"And stop!" The nurse yelled from the other side of the auditorium.
"What's the matter Kommandant? Too tired to make it the rest of the way?" Odin teased.
"100 laps around a quarter mile track isn't exactly the easiest thing to do if you haven't trained, Odin. The fact that your body has an insane limit to muscle fatigue doesn't mean mine does too." Isaac said as he breathed heavy for a few seconds before standing up straight.
"Still. You managing 25 miles in about two hours is nothing to scoff at. And the fact you didn't collapse or have a coughing fit means that you should be ready to get out of here." Odin said.
"I'd enjoy getting out of here. It's been too long since I've held the reigns of my own fleet." Isaac said.
"I agree. It has been fun playing Kommandant, but that is your title. I will relinquish my command to you, Kommandant." Odin said.
"Well, before you do that, let everyone know I'm being released today." Isaac said.
"I will do so while they are discharging you." Odin said with a small smile.
"You've lightened up a bit, Odin. It's nice to see." Isaac said as Odin turned away.
"It wastes too much energy to be uptight all the time, Kommandant. Don't get any funny ideas." Odin said as she kept her face turned.
"Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, send for the car." Isaac said.
"Got it." Odin said as she grabbed her coat and walked out.
"You passed the stress test with flying colors. Let us take your vitals so we can confirm that your body is working properly." The nurse said.
"Not to rush, but I am getting a bit antsy. I have left my fleet for far too long for me to be comfortable." Isaac said.
"Alright. Come with me and we can get you taken care of." The nurse said.
"Alice? Are you an American?" Isaac asked.
"No. I hail from Canada. Most of the staff here came from Canada through different parts of the war. Why do you ask?" Alice asked.
"I have four hundred and five humans in my fleet. And I plan on meeting up with General MacArthur in New Guinea. I have exactly one doctor." Isaac said.
"I don't know what you're alluding to, Mr. Garner." Alice said.
"We are at war again, against a threat far worse than the Fascists in Europe. And my fleet and any soldiers I can enlist are the only hope for this world." Isaac said.
"If it were not for the fact that your bodyguard has naval cannons attached to her hips, I would call you a nut job and take you right to the psyche ward, but I can clearly see that there is more than meets the eye." Alice said.
"According to my vice commander, we'll be holed up in the port for another week or so. If you want to join up, you know where to find us." Isaac said.
"If she can pass my test." Odin said as she poked her head in.
"Of course. We do need to be safe." Isaac said as Alice followed Isaac and Odin back to his room.
"Honestly, it sounds interesting. You have a noble cause to be sure. But I am just nervous to make that jump. Sure traveling the world will be great and all, but being in the forefront of battles between you and whoever you are fighting? That sounds terrifying." Alice said as she helped Isaac sit on his bed as she called another nurse to get her the materials to remove his stitches."
"I understand. As I said, so long as you can pass my vice commander's test, we could use the medical personnel. Once we get to New Guinea, you would be supported by any medics under the command of MacArthur. I can't offer pay, but I can offer a chance to cement your name in human history. And in the most American way possible, you can profit off that for the rest of your life." Isaac said as he laid down on the bed as she got to work removing his stitches.
"I will address that to the other girls here and we will give it some thought. With Suva being razed to the ground, we will not have as many people in need of this hospital. There have been rumors of this place shutting down." Alice said.
"All the more reason. If you've been here for seven years, then you don't know that America and the entire North American continent has been invaded. Your home is probably gone." Isaac said.
"I came out here after my parents died. And I was an only child. So I have nobody back home." Alice said.
"I see. I'm sorry to hear that." Isaac said as the last of the stitches were pulled out.
"Just remember to change the bandages frequently until your wounds heal fully. Also take this and soak the first layer of bandages in it to stave off infection." Alice said as she gave him a brown opaque bottle.
"What is that?" Odin asked skeptically.
"It is aureomycin. It's an antibiotic ointment that you put in the bandages that you put on a wound." Alice said.
Just remember, we are here for another week. If something happens due to this ointment, I know where you work." Odin said as she looked at Isaac.
"Well, Kommandant. Everyone, save Rodney and Fusou are eagerly awaiting your arrival. Friedrich is on her way with the car. Shall we grab your things and be off?" Odin asked.
"Remember our offer, Alice. We could really use the medical support, especially since our enemy wants me dead no matter the cost." Isaac said.
"I Will think about it, Mr. Garner. Please be careful." Alice said as she allowed the two of them to leave.
Isaac and Odin walked down the corridor and out the front entrance of the hospital.
"You know, I almost forgot that this place is on the edge of a literal ghost town. Seeing nothing but hospital walls for days on end really makes you forget what the outside world looks like." Isaac said.
"I understand that, Kommandant. I am ready to get back to work." Odin said as the car pulled up to the hospital. Friedrich opened the door and stepped out, walking up to Isaac.
"So good to see mein Kommandant out and about." Friedrich said as she grabbed his chin with her gloved hand.
"Friedrich, please remove your hands from the Kommandant. We have a schedule to keep." Odin said as Isaac spied a small red line crossing Odin's face.
"Hmmm. Maybe I don't want to, my child." Friedrich said as she pulled Isaac into her chest, refusing to let him go.
"Friedrich! Release the Kommandant this instant!" Odin yelled as she managed to pry Isaac away from Friedrich.
Isaac breathed a breath of fresh air as his face was graced by the sun once more.
"I will have time with mein Kommandant later. I can allow you to win this battle, my child." Friedrich said as she opened the door for Isaac. Isaac swallowed heavily before climbing into the back of the car.
"Strategist! Come in!" Lurker spoke frantically.
"Lurker, have you been discovered?" Strategist asked.
"No. Thankfully I have been able to spoof that cruiser's sonar to get close enough to see this." Lurker said.
"What news do you have then?" Strategist asked.
"They are constructing a new ship. From scratch. No cubes. They are using the same armor plating that the drones use." Lurker said.
"That could be trouble. Can you destroy it?" Strategist asked.
"No. They have the base locked down tight. Shit... It think they noticed me." Lurker said.
"SIREN IN THE WATER!" Omaha yelled over her radio. The base alarm sounded as the fleet scrambled to their ships.
"Submarine class Siren. Designation: Lurker." Nimi said over her radio as she flipped through her own personal notebook.
"Did they see the ship?" Omaha asked.
"Probably. if you managed to get her on sonar, that means she is a lot closer than we can be comfortable with. We need to get her out of here before the Kommandant returns." Nimi said as Rodney and Fusou parted, allowing Nimi, Triomphant and Eldridge to clear the battleship blockade.
"Shower her with depth charges. She must not escape with that intel!" Omaha yelled.
"On it." Nimi yelled as she and Triomphant maneuvered to cut off Lurker as Eldridge flooded the area with mortars from her hedgehog launcher.
"Damn it! I got cocky." Lurker said as the sea around her exploded due to the ludacris amount of ordinance being dropped by the overexcited ASW destroyer above her.
"Eldridge, that's enough. I doubt anything could have survived that." Nimi said as her words proved wrong as Triomphant tracked a small black object jetting out of the cloud of sediment.
"She used her rigging as armor. And she is way faster than any of us could hope to be. She got away." Triomphant spoke as several columns of water shot up around them.
"Shit. She launched torpedoes to mask her escape. We need to get back to port and be ready in case they decide to throw a drone armada at us." Nimi said as the three destroyers made their way back to port as the armored car rolled into the harbor.
"Damn... nothing like greeting my husband with bad news." Nimi grumbled to herself.