Before Isaac and Eagle could borad her ship, the familiar beeping came from the computer.
"Eagle, looks like we'll have to do a maintainence check while in the water. Another ship seems to be ready." Isaac says.
"That is of no concern, Commander. I will be waiting for you." Eagle said as she opened her book. Isaac walked over and flipped the switch, allowing the dock to flood as one of the bulins came up to him.
"What's up, little one?" Isaac asked.
"Buli, we have finished repairs of miss Rodney. She is set to sail. Any more orders?" The small girl asked.
"Yes. Can we please get another drydock? One for repairs and inspections." Isaac asked.
"I'm sure we can make that happen, buli. But it will take time. Ill split the team so half will help you check over miss Eagle and the other will begin construction immediately." The bulin spoke, earning her a hesitant headpat, which she seemed to enjoy.
"Thank you, run along now." Isaac said as he saw Eagle pull from the drydock. Isaac flipped another switch, closing the dock and rapidly draining it before watching a ship build itself in minutes.
"A destroyer. Wait...! That's! I worked on the tech and helped design the hull for that boat! Yeah... shit. What was it? The Philadelphia project. It involved creating a system to hide ships from radar and submarine sonar. What was the ship name? I should know! I met the girl in 1943." Isaac began monologing to himself as the tube came up from the floor. He looked over and remembered immediately.
"Eldridge! Thats who you are!" Isaac said happily as he walked over to the tube to catch the tiny woman. His long sleeve protected him from a jolt of electricity that sparked when he touched her.
"Hello, Isaac." Eldridge spoke softly and slowly.
"Hello again to you too, Eldridge. It's been a while." Isaac said as her bodysuit shimmered into existance. She held out her arms to her sides.
"Fly, Isaac." Eldrigde said in an adorable tone.
"Okay, just for a few minutes." Isaac spoke as he lifted the small childlike Destroyer above his head.
"Shikikan, do you know Eldridge-chan already?" Akashi asked.
"Yes. Her and I were acquainted when i was with some of the boys from MIT. We were in new jersey designing her cloaking system on site. We also had a hand in designing her hull to fit the equipment needed to manage the cloaking field. Seems her body changed as soon as the squids installed it." Isaac spoke, noting the sparks coming from two live wires connected to Eldridge's rigging.
"Eldridge-chan likes to shock us, nyaa! We will have payback, Shikikan!" Akashi exclaimed as she grabbed a loose wrench and began chasing Isaac and Eldridge. Isaac held Eldridge under his arm to facilitate keeping away from Akashi.
"Akashi! Stop this foolishness this instant!" Rodney spoke as she stood in front of Akashi, tapping her foot.
"But... okay..." Akashi dropped the wrench and went back to the lab.
"Want to explain, commander?" Rodney asked.
"I'm sure you all remember Eldridge. Well, i was part of the engineering team that was contracted to design her cloaking system. Her hull was built around my design" Isaac spoke. "Akashi wanted to hit me for making the tech that allowed Eldridge to shock people." Isaac added.
"I see. So it must be nice having a familiar face, no?" Rodney asked.
"I took care of this little one when she was at the Newark Federal shipbuilding and drydock company in New Jersey. For those few months, I treated her like I would my own child... if my child had enough torpedos and anti submarine equipment to burn the entirety of the atlantic." Isaac said as he put Eldridge on the ground.
"Isaac, hungry." Eldridge spoke as she pulled on his shirt, she was no longer emitting sparks.
"Okay. We'll go grab you some food. Is soup okay?" Isaac asked as she nodded happily.
"I see. Well, so long as she keeps from shocking people, we'll be okay." Rodney spoke.
"I'll do my best to make sure she behaves."
Isaac spoke confidently.
"Also. I have a bit of a bone to pick with you. Akashi told us you were a mechanic. Yet you seem to know so much about us. Care to enlighten me on that, Isaac?" Rodney took up an annoyed tone as she spoke.
"Sure. I am a private sector mechanic. Eagle has a public and private work force. Im a mechanic that works in the private sector, meaning i get paid by the government as they are my employer. So i work on ships and other military capital. You girls are the embodiment of many of the ships i worked on. Ironblood and Sakura ships will be more guesswork and context clues but all allied nations have run your hulls through my shop back in union at one point or another. Either as a blueprint or as your actual hull for maintainence. So yeah. I am just a highly specialized mechanic. I also went to MIT for engineering. I would have graduated on August 11th so I already completed all of my training." Isaac spoke as sparks were heard crackling behind him.
"Isaac... hungry." Eldridge spoke, her tone hadnt changed but he could tell she was agitated.
"I have to go Rodney. If you have more questions, please meet me in the Cafeteria and I'll be happy to tell you anything you wish to know." Isaac spoke as Eldridge pulled him to the mess hall.
"Okay, okay. Calm down a bit." Isaac said as he picked up Eldridge and took her into the kitchen. She picked out a can of tomato soup.
"Alright, give me a bit to warm it up." Isaac spoke as Eldridge put the live wires on both sides of the can, shocking it until he could see heat waves coming off the metal.
"Okay! Okay! Stop!" Isaac shouted as he put a towel on the can so he could pull the tab.
The soup was actively boiling inside the can as he pulled the towel away.
"You're really impatient today." Isaac said as he poured it into a bowl for her, which she gladly took to the table with a spoon.
Eldridge cracked a small smile as she ate her soup.
"Thank you, Isaac." Eldridge spoke as she ate.
"You're welcome. Eat up. We're gonna head to the Eagle after youre done. I know your hull is okay considering we built it around your cloaking tech." Isaac said. Eldridge nodded as she continued eating her soup. Despite her crude heating method, the soup wasnt burned in the slightest.
Isaac sat at the table across from Eldridge as he pulled out his journal.
× I was reunited with Eldridge today. Still adorable... and more terrifying than i remember. As expected, her hull is exactly as I had designed. Her Hedgehog anti submarine warfare system still looks like the most state of the art piece of tech we have for fighting our silent adversaries. 24 mortars firing in rapid succession, littering the area with explosives that can break a submarine in seconds. But I digress. We have a super strong fleet so far. We have one ship to build before we can organize our first sortie. I dont have much experience so i think I'll let Rodney take command of the fleet while I watch this time and make executive decisions as needed. I'll be making my way to where the old commanders office is too, hopefully he'll have left something useful behind. × Isaac wrote before Eldridge tugged at his sleeve.
"Isaac, up." Eldridge demanded.
"Alright. Let's go see miss Eagle. Then we can get you in the water." Isaac said as they cleaned up and went down to the docks.