping into the murky depths or shattering on a passing ice flow.

The horn that bellowed from it shook everything, ice cracking and icicles dropping, as smaller vessels that orbited the immense capital ship jerked out of the way of the bow, and acutely avoiding another Köln Incident*. As the usual ice breaker paths are too small, it left a trail of cracked ice trialing behind as it approached the barge, before turning slowly on a course wither to arrive next to the barge or ahead in another carrier spot in the port. And from the vantage point, two vehicles on the deck were being hurriedly towed out of the way and off to the side, below the tower that stood as the only raised structure on the deck. As it cleared out a group of people came on deck to apparently inspect it, before retreating from the biting cold. And as it arrived next to the barge it soon opened its communication lines and gave a simple request.

“This is the KMS Kaiserin Victoria II, callsign Keynote requesting permission to board the MRN Anabia Azer for the diplomatic meeting”

As it lurched to a stop next to the barge, two massive anchors nestled in the bow dropped, as the vessel sought to secure itself against ice flows, with two more being dropped at the stern. Shattered ice from where they were kept falling away as the massive chains were swallowed by the frozen sea, until it lurched to a stop, and the chains were raised until relatively taught, securing the vessel to a gap between the barge and the carrier so that bridge could be laid upon the expected approval from the Shah, so that they can exchange diplomats and the chancellors meeting of the Shah as per planned.

*The Köln, FZT-03, ran over one of its escorts after a severe communications failure, resulting in the total loss of the escort ship