"Kommandant Garner? This Is Prinz Eugen, come in." Eugen's voice came through Norfolk's radio.
"Prinz Eugen?" Isaac asked.
"That's me, Kommandant. We can see you. We are making our approach to your fleet now." Eugen said as Isaac put his helmet on and went to the door, tapping the side to zoom in and see the Heavy Cruiser, battle-scarred and battered, escorting an equally battered Battleship and an Aircraft Carrier.
"Who is the Kansen that controls the Carrier?" Isaac asked.
"That would be Illustrious. She was instrumental in keeping Tirpitz and I alive during our fight with Strength." Eugen said.
"I see. Well, come on in and drop anchor. I shall be over to greet you personally." Isaac said as someone tapped his shoulder.
"Kommandant." Bismarck spoke.
"Yes, Bismarck. I would be more upset if you didn't greet them." Isaac returned as he saw the lights shining behind Bismarck's eyes.
"Thank you, Kommandant." Bismarck said as Isaac moved to allow Bismarck to take to the waves and make her way towards her sister.
"Schwester!" Bismarck cried as she hopped onto the deck of the Tirpitz.
"Bismarck." Tirpitz spoke softly as her sister approached her.
"It is good to see you once more, my sister." Bismarck said as she embraced her sister for the first time in over a month.
"I don't remember you ever being this forward, my dear sister." Tirpitz spoke as she allowed herself to be embraced in the arms of her older sister.
"Are you okay? I heard from the Kommandant that you engaged Strength with just you three." Bismarck spoke as she released Tirpitz from her grasp.
"We are alright. Spee had to return with what was left of the Missouri, but Illustrious, Eugen and I made it without too much damage." Tirpitz said as Bismarck did a quick visual inspection of her vessel.
"Too much damage? There are plasma burns and melted emplacements everywhere. Your bow is dented beyond belief and you're standing there with visible gashes and bruises. I doubt Eugen fared any better if this is how bad you got thrashed, my dear little sister." Bismarck said as she looked over at the equally battered Heavy Cruiser.
"Can't get anything past you, can I?" Tirpitz asked with a sigh.
"Nope." Bismarck said as Tirpitz and her escorts dropped anchor on the outskirts of Isaac's fleet.
Several minutes later, Isaac, along with Vestal and Arizona arrived on the deck of the Tirpitz.
Several seconds behind him, followed Nimi, Roon, Zeppelin, Odin, Friedrich, Richthofen, and the rest of the U-boat Submarines.
"Lady Tirpitz." Nimi said as she knelt to the deck, along with the rest of the Ironblood present.
Tirpitz blushed wildly at the formal display.
"Please, raise your heads. This is not necessary." Tirpitz spoke as Bismarck smiled.
"They did the same for me when I arrived, dear sister." Bismarck spoke as Vestal headed for the Prinz Eugen.
"Please, allow me to address your wounds." Arizona spoke as she approached Tirpitz.
"A union battleship. You're not like Washington, are you?" Tirpitz asked.
"Washington is a bit hard headed, isn't she?" Arizona asked in a knowing tone.
"That's an understatement." Tirpitz spoke as she allowed Arizona to ease her onto a crate on the deck.
"Tirpitz. It is an honor to meet the younger sister of the esteemed Bismarck of Ironblood." Isaac spoke as she turned to face him.
"Your voice. You're the Kommandant." Tirpitz said as she struggled to stand.
"Please, sit. Rest. You have had a long tumultuous journey. You have earned a bit of rest." Isaac offered.
"I see. Then I will accept this." Tirpitz spoke as Arizona tended her wounds.
"Commander, she has fractured bones in her arms and chest. We might need a repair team to check over this vessel. If the running theory is correct, she has some issues that need to be addressed before it threatens the integrity of her vessel." Arizona said.
"Oh? A theory?" Isaac asked.
"It may seem pretty obvious, but if our bodies sustain damage, then our vessels respond in kind. And Vice Versa. So… since Tirpitz sustained fractured bones, her vessel's integrity may be weakened, or there may be spots in her armor that may be weak. We are not sure how injuries translate, but we have narrowed it down to a broad spectrum." Arizona said as she wrapped Tirpitz's arms.
"That makes sense. Well, I'll have you give me a detailed report at a later date. I'll have the bulins come over and check her out. Until then, I have to return my focus to the recon mission." Isaac said as he turned towards the island.
"Jager report." Isaac ordered.
"I'm not seeing any AA emplacements. Or much of anything for that matter." Wilhelm spoke into his radio.
"Any houses? I thought this island was inhabited." Isaac spoke.
"All I'm seeing is debris and rubble. Maybe this island was caught in the fighting here in the Pacific?" Wilhelm asked.
"Get lower. Enterprise, I need you to sweep ahead of his descent. Something isn't adding up." Isaac said.
"Understood." Enterprise's voice came over the radio. Immediately after, the Skyraiders descended and began rapidly sweeping the area, looking for signs of trouble as Wilhelm dropped to one thousand feet to scan the area better.
Several minutes passed.
"Kommandant… the island is deserted. I don't think this Island was hit by human fighting… I think it was exterminated by the Sirens. Buildings have been… destroyed via plasma. I don't see any corpses… they may have been incinerated." Wilhelm reported.
"I see." Isaac said, his tone one of sadness.
"All fighters return to the Enterprise. We're beginning our landing." Isaac said as he cut the line.
"We've hit the halfway point." Ranger spoke as she looked up from her map.
"Good. How is Spee?" Washington asked.
"She's recovering nicely. Max has come several times to visit her." Ranger reported.
"That's where he's gotten to. Is he there now?" Washington asked.
"He is. He's asleep next to her." Ranger said.
"He hasn't been causing trouble, has he?" Washington asked.
"No. He's such a well behaved boy." Ranger said.
"Nyaa. Ranger-san." Akashi said as she knocked on the door.
"Akashi. What news do you have?" Ranger asked.
"Benson-san isn't doing too well. Her Injuries are very bad, nyaa." Akashi said.
"But she seemed to be doing so well when we evacuated her from her vessel after the attempted mutiny." Ranger spoke.
"The wounds are too deep, nyaa. We need a doctor, nyaa." Akashi said.
"Can you keep her stable for the rest of the trip?" Ranger asked.
"I can try, Nyaa. But… it's bad. Her wounds are getting infected." Akashi said.
"Shit…" Ranger spoke softly as she picked up her receiver.
"Listen up everyone. We need to try to push ahead faster. Benson doesn't have much time. I am going to push ahead at full speed." Ranger spoke as her vessel began to pull away from the rest of the fleet.
