Isaac stepped out of the shower, leaving Odin to finish up and relax under the stream of hot water. He walked into the middle of his room and began dressing himself in a clean Uniform. It was only after he put on the uniform that he noticed a letter inside the breast pocket.
"Hello master, Her Majesty has seen it necessary to assign me to you to be your personal maid for the foreseeable future. I look forward to serving you." The letter wrote.
"Ah, this must be from Belfast then. I have to say, she did an excellent job getting the blood out of this, I can't even tell where there was blood to begin with." Isaac said as he then noticed that the bed was made and a small tray of pastries sat bedside.
"Okay, now that might be a bit much..." Isaac said as he chuckled a nervous laugh. He took one of the glazed pastries and made his way out into the hall. To his surprise, Belfast was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh. I wonder how this is going to go then." Isaac said to himself as he walked down the corridor towards the top deck.
"Good Afternoon, Master." Belfast said as Isaac stepped onto the deck.
"Good afternoon, Belfast. I got your letter." Isaac said.
"Sorry if that was too much of an imposition. I was going to come to you with the news directly, but you and the vice commander were busy and did not seem to want to be disturbed, so I figured that would be the best way to inform you." Belfast said.
"It just came as a bit of a surprise that Liz... I mean Elizabeth would assign me a maid, especially her head maid." Isaac said.
"She has great concern for you. And she has taken notice that you are not exactly the image of mental fortitude, as exampled by a few nights ago." Belfast said.
"I guess she has a point. Well, then don't let me stop you from executing your orders. I'm heading out to deliver my orders to the fleet." Isaac said.
"Understood, Master." Belfast said as she bowed slightly.
Isaac breathed a silent sigh as he walked down the gangway into the port proper. Waiting for him, was every kansen in the fleet, separated by their orders.
"Alright. Before we start, I know some of you might have some concerns about how this group is being split. Please understand, it is not a personal choice, but one of logistics and trust." Isaac started, causing a small murmur to rise from the group of girls.
"I know it isn't the best choice made for personal relations, but it is the best choice made for the purpose we need to serve. Now, I will split the fleet that is remaining behind into three groups. One group will head to Tonga. One to Fiji. And one will remain here to support our ground forces in keeping the port. I am leaving three individuals in charge of these fleets." Isaac said.
"And who will that be?" Mikasa's voice rose from the crowd.
"Lieutenant Perkins will remain here. Intrepid will head to Fiji. And Akagi will head to Tonga. You three will be the heads of these three fleets. You will have command and the freedom to make and execute orders in my absence. Please keep in mind, that at any time, you may be called upon to rejoin the fleet if need dictates it." Isaac said as Intrepid, Akagi and Perkins stepped forward.
"Intrepid, You will have North Carolina, Omaha, Helena, Surcouf, and Yukikaze." Isaac said as the named ships stood next to their assigned Commander.
"Akagi, You will take Eldridge, Rodney, U-37, Triomphant, and Mikasa." Isaac said as the girls stood next to the pint sized carrier.
"The rest of you that are not leaving with anyone else, will be staying here with Lieutenant Perkins." Isaac said, the happy swaying of tails from Kaga as she strolled over to Perkins, who was sitting in a chair next to the other girls.
Isaac looked over the split crowd as they slowly separated into their respective fleets.
"All of you, you have done me proud thus far, and I ask you to keep giving your respective Captains the same respect and energy you give me. We all depart in the morning. So prepare, say your farewells, and have a good time before we all begin the next segment of this crusade." Isaac said as the girls looked up at him.
With a single salute, every girl and sailor in the fleet shouted their reply.
"Yes sir."
"Zero?" Observer Alpha's voice came through the screen that lit up the darkened warehouse.
No response.
"Zero, its me, Alphy. Come on, answer me." Alpha said to the seemingly empty room.
"Go away." Observer zero said as the screen slowly turned to face her.
"Zero, the Empress has been trying to reach you for several days now. You must answer her." Zero said.
"I can't." Zero said.
"Why not?" Alpha asked.
"I won't fight him. We think ourselves infallible, but look at the facts. Our Drone fleets have been dissected and countered every single time they engage. Lurker and Navigator are dead, for good. We can't bring back the first Generations, at east not the ones we know. And Smasher has sided with the enemy. So we no longer have any secrets, unless there are things that even I don't know. It is only a matter of time before he kills all of us in the same way he did the Oceana that you sent to provoke him." Zero said.
"So you'd rather surrender and die, as opposed to dying on the front lines?" Alpha asked.
"If it saves me the torture, and they execute me off the bat... I think I'd be content with that." Zero said.
"Don't tell me you're actually considering this. What will you do if the Empress comes for you?" Alpha asked.
"Either way, I'm going to die. Apollyon won't stop until every single one of us are dead and gone. And the Empress will kill me for treason. What's the harm in hoping for a quick death in return for my surrender?" Zero asked as Alpha sighed.
"So it's treason then." Alpha said as the doors to the warehouse were kicked open. Light poured into the dark warehouse, startling Observer Zero.
"The Explorers will kill you so the Empress doesn't have to leave her post. You have failed us all, Observer Zero. It's a shame that you lived up to your name. A Worthless bystander." Alpha said as her screen flicked off, commencing the assault.
"Either way I'll die." Observer said as her rigging moved to block the plasma shots coming from the Explorers, even further confusing Zero.
"I want to die... yet something within me still wants to cling to life." Zero said as her own rigging fired on the swarm of Explorers making their way towards her.
"Why? Why can I not let myself go?" Zero asked herself as the Explorers were mowed down in short order.
"Is this what the humans call self preservation?" Zero asked as a voice that had once stoked her anger, graced her ears.
"A betrayal. A change in the wind. A new ally?" Shinano's voice came and went like a leaf flying through a storm.
"It's that carrier. But my scans don't show her anywhere near here." Zero said softly to herself as she quickly began to pack whatever she could and got out of the warehouse.
Zero ran quickly through the port and towards the water. Almost every explorer in the port had been used to attack her in the warehouse so the docks were slowly filling with uncertain faces that Zero had once lorded over. She kept her head down and kept running. She knew of a small island off of the Northern Parliament that she had found when she was chasing the fake Shinano during the real Shinano's breakout into the Pacific.
"I was the only one who mapped that island. None of the others know. And I am sure I can find a way to mask my signature from them. If HE comes... I'll be ready either way." Zero said as she took to the sea, her rigging providing a place for her to sit and lean back as they floated along.
"Commander..." Norfolk said as she walked over to him, still a bit red from her Special Education several hours prior.
"Yes, Norfolk?" Isaac asked.
"I have an interesting event going on right now." Norfolk said.
"Explain." Isaac said.
"There was a spike in activity in the warehouse district of Sakura Empire. And Observer Zero... is leaving Japan." Norfolk said.
"What?!" Isaac asked.
"It seems that there is more going on behind the scenes than we know." Norfolk said.
"Do what you can to keep tabs on her. If she is moving, then there must be something big going on. And it might be something that could work in our favor." Isaac said.
"I will do what I can." Norfolk said as Isaac petted her head.
"I know you will." Isaac said as Norfolk blushed a bit.
"Norfolk?" Isaac asked.
"Yes, Commander?" Norfolk asked.
"We are doing what's best, right? We aren't being pushed to the limit for nothing, right?" Isaac asked.
"Commander... are you happy?" Norfolk asked.
"I am." Isaac replied.
"And I can tell that the fleet accepts and is happy with your command. So what is there to worry about?" Norfolk asked.
"Well... With our so called freedom, we have had two world wars in less than half a century. But the only wars being fought now... is ours. Is it right for us to take back the world and be thrown into yet another world war some time in the future?" Isaac asked.
"Commander. I do believe you are overthinking it a bit." Norfolk said.
"You think so?" Isaac asked as he looked to the sky.
"Yes sir. Shall we prepare to depart?" Norfolk asked.
"Yes. Weight anchor and sound the horns. The girls have their orders. MacArthur and his men have been transferred to the Missouri for transport. And the tanks have been loaded onto the Steamer and the transport ship. We should be ready to go." Isaac said.
The Purin came over to Isaac and Norfolk and waited patiently to be recognized.
"Hello, little one." Isaac said.
"Purin reporting, Sir. The wisdom dust has been loaded and strapped down on the Steamer. It would be wise to keep the steamer away from combat. Wisdom dust is highly explosive, but will also react to strong wills of the Kansen who's ship it's loaded on, so keeping the dust on a non-kansen ship is best for this voyage." The Purin said.
"Alright then. I guess I'll leave that to your discretion since you seem to be the expert." Isaac said.
"Understood." The Purin said as she ran off towards the steamer.
"Let's get going." Isaac said as he and Norfolk turned towards their ship to depart.