September 1939, Kiel
Rudi's Bierkeller
22:00 Hours
The Kaleun and the chief entered the bierkeller, at best, nothing more than a cheaply disguised brothel, at worst....nothing but an undisguised brothel.
The two walked over to the bar, looking conspicuously old compared to the majority of the uniformed drunks surrounding them.
"Scotch, ice, a little water", the Kaleun, quietly, but firmly.
"The same" asserted Chief Kan.
The Kaleun took a sip, while the chief lit up his trusty pipe, handing his lighter over to the Kaleun, who had inperceivably whipped out a cigarette and had it fixed between his lips.
"Look at them, Chief, so ready to fight in their iron boxes"
"And die for them too", answered the Chief, with a hint of tragicomedy. "They'll find out soon enough, Kaleun".
The Kaleun and the Chief went back a few years; this was not their first sialign together.
They has previosuly sailed as one of the few U-boat crews during the Spanish Civil War, not racking up many kills, but none the less, seeing and experiencing the death of war.
Of course, back then, the Kaleun was but an ensign, while the Chief was the head Mechanic, and the two had formed a close bond, not in the least because the Chief had a prodigious ability of procuring a bottle of spirits from anywhere, even, seemingly, from the bottom of the sea itself.
As the two "old men" drank, they surveyed their crew, having been drinking since the early evening.
Their ecstasy came partly from the invasion of Poland, part of their natural Heimat. The Kaleun knew for a fact that a couple of the crew were born in Poland, back when it was part of Germany.
It also came partly because they could now prove themselves, and become Men, in the tradition of the Kaiser, that long-forgotten figurehead.
Sipping his second scotch, the Kaleun noticed a slurring Pugwaschen leading a number of U-boat men from various crews in a stunningly tone-deaf rendition of Lili Marleen, switching between English and German alternatively, putting a small smile on his and the chief's faces.
In the corner, Kapitanzwei was currently engaged in some game he'd invented, where officers would stand toe to toe, and give the Hitler salute in such a way that the arm would crack the other officer in the face as hard as possible.
Kapitanzwei said it proved who was the "most patriotic", and judging from the number of black-eyed and bloody nosed officers wandering around the room, it would seem noone could impugn Kapitanzwei's belief in the Reich. Or his ex-boxing credentials.
Eisernmann, the trusty, but deadly, cook, at this point, crashed through the door to the kitchen, running off with a huge string of sausages, and a leg of ham, and as one of the waiters tried to tackle him, he swung the ham into his stomach, bending him over in pain, and shouting "I'm a sub-mariner verdammt, you cowardly dog!" and taking huge bites out of the sausages, which he then passed to the crew.
Tykoonst and Eiskommando were sat together telling lewd jokes.
"Hey, Eiskommando, did you hear the oned about the nun and the rottweiler?"
before roaring with laughter, and screaming obscenities.
Scamphausen, as he walked past, overheard one of their blue jokes, and replied, roaring, "YOU WANT TO SEE MY ARTILLERY PIECE, YOU DIRTY DOGS?" and collapsing into laughter with the two, before all three pulled out their sidearms, and fired a salvo into the picture of Chamberlain adorning the bar's dartboard.
At this, the Kapitan climbed onto a table, and the chief bellowed "Achtung, you sickening sub-nautical scumbags", and the room quietened.
"You disgust me" started the Kaleun, "behaving like this, in front of your superior officers, the night before we set sail to smash the foe. Shame on you. Not even buying a drink for your officers?" he called, throwing his now empty glass against a wall, and it shattering into a thousand shards.
The whole room exploded with laughter, and began to sing
"O Du Shoener Westerwald", while the chief and Kaleun joined in, as Pugwaschen brought the two a hefty glass of unnamed spirits each".
He had won over the men, but would that be enough?
Rudi turned to his wife "I tell you, I hope the war is won soon. I can't keep doing with the mess these sailors leave my bar in!"
