Somewhere in the Philippine Islands.
"He is making his way to Australia? Good. Their defenses are down anyway from the constant assault."
"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter what you throw at him'?"
"Well... if that's the case, Then I have something that might take a bit of his firepower out of the battle long enough to strike a blow at his capital ship."
"Understood, Empress. She has already been infused with the black cube."
"Even if he removes the cube, she's been physically and mentally... broken. Breaking our hold on her will be nigh impossible without killing her, which will put him in a tough spot too."
"Yes, I already have several submarines patrolling outside of his effective sonar range. I have eyes on his fleet."
"Ten Battleships, Two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, two aircraft carriers, two submarines, one destroyer, one repair ship, two transport ships."
"That would make sense. I will rearrange the forces to allow for more battleship class drones to attack due to his lack of destroyer escort."
"Thank You Empress. I will do my very best to fill the void left by that traitor.
Tester Beat closed the channel to the Empress and looked out over the port where a single ship stood.
"Hood... your time has come." Beta said as the Royal navy Battlecruiser looked up at Beta with tears streaming down her face.
"I understand." Hood said as she stood and turned towards her ship. The older boat had seen better days. Scars remained from the battle with Bismarck and her subsequent sinking.
"My vessel... why does it look so decrepit?" Hood asked.
"I am not going to waste time fixing your hull when you are being sent to fight Apollyon. You're only duty there is to cause as much psychological damage as you can while my drone fleet mops the floor with him. Either way, you will return to your home soon. I have no time to deal with a broken ship." Beta said as she turned to walk away.
"You... told me that if I helped you... I'd get to see my husband again." Hood said in a slightly heightened tone.
"Oh you will. I loaded your powder magazine with several excess tons of explosives. It will detonate upon the completion or failure of your mission. Either way, you'll see him again." Beta said.
"I'll die!" Hood said, shocked.
"That's the point. He died too. One of my subs witnessed him jump from that puny island cliff into the rocks. He killed himself the day we took control." Beta spoke, her voice one of perverse pleasure.
"He... died?" Hood asked as the tears began to well again.
Beta backhanded Hood across the face, sending her to the pavement.
"And you will too if you don't head out immediately." Beta said as Hood slowly picked herself up and limped towards her shoddily repaired vessel.
"Good. Good. You will be the bait to draw them in." Beta said as Battleship drones blipped into existence.
Beta watched as the Hood limped out of Harbor, followed and kept under guard by the drone ships that Beta had spawned to attack Isaac.
"Huh. That was not what I was expecting." Isaac said as he looked at Nimi's radar array.
"What is it, Liebling?" Nimi called from the deck.
"It's... a bird. But it is unlike any bird I have ever seen." Isaac said as he extended his hand forward towards the large yellow bird.
"What do you mean?" Shinano asked.
"It's... very plump for something that has managed to fly it's way up here." Isaac said as the yellow bird jumped from the straw nest onto his arm.
"It's also not afraid of humans..." Isaac said as the bird looked directly at him.
"Did you get it?" Nimi yelled up.
"Yeah. I need one of you to take this bird though. I have to clean out the Radar array." Isaac said as he climbed down the mast.
"Shikikan, Odin is calling me to talk to you." Shinano said.
"Put her through to Nimi, that way I can use the radios here." Isaac said as Shinano nodded.
"Kommandant?" Odin asked.
"Odin, what's up?" Isaac asked.
"Norfolk is reporting a spike in activity coming from the Philippines." Odin said.
"Shit. Full ahead, we need to get to Australia and bunker down. They're gunning for us." Isaac said.
"Understood. I will transmit the order." Odin said as Isaac interrupted again.
"Get Eagle's fighters in the air. I want recon as well." Isaac said as he looked at Shinano.
"I will tell her now, she is with me on the Norfolk." Odin said.
"Excellent. let's get it going, I want to see fighters launching within the next ten minutes." Isaac said as he cut the line.
"Shinano, could you also put your Zeroes in the air? If we are just now registering a spike in energy, they might already have aircraft inbound." Isaac said as Shinano nodded.
Isaac watched from Nimi's radar array as several squadrons of Zeroes took to the sky above the fleet.
"Is that enough, Shikikan?" Shinano asked as Isaac counted 30 Zeroes flying overhead.
"That is more than enough. Keep an eye out for anything." Isaac said as he finished clearing away the brush from Nimi's radar array.
"Nimi, how does that feel?" Isaac asked as he climbed back down to the deck, where the bird hopped right back over to him and sat itself on his shoulder.
"That fixed the issues with the interference." Nimi said with a smile.
"Does anything else feel off?" Isaac asked.
Nimi shook her head and looked at Shinano.
"You should probably go and clean up. You and Shinano are covered in oil and fuel." Nimi said in a sly tone of voice.
Isaac looked at Shinano who was blushed slightly.
"Well... I'm going to go and see Bremerton while you two clean up. I'll see you later, Liebling!." Nimi said as she winked at Shinano, and began running towards the railing on the deck.
"Nimi!" Isaac called as Nimi smiled and jumped to the waves, skating over to the Norfolk.
"Well, Shikikan... Should we go and clean up then?" Shinano asked as she walked over to him, trying to contain her blush.
Isaac sighed.
"Those girls... they always find ways to do this." Isaac said softly as he turned to Shinano.
"I know where the shower is here, I just don't know if we would both fit." Isaac said.
"Well, like my sister ship, the Yamato, from which my hull is based... I have a bath house onboard." Shinano said softly as Isaac looked at her.
"What?!" Isaac exclaimed.
Shinano nodded as she held out her hand.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Isaac said as he took her hand as she summoned her rigging, setting him gently on the flight deck that wrapped behind her.
"It's about time that I get my hands on you... Shikikan." Shinano said softly as she descended onto the waves, swiftly cutting through the surf towards the massive carrier that sat beside Texas and Odin in formation.
"I guess you have been waiting for quite some time. Long enough to go to Eagle and nap with her for two days." Isaac said as he looked at Shinano.
"Was it two days? Hmm..." Shinano said softly as she began to lose herself in thought, blushing at the images that crossed her mind.
"Shinano?" Isaac asked.
"Ah, Shikikan, sorry." Shinano said as she made her way from the water to the flight deck of her ship.
"You're blushing again, what are you thinking about?" Isaac asked as he looked her in the eyes.
"Shikikan... you must have caught your shirt on something onboard Nimi's vessel." Shinano said softly as she pointed to his shirt.
Isaac looked down and saw that his T-shirt had been torn apart, revealing his toned midsection.
"Shinano..." Isaac said in a defeated tone.
"I told you before... I'm quite jealous of the affection you show those big battleship girls. Is it so wrong... to imagine it with myself in their shoes?" Shinano asked., leaving Isaac speechless.
"I... guess not." Isaac said as Shinano led him below deck.
After a few minutes of walking, Isaac found himself inside a lavish bath house lined with showers for cleaning one's self before entering the bath.
"Should... I go first then?" Isaac asked as he turned around to see Shinano in the middle of slipping out of her Kimono.
Isaac fought to keep his jaw from hitting the floor.
"That is not necessary, Shikikan. My bath is communal and allows for mixed bathing." Shinano said, seemingly unbothered that she was standing stark naked in front of Isaac.
Isaac looked her up and down and couldn't help from speaking his mind.
"Damn... I think the only one on par with you... might be Friedrich." Isaac said under his breath.
Several small knocks came from the door, causing both Shinano and Isaac to look.
"Dear husband, I hope you weren't planning on keeping such a treasure to yourself." Friedrich said as she, Eagle, and Odin all stood outside the bath house.
"Of course not, my facilities are open for all the girls in the fleet." Shinano said with a soft smile.
"How did you all know I was here?" Isaac asked, clearly confused.
"Nimi told me where you were going, and I told the others here. Then Eagle said Shinano had mentioned having a bath house onboard. So I took the liberty of handing command to Nimitz and taking a well deserved relaxation in the bath." Odin said blushing softly.
"And I for one, Have always wanted to come to a traditional Sakura bath." Eagle said, turning her head to hide the blush and her blatant lie.
"I came to see my dear husband in the bath. After all, it has been a bit since we have had fun together." Friedrich said, confidently showing the curves of her body.
"If you all are here, then where is Nimi?" Isaac asked.
"Right here, Liebling." Nimi said as she poked her head into the door frame.
"I thought you were going to see Bremerton!" Isaac exclaimed as the girls slowly moved towards him.
"I lied, of course. After you mentioned getting cleaned up, I knew something good was going to happen." Nimi said.
"You mentioned that!" Isaac said as Friedrich and Odin placed themselves at his sides and put their hands on his oil stained shirt.
"Did I?" Nimi asked, feigning innocence.
"You sold me out..." Isaac said.
"Yup. After all, how could we all make a move on you at the same time if not in the bath?" Nimi asked as the other girls nodded, causing Shinano to chuckle a bit.
"And what is so funny about this?!" Isaac cried as Friedrich and Odin stripped him of his shirt, tossing it aside and allowing Eagle and Nimi to place themselves at his front and back.
"Because... I have seen this in my dream, and never knew what it meant until now." Shinano said as she moved closer to him.
"But what about the alert? We could be attacked at any moment!" Isaac said, trying to bring some sense to the room.
"Every ship in the fleet, ourselves included, are keeping our Radar and Sonar in the back of our minds. We will know right away if something happens." Odin said as she pushed him onto one of the stools as the others began gathering the items needed to wash him.
"What are you all doing?!" Isaac asked.
"What a good wife does..." Nimi said.
"We are taking care of our dear husband..." Friedrich said.
"After all, you've cut your hand..." Eagle said.
"So we are going to wash you from head to toe..." Odin said.
"And everything in between." Shinano said softly as they all descended upon Isaac.
Isaac tried to resist but was robbed of his will when the feeling of soap hitting his back was followed by two soft mounds pressing against him.
"Shinano?!" Nimi cried.
"Hmm?" Shinano asked as she moved her body up and down, using her body to cleanse Isaac's back.
"You took the best part..." Nimi pouted.
"Well, It is my vessel, after all. I can't just let everyone do what they please without taking what I want too." Shinano said as the other girls quickly stripped and threw their clothes aside along with the sponges they were going to use.
"Somehow... I don't think I'm going to be the winning party here..." Isaac said as a plush softness enveloped every inch of his skin.
"Oh, dear husband... to have five beautiful women tending you? I think you're winning more than anyone... well besides us." Friedrich said as her lips stole his as her chest enveloped his arm.
"Yeah, I think any man in the world would be happy to be in your position, Liebling." Nimi said as Isaac felt several hands creeping lower on his body.
"All ships, as you were. Radar is clear and no reports from Eagle or Shinano have provided any intel stating that we are under assault." Nimitz said as they sailed forth under the midday sun.
"Admiral Nimitz. I must say, it is an honor to meet you in person." Texas said as her knock was heard on the door of the bridge.
"Texas? What a pleasant surprise." Nimitz said.
"Didn't think you'd see this old girl again, huh?" Texas asked.
"No, nothing like that. I just wasn't expecting to see you on the bridge of the Missouri." Nimitz said.
"Well, I didn't have a chance to explore the Iowa, so I figured I'd explore the Missouri and see what makes her so much better than my design." Texas said.
"Texas... I didn't think you'd be the type for jealousy." Nimitz said.
"I'm not. I just want to see if there are things I can ask of the Commander to make me a better fit going forward." Texas said.
"Texas, you don't need to do anything more than what you do. Ten fourteen inch guns and enough AA to rival the Cleveland class? That's not firepower to scoff at." Nimitz said.
"Still... I feel underpowered." Texas said.
"If you wouldn't mind, I could spare some of my crew to see what we can do to teach you some new techniques. I can also put in a request to Admiral Garner to update your Radar to something similar to ours, but I believe your firepower is right were it needs to be." Nimitz said.
"I would gladly accept any assistance you can provide. Thank you." Texas said as she turned to walk out.
"Take some of the boys from intel and some from fire control. They should be able to help you the most." Nimitz said as Texas nodded and headed down to the main deck in search of her new helpers.