"God damn it! Not only do we have to worry about Apollyon, but now the locals are in coils about some kind of sea monster?" Tester said as she sat on a brick wall overlooking Davao on the island of Mindanao.
"We have been searching the waters all the way to the border of the Indian ocean, Tester. We can't find anything even closely resembling what these humans say." An Explorer said as she walked up to Tester.
"Well, what did you find? I have to report to Empress and with the loss of the assault force at Brisbane, she is expecting results." Tester snapped.
"We found a dead whale, a single tug boat that was completely abandoned, save the armed corpse with half his skull missing, and hundreds of our drone ships." The Explorer reported.
"Well, what the hell is sinking our drones?!" Tester asked as the guns on her rigging turned to face the Explorer.
"We can't be sure." The Explorer said moments before Tester's main cannons fired and obliterated the Explorer where she stood.
"Useless mass produced tools. I guess I'll have to keep searching for the answer.
"I may have one, Tester." Another voice spoke from behind her.
"Oceana. What do you have for me?" Tester asked in a more amicable tone.
"Sound witnesses. They didn't see anything, but they heard it." The Oceana said.
"Well? This sounds promising." Tester said as she turned to face the Oceana.
"They said that while they couldn't hear it clearly because of the fog, they heard our ships fire with some kind of weird echo followed by a buzz and the detonation of one of our battleship drones. One cannot be sure, but if there is some kind of monster or entity, it seems to act a lot like the monster in humanities' naval logbooks." The Oceana said.
"So you too report that this is some kind of sentient monster?" Tester asked.
"We cannot be sure, but the monster this resembles is the Kraken. A rather large squid that is known to take down ships with a mighty blow to the amidships. They say the arms of this creature descend so fast, that it vibrates the very air and causes a buzzing sound right before impact. And since we keep our power cores towards the center of the drone ships, this may be the cause of the seemingly frequent detonations." The Oceana explained.
"Ah... coming from you, it makes it more believable. But honestly, a squid? To think a creature as dumb as that could take out or drones?" Tester asked.
"Actually, squids are very intelligent, Tester. I have observed the normal sized ones. They are very astute thinkers. They are above simple base instincts and know how to problem solve with the same complexity as an octopus or even a trained canine." The Oceana said.
"Huh... And the report i heard? Dead whale? murdered pirate on an unharmed tug boat?" Tester asked.
"Well, The dead sailor may have been a pirate. There are a few local sources of unrest here on this island and the others. It wouldn't bee too hard to believe that this is a pirate who was shot in a raid." Oceana said.
"And the whale?" Tester asked.
"I actually saw it. It had large symmetrical gashes on it that could have been caused by two sources." Oceana said.
"And they are?" Tester asked.
"Either a large vessel's propeller hit and tore up its back. Or this Kraken simply decided to eat it." Oceana said.
"The Kraken again, huh?" Tester asked as she looked over the port city of Davao.
"If you would like, I can send out human sailors with Explorer escorts to investigate the last reported sighting of the fog." Oceana said.
"The fog? Doesn't it seem that the Kraken only attacks with this fog?" Tester asked.
"Ancient lore about this creature says that it prefers to stick to areas with low light. Maybe the fog has enough light masking to bring it to the surface." Oceana said.
"Huh. Do that. Make sure that it's the prisoners that are sent. I can't spare The Pack members and leave this place underdefended. Especially with Apollyon most certainly on his way." Tester demanded.
"It shall be done." The Oceana said as she floated down the path towards the city.
Penny sat at Isaac's bedside with Arizona, who had fallen asleep in her sister's lap.
"She's been busy all day today." Alice observed.
"Yeah. This is the first time she's been able to rest since before the battle." Penny said as she looked at her sleeping sister's face.
"Do you think she'll go for him too?" Alice asked as she unbuttoned her shirt since she and Penny were the only ones in the room that weren't asleep.
"Honestly, I don't know. I don't think she knows." Penny said.
"I'm honestly surprised." Alice said as she looked at Isaac's sleeping form.
"How so?" Penny asked.
"He's got so many of you chasing after him. No man back home could even have this much fortune. Yet, he doesn't act as if he's entitled or full of pride. From my experience, any man with a mistress has an unmatched level of bravado. But yet, he has multiple, fully wedded wives, and yet acts as if it's normal. It feels odd." Alice said as she looked at Penny.
"Well, if I had to guess, he's accepted the unusual circumstances he finds himself in. As a girl from the Union... he would never have had this back home. Even at war, this is the best he could have it." Penny spoke.
"I heard stories..." Alice said.
"People like him are pushed down and treated like second rate citizens, if you can even call them that." Penny said.
"With wording like that, I assume you have views on it?" Alice asked.
"I do. Kansen in the union are treated pretty much the same as he would be. We are merely tools to be used by our navy. That's how the Union views us. Some of us, like Enterprise, the Essex class and the late war battleships all made names for themselves and were treated decently by the closing shots of the war. That was until we all were turned to cubes by whatever caused that blast on August 10th." Penny said.
"So you feel sympathy?" Alice asked as she slipped off her pink coat and slipped into a white shirt.
"I do. But I don't serve him because of that sympathy, and I certainly don't feel the attraction I feel towards him now as a result of that sympathy." Penny said.
"Never accused you of that. I can understand that attraction, but I know that I wouldn't like sharing my husband with half a dozen other girls." Alice said.
Penny chuckled a bit.
"I'm surprised they haven't killed him yet. I know he used to be a mechanic so the stamina is there, but with a bevvy of girls like that, he's gotta be something else to be able to command like this." Penny said as Nimi walked into the room.
"We don't just take, Pennsylvania. When we see that he's tired, it isn't just the sex and lovemaking that we give. Sometimes, his time with us results in a chat, or a massage, or even something as simple as a pleasant silence. We all know what it's like to be overworked... Odin and Friedrich not so much, but they have had their fill in the past few months, so they understand him. But girls like me, like Eagle. We understand. Shinano understands as well, as she has been overworked since the day she woke up. So we understand the desire to relax." Nimi said as she sat on Isaac's bed and gently ruffled his short black hair.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. It's just, he always seems to be at the top of his game, only brought down when he's reduced to this." Penny said, gesturing to his slowly healing arm.
"We tend to get carried away, but we also pamper him like he pampers us. For every time he takes me to bed, I return the favor by sitting with him and scratching his head as he goes over the various reports from the fleets in the Pacific island chain. I know Friedrich cooks for him every now and then. Odin massages his shoulders and back when she isn't giving him time off. Eagle gives him an area to exercise if he feels stressed out. And Shinano... she's doing what she does best right now." Nimi said as she watched the small twitches on Isaac's face.
"And that is?" Penny asked.
"She controls his dreams by being a part of them. She explains it like being his hero in shining armor, keeping his bad thoughts and nightmares from devouring him whole. She allows him to have a peaceful rest even in the midst of a war like this." Nimi said as she stroked Isaac's face.
"Huh... when you put it like that, I don't even hold a candle to the rest of you." Penny said dejectedly.
"Pennsylvania, don't compare yourself. It isn't healthy for you. If you wish to get his ring, just do whatever you've been doing. We all have seen him talking to you. Take your shot." Nimi encouraged as she kissed Isaac's cheek before heading out to return to her duties.
Hey everyone. Sorry for another shorter chapter. But I felt like I had to give you guys something. So have some more world building and character development. I will have something better for you Wednesday before I go back to work. I hope you all enjoy.