With the planes leaving the flight deck in droves, Eagle had three small air squadrons in the air and circling the fleet.
"Any range, sir?" Eagle asked.
"No further than 30 miles. I dont want to give too much warning to any adversary we may find. At best, I believe the range of Rodney's guns are 22 miles. And at that range she barely has radar contact. So lets keep it close but have eyes everywhere within 30 miles. I want nothing slipping through." Isaac spoke, his voice taking up a deeper tone than Eagle was used to hearing.
Isaac picked up the reciever.
"All ships, check in. Radar and Sonar." Isaac spoke, then waited for a response.
"Radar is clear sir. No hostile contacts, only our spitfires." Rodney reported.
"Long range sonar, clear as well. No underwater threats, Kommandant." Nimi spoke. Isaac was fond of her accent.
"Sonar no good." Eldridge spoke as Isaac sat up.
"No good as in it's down, or no good as in you see something?" Isaac asked.
"Down. No work." Eldridge replied.
"Damn. Okay. I'll find a way over." Isaac said as he put the reciever down.
"Don't fret, nyaa. Akashi can fix right away." Aksahi spoke through the reciever.
"Okay. Please do so. We need every piece of environmental surveillance we can get." Isaac said as he looked through his binoculars to see a small green cat skating across the water from the Akashi.
× The girls can maneuver on water withoit their ships. × Isaac wrote quickly.
"Our first day at sea. I locked the command building so that nobody goes in. I'll find a way to memorialize that uniform when we get back." Isaac spoke to himself.
"Sir. If I may." Eagle spoke.
"You can speak freely." Isaac replied.
"Come here so we can plot our course. We did leave on short notice without a proper
briefing." Eagle stated.
"Yeah we did. Youre right about that. But i also will not sit by anymore. We will not rest until we have a foothold. Right now we are hanging by a thread. Our little base is the last free place on earth. We free the Philippines, we have a straight shot to Sakura's front door." Isaac said.
"Agreed. Philippines is Unions territory, is it not?" Eagle asked.
"Yes and no. From what propaganda states, we have a base in the Philippines that helped keep the Sakura at bay during the war. But it fell during the middle of the war. Sakura took it in '42 but during the last push of the war, the Union took it back for a possible invasion of the Sakura homeland. So it is union, but i would be naive to say its a free state." Isaac said.
"Okay. Well, your knowledge seems to be a bit more than your average mechanic... or even private sector, military employed worker. How do you come by all this?" Eagle asked curiously.
"Come now, Eagle. A man must keep some secrets." Isaac said with a sly smile.
"As it should be. Now, back to plotting the course." Eagle said.
"Yeah, we are driving a straight line from base. If the drone ships catch wind of that, the base will be overrun. Even Omaha and I-13 couldnt hold out against a full on assault." Isaac said as they looked at a map.
"So we left base here, in Niue. So we should adjust course to the south and hit Tonga. It should be relatively unguarded since it is of no naval or military importance. Maybe 300 NM. From there, we sail north west towards Fiji. Fiji may have a couple hostile forces present but only due to it's proximity to Australia. If we can avoid detection by drone ships near Fiji, we'll have the element of surprise when we get to Caledonia." Isaac spoke before noticing Eagle was fidgeting, waiting to speak.
"Yes, Eagle?" Isaac asked.
"Why are we going to Caledonia? Wouldnt it be an easier fight if we took north from Fiji to hit the Solomon Islands?" Eagle asked as Isaac studied the map.
"You make a good point. Even after the atomic bombs, the Solomon Islands were still in conflict. Any military importance was lost when the Union bombarded any Sakura base they could find. Plus it saves us having to brawl all the way from Caledonia with the ships that might be blockading Australia." Isaac said.
"Okay so from Fiji we hit the Solomon Islands. From there we sail north west through the Bismarck Sea of New Guinea. From there, it'll be a straight shot through to Davao, and our first possible foothold in the Pacific. If we liberate the Philippines, they can begin spreading hope. They also have factories that we can use to keep the base stocked and you girls on the water." Isaac said.
"You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Which is good. Should we head to the galley and eat? I'm sure that'll be okay as there are no threats within my air screen." Eagle said.
"That would be a good morale boost. Alright." Isaac said as he picked up the reciever.
"Attention members of the fleet. Please report to the Eagle for lunch. You have all earned it." Isaac said as he watched all the girls jump from their ships onto the water. They skated over to the Eagle and jumped from the water onto the flight deck.
× The girls can manage a 50 foot jump? Rigging enhances natural abilities? × Isaac wrote quickly. He was compiling data on the girls to use when it came time for repairs, upgrades, and retrofits.
Isaac met everyone in the galley a few minutes later. Akashi had made everyone soba noodles and hot beef broth along with some canned vegetables.
"Sorry it isn't much. But it's what we got." Rodney said as she handed Isaac his food.
"I should be the one apologizing. But once we hit our destination, we can trade with some of the locals for goods and food, as long as they dont give it all to us as a gift." Isaac said.
"What do you mean by that?" Nimi asked.
"Well, it is my firm belief that the Philippines are being blockaded by drone ships, and maybe low level sirens. With it's proximity to the Sakura homeland, it is bound to be heavily fortified." Isaac said.
"I see. So thats what we're up against?"
Rodney asked.
"Yes. This is no pleasure cruise. We are going to fight like our lives depend on it. Because ultimately they do. The fate of the world rests on us, and our fight begins here." Isaac said as he sat his food down at the table. After lunch, meet me in the bridge. We will discuss our movement strategy." Isaac said as he ate his lunch.
"I'm guessing we stay out of trouble until we have to get our hands dirty?" Rodney asked.
"Yes. Basically. If you want i can explain it here." Isaac said.
"I'm sure that would be fine, Kommandant." Nimi said.
"Alright. Then thats what I'll do." We are about
100 miles from base in Niue. We are to manuver west towards Tonga. Then north west to Fiji. This will help conceal the base and keep the drones from tracing our trajectory. From Fiji we head north through the Solomon Islands. Chances are, if we haven't been engaged, this will be our point of contact. We will slug it through Solomon and the Bismarck sea. Once there, we will punch through to Davao. We'll plan more if we get that far." Isaac said.
"You dont sound confident. Can I ask why?" Eagle asked.
"Im not a warfighter. Never was. It didnt interest me. So i never learned anything. How to move units. How to formulate strategies. Nothing a commander would know." Isaac said.
"Nimi already said she would instruct you. Take up her offer. I have an empty cargo hold and a chalk board. And we have a good 2 days before we reach Tonga, let alone anywhere else. You have the time." Eagle said.
"I guess i should take you up on that then. Alright. Girls, when youre finished, adjust course to match our movement pattern. Nimi. If you can pilot your ship from the Eagle that would be great, if not, i'll find a way over to the Z23." Isaac said as he finished his lunch and put the dishes neatly in the galley's sink.
"I can pilot from here, Kommandant. All of us can." Nimi said as the table nodded in agreement.
"Ah. Then carry on." Isaac said as he left the galley and headed towards the bridge.
He shut the door behind him and sat at the command desk.
× Day one of our journey. No hostiles. Learning more about these girls every day. Let's hope we have the strength to pull this off. × Isaac wrote as he kicked his feet up and closed his eyes.