Roon laid on the deck of the Warspite, left gasping for breath as Warspite walked over to her with a soft smile on her face.
"You alright, Roon?" Warspite asked.
"How? How did you beat me so easily?" Roon asked.
"As I said before, you use 100% of your energy in every action. You have no restraint." Warspite said.
"Is that really it? I did this myself?" Roon asked.
"Yeah, really. Your punches hurt like hell, but I have been hit thousands of times over my life in both world wars. I have learned to roll with the punches and fight through the pain until i have a moment to breathe. But you notice how my punches and strikes were nowhere near as hard, but had almost the same effect?" Warspite asked.
"Not hard? You hit like a train..." Roon said as she slowly worked herself to a sitting position.
"Because I aim my strikes. I don't need to hit you as hard if I hit the right area. A half powered punch to the sternum can have the same effect as a punch to the gut. You have to learn when and where and how hard to hit. If you can't master that, you're doomed to be overpowered and outsmarted by a more battle savvy foe." Warspite explained as she walked over to Roon to help her up.
"You weren't kidding... I thought that I was good, but yet I was put down by a corgi..." Roon said as she shook her head.
"And that's why we're training. Because you have the power to overpower anyone who dares to fight you, but you don't have the skill and technique to back up that strength." Warspite said.
"I need a break... I'm finding it slightly more difficult to breathe at the moment." Roon said as Warspite tossed her a canteen of cold water.
"Take a few minutes. We're going to go again in a bit." Warspite said as she looked out over the Horizon.
"Looks like we finally arrived." Intrepid said as they moored at the familiar port in Fiji.
"Looks like they haven't moved back into the town. That'll make it easy for us to operate." North Carolina said as she stepped out onto the dock.
"I would have to agree. Let's get working on that radio relay right away. I know that was part of our orders from the Commander." Helena said as they all looked at Omaha.
"Is something the matter, Omaha-san?" Yukikaze asked, walking over to the green haired cruiser.
"I'm alright." Omaha said as she looked towards the direction that they came from.
"You miss him, don't you?" Surcouf asked.
"What? No! What an absurd notion." Omaha said as she stormed off into their new port home.
"She misses him." North Carolina said as she watched Omaha storm away.
"Aye." The girls all nodded in agreement.
"Well, no time to waste, let's get this relay online so she can finally talk with her Commander." Intrepid said as they all got right to work, scrounging for parts to built the Relay.
Isaac's journey to the Shinano was uneventful aside from spotting a group of dolphins splashing around her hull. As the bulin in charge of the raft moored them to the side of the Shinano, Isaac had to move to the side to avoid being hit by a rope ladder tossed down by one of Shinano's Bulins.
"I thought they were both in port?" Isaac asked.
"Only one, Commander. The other came back with Shinano. She has not been feeling well as of late." The bulin said.
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.
"She complains of being dizzy and getting sick if she eats anything more than a small meal. Her bulin practically dragged her back here." The normal bulin said as they climbed aboard.
"Commander, Miss Shinano isn't feeling well, so she cannot come out to meet you." The Ultra Rare Bulin spoke.
"Have you contacted Vestal?" Isaac asked.
"She's too busy with the injured from our last battle. She said that Shinano should just rest." The UR bulin said.
"That's basically what she does all the time..." Isaac sighed as he looked at the Bulins in front of him.
"You two can head back to port. Help where needed. But I need you to send me Arizona and Alice right away." Isaac said.
"Understood commander. But can I ask why?" The UR bulin asked.
"Those two will know what to do to help Shinano. Other than that, no reason." Isaac said, which seemed to be a good enough reason to get the Bulins to leave.
Isaac sighed, thankful to be alone again as he walked towards Shinano's quarters.
"Ah, my love has come." Shinano said softly as Isaac knocked on the door to her quarters.
"Shinano, can I come in?" Isaac asked.
"Of course. I've been expecting you, my love." Shinano said as Isaac opened the door.
"I hear you're not feeling so well." Isaac said.
"My love, you and I both know what this is. I can already sense your fear." Shinano said softly as her hand rested on her stomach.
"I don't want to jump to conclusions. It might just be coincidence." Isaac said.
"My love... we Kansen don't get sick under normal circumstances. This cannot be mere coincidence." Shinano replied as Isaac sat on the bed next to her, allowing her tails to envelop his lap.
"I just want to be sure, Shinano. Things are never as easy as they seem when you girls are involved." Isaac said as Shinano pulled him closer to her, looking him dead in the eyes.
Isaac was saved from being scolded by Alice and Arizona showing up outside the door.
"Commander." Arizona said as she and Alice entered.
Isaac stood off to the side as Alice walked over with her medical bag.
"How have you been feeling, Miss Shinano?" Alice asked.
"I feel warm. I haven't gotten sick recently, but I also haven't eaten much either." Shinano said softly as Alice laid her back and began her physical.
"Are you okay, Commander? You seem nervous." Arizona said as she helped Alice in checking Shinano's pulse and temperature.
"I'm not nervous. I'm fine." Isaac said as sweat beaded on his head.
"Commander, you're sweating. Are you ill?" Arizona asked as she walked over to Isaac.
"I'm not, it's just a bit warm in here." Isaac lied.
"I feel fine." Alice said as Arizona looked intently at Isaac.
"Commander... is there something you're not telling us?" Arizona asked as she crossed her arms, accentuating her already voluptuous chest.
"My love is currently trying to hide the fact that we can conceive." Shinano said softly as Alice looked her over.
Arizona looked at Shinano.
"Well, your intuition is correct, Shinano." Alice said as she put a stethoscope to Shinano's midriff, above where her womb was.
"What does that mean?" Isaac asked.
"There's another heartbeat in there, Commander. And since I am 100% sure that this upstanding woman hasn't slept around... you're going to be a father. Congratulations." Alice said as she turned at the sound of Isaac falling to the floor.
"My love?" Shinano asked as Arizona quickly went to his side.
"It seems that his nerves got the better of him. I don't think he was ready for such blunt news, Alice." Arizona said as she helped Isaac into a chair.
"Well... Nimi had said he was a bit dense, so I thought blunt was the way to go." Alice said with a shrug.
"Yes, but with news like this, a touch of delicacy would have been nice." Arizona said as Isaac stirred and rubbed his head.
"Ow..." Isaac said as he touched a rapidly forming bump on his head.
"Are you alright, Commander?" Arizona asked softly.
"I think I hit my head..." Isaac said.
"I believe that to be the case. But are you feeling okay? I know you just got some pretty heavy news." Arizona said as she looked at him.
"I... I didn't want to believe it." Isaac said.
"Did you not wish for a child?" Shinano asked.
"I mean... it's always been my dream to have a child... I just... as of late, I've seen how incompetent I can be. And I don't know if I can be a good father to this young one..." Isaac said.
"My love... you are by no means incompetent." Shinano said as she slowly sat up with help from Alice.
"How can you be so sure?" Isaac asked.
"I have faith." Shinano said softly as Arizona helped Isaac to his feet. She walked him over to Shinano who help out her arms to pull Isaac in, putting his head next to her stomach, where Isaac could faintly hear a heartbeat that wasn't Shinano's.
Isaac teared up at the sound of the tiny heart pumping away.
"There's no turning back now... I guess I'm going to be a father." Isaac said softly as Shinano smiled while petting his head.
"Should we break the news to the fleet?" Shinano asked softly.
Isaac sighed and took a deep breath.
"The others will want to try for kids, you know." Isaac said as he scratched his neck.
"Well... I can see that becoming problematic. I guess we can wait until this little one decides to make it's appearance." Shinano said as she looked at Isaac, her tails swaying softly.
"That would probably be best." Isaac said.
"Now, with that being said, Shinano should remain on light duty. Either that... or you need to put in for her to transfer away from the active warzone until she had her child and can return to the fleet." Alice said.
"I can't just divest myself of a third of my air power. We'll be sitting ducks without Shinano's fighters. Akagi has requested to be near her husband's grave, so I can't call her back from Tonga. Intrepid needs her leadership role to build confidence. And I can't call upon Kaga without taking Perkins from New Guinea." Isaac said.
"Well, I am telling you, since this is the only time I've seen something like this, you need to keep her stress levels down. If these girls are anywhere close to being human, stress can cause her to miscarry." Alice said.
"I... I didn't think of it that way." Isaac said.
"Isn't Graf Zeppelin coming down here? We can easily transfer Shinano to the rear guard while having Zeppelin replace her in the formation." Arizona said.
"We don't have a rear guard, do we?" Isaac asked.
"No, but I was thinking that we could take our support ships and troop transports, and move them from the center of the fleet to the far rear, keeping them out of the action as much as possible." Arizona said.
"Have you brought this up with Odin?" Isaac asked.
"I have not. It was just a thought, but I didn't want to overstep." Arizona said.
"I approve it. As much as it pains me, we'll have to rely on Zeppelin, Richthofen and Eagle to take care of everything aircraft related in the formation. Shinano, You're going to be sent to the rear. Until you have our child... you'll be relegated to extra rooms for the medical team and transport of cargo in the hanger." Isaac said as he looked at his kitsune wife.
"To think that such a miracle would come with such a burden to my love." Shinano said as she looked away.
"Not at all!" Isaac said frantically.
"But you just said..."
"I know what I said, but I want to keep you and the baby safe. And that is the best way to keep you safe, while making sure that you don't feel like you don't have a purpose among the fleet." Isaac said as he looked at Shinano.
"My love... I will do what I can." Shinano said softly.
"I know you will, my dear. I know you will." Isaac said as he smiled, allowing himself to fall back into the happiness he had felt over the news of becoming a father.