"Second Fleet. Follow me please. In addition to meeting you all personally, I have something for Akagi and Helena." Isaac said as he held out his palm. Norfolk appeared.
"What can I do for you, Commander?" Norfolk asked.
"Did I leave that book in my Quarters?" Isaac asked.
"Yes sir. Shall I guide the others to the galley until you retrieve it?" Norfolk asked.
"Please do so." Isaac replied.
"Understood Sir." Norfolk said as she disappeared. Up ahead, her display could be seen waiting by the gangway.
"Welcome aboard the Norfolk, Second fleet. Norfolk will escort you to the Galley as I grab a few things." Isaac said as he split from the group and headed to his quarters.
"Sure is a lot of Drone activity. I must be getting close." I-13 whispered to herself as she approached the shambled remains of Pearl Harbor. She moved silently along the deeper parts of the harbor, avoiding ships left and right. Her concentration broke upon seeing another set of cubes laying on top of the wreck of a battleship.
"Even as a Union boat, Your name is known around the world. A gentle giant. Arizona. I will bring you to the Shikikan as well." I-13 said as she silently left her sub to obtain the cubes. After doing so, she slowly swam to the surface and looked around, her light blue hair helping her blend in with the water.
"That is odd." I-13 said to herself as she looked around the base and saw ships floating in the water.
"They think themselves infallible. Just you wait, sirens. Shikikan will show you that even the mightiest oaks can be felled." I-13 said as she slowly and quietly swam ashore, finding a poncho to conceal her appearance.
"That one looks to be in good working order. If I can get a crew, They can help Shikikan in future battles." I-13 said quietly as she ducked into the shadows behind the old fuel tanks.
"Who are you?" A soldier asked as he saw her sneaking along the bush line.
"Shh!" I-13 said as she made her way to him.
"I am I-13. Submarine of Sakura Empire." She whispered.
"What are you doing here?!" The soldier asked in a hushed but frantic voice.
"Stealing a boat for my Shikikan, my commander. Namely, that one." I-13 said softly as she pointed to the hull with the number 61 on its bow.
"So... you came to Pearl Harbor... to steal my ship?" The Soldier asked softly.
"Your ship?" I-13 asked.
"I am the captain of that vessel, little lady." The soldier said as he kept an eye out for any siren guards.
"How many men can you round up to man that ship?" I-13 asked.
"I can have my full compliment onboard in four hours. It'll have to be slow so we don't attract any attention before we can defend ourselves." The soldier said.
"Munition storage. Where is it?" I-13 asked.
"That won't work. After Vestal and those two cruisers left, they increased security around fuel dumps and ammo storage." The soldier said.
"Do you have wisdom cube tech on this base?" I-13 asked.
"Yes. It is supposed to be classified intelligence, but with these sirens around, it became declassified pretty quick." The soldier said.
"Where? I have cubes to give it." I-13 said as she followed his finger to a nondescript warehouse.
"One of these ships will give them quite the distraction. Just make sure your men are ready to go. Once these ships are ready, we will need to go." I-13 said.
"Understood. I will begin getting them loaded." The soldier said.
"See to it you do. Now hurry." I-13 said as she returned to the bush line and began slowly making her way to the matrix device.
The entire second fleet had been sitting awkwardly in the galley for several minutes before Isaac entered, wearing his usual clothes instead of his body suit.
"Good, everyone is here." Isaac said as he sat down with a book in his hands.
"First off, I apologize for the late introduction. We have had New Guinea on our mind for about two weeks now. We are excited to finally be preparing for our assault. My name is Isaac Garner. While I am not a trained Naval Commander, I am the only person who stepped up to take the mantle. It seems to me that I am no longer the last free man on earth, but I take pride in leading this fleet. That said, I will not force you to join up. I appreciate you coming all this way, and I would be lucky to have you. But if this is not the life you want, I will not force you into it." Isaac said.
"With all due respect, Commander. This is what we were created to do. I believe I speak for all of us when I say we want to join up and fight these Siren bitches." A tall raven haired woman spoke. She blue jacket was held just under the navel with the bottom buttons. The others nodded with her assessment
"You must be the one known as Pennsylvania. Glad to see such a patriotic spirit." Isaac said with relief.
"I am sir. Allow me to introduce everyone else. The Blonde is North Carolina. The maid is Belfast, she has been looking forward to meeting you. The fox, as you know, is Akagi. And the blue haired one is Helena." Pennsylvania said.
"I see. Well, hard things out of the way first. Akagi... Helena... This is for you two to share with Hood when I find her. I stopped reading when I saw that he had put a message in there just for the three of you. Commander Forrest left you three each a message in his final hours." Isaac said as Akagi and Helena sat together and nodded, opening the book. Akagi took it first when she saw her name.
"My dearest Akagi. Our union was a bit...unorthodox at the beginning. To be honest, I wanted to make that day much more special, but the pressure had been too great. That aside, I do not regret my time with you. Your energy, love, and understanding made it easy to do my job. I think after the initial shock, I truly fell in love with you. While you were the third of my lovers, it truly felt as if you had been there since the beginning. I love you, Akagi." Her note read. Akagi relinquished the book as tears began to fall down her cheeks, remembering the fun she had enjoyed with Commander Forrest.
"I am sorry for your loss, Akagi." Isaac said as Helena began to read her note.
"My sweet Helena. When you joined me, you had felt despair at the sinking of your vessel. I saw this and began working to help you past it. Giving you the toughest of missions with the full confidence in your abilities. And you surprised me time after time. Mission after mission, you came home with a bigger smile than before. I got to watch as you rebuilt your confidence in the face of your enemies. That confidence drove me to want you. We started to work better together... and that night in the Solomon Sea was one of the best of my life. I love you Helena. Keep your head up high." Helena broke down in tears as she finished reading her note from her adoring Commander.
Isaac took the book and skipped over the note meant for hood to read a note for all three.
"The three of you helped me find a purpose in life. Elegance, confidence, and undying passion made up our little home. But the light I saw no less than four hours ago, followed by the uncaring fleet of drone ships passing our island base, has confirmed my belief. The light you three have brought to my life has been snuffed out by the Sirens and whatever weapon they have deployed to end the lives of Kansens around the world. I have failed not only the world as a whole... but you three as well. I will be joining you three soon. Hopefully I can look you three in the eye when they judge me at the gates. Goodbye, my loves. Every day was a cherished memory. I love you all." The final note read, yellowed specks on the paper indicated that Commander Forrest had been crying as he wrote.
"I am sorry for your loss. And I will allow you all tomorrow to grieve. If you have any reservations in light of this, please come to me and we will work it out." Isaac said as he gave a slight bow. Helena turned to Akagi and held her smaller frame as they cried against each other. Isaac looked on with a sullen look as he turned and allowed the Second fleet to mourn the loss of their previous Commander.
"Commander, Urgent news." Norfolk said softly.
"I'll hear it." Isaac said as he turned to the hologram beside him.
"Strategist has begun outputting a higher energy signature than before. It indicates a sudden change in formation. I can't Identify what, but she may be preparing to make a move." Norfolk said.
"Strategist is where?" Isaac asked.
"Pearl Harbor." Norfolk said as Isaac's eyes grew wide.
"I-13." He whispered. "Quick, do you have any way of contacting her?" Isaac asked.
"I can, yes. Shall I send an encrypted message?" Norfolk asked.
"Yes. Send it to her via Sakura Encryption channels. She will be able to understand it without decrypting it." Isaac said.
"Keep in mind, if she is not in danger now, if someone is paying attention..." Norfolk said, knowing Isaac knew what she was implying.
"And if she is, it won't matter. She's a smart girl. Get me through to her." Isaac demanded.
"Alright, commander. Ready to transmit." Norfolk said.
"I-13. Strategist increasing Power Output. Watch your six." Isaac said as Norfolk tapped her finger on her leg in general morse code.
"Is that all?" Norfolk asked.
"Yes. Get it to her." Isaac demanded.
"What the?" I-13 asked herself as she received an encrypted message.
"Shit. She didn't find me, did she?" I-13 looked around frantically as she asked herself the question.
Her question was answered as she saw a destroyer class siren pass the warehouse.
"Strategist has received word that Northern Parliament has broken out through the Bering Sea. Observer can't be bothered to spare reinforcements so it's up to us to sink those that escaped." The siren said.
"Not the distraction I was expecting, but I'll take it." I-13 said as she hit the button to release the first of two ships.
"Kaga..?" I-13 asked as she looked at the Kitsune before her.
"Sakura battleship Kaga, ready for action." Kaga said as she looked down at I-13.
"Your cubes... they were the same as Akagi... She got smaller... you reverted to your battleship form." I-13 said softly as she tugged at Kaga's Kimono.
"Young Submarine. What do you want?" Kaga asked.
"Shh! You want to get us caught?" I-13 scolded quietly.
"I see. What can I do for you, young one?" Kaga whispered.
"Sirens have taken over. You were lost at Midway, but I have brought you back to help me serve Garner Shikikan." I-13 said.
"I see. What shall we do then?" Kaga asked.
"I need to revive Arizona first. But once we do that, we need to take BB-61 and her crew to New Guinea to join Shikikan." I-13 said.
"I see. Then I shall wait with you here. We will bust out of here when we are ready to do so." Kaga said as she moved to the door to keep watch.
"Did it go through?" Isaac asked.
"Yes Sir. I also have some new readings from Observer. It seems she is also increasing her power output, but only by a slight amount. Something tells me that I-13 is okay, but that something towards the Bering Sea has grabbed their attention." Norfolk said.
"Let us hope that's the case." Isaac said as he walked with Norfolk towards the bridge.
"Чёрт возьми. Damn it! Rossyia... please hold on, I will find him, The Lone Wolf." A white clad woman said as she broke away from her Drone ship pursuers.