Isaac carried Eldridge aboard her ship. She struggled a bit, indicating she wanted to be put down. Isaac obliged.
"Welcome back." Eldridge spoke.
"It's good to be here again. Let's get to the generator so I can make a few adjustments. The sirens were working with Ironblood and Sakura for the majority of the war, so my thought is that they use the same radar frequencies. So, I'm gonna adjust the generator so it fires in rapid, constant, bursts. That way when I order you to trigger it, you should remain off radar as well as have a lesser effect on the fleet by dampening our radar silhouettes." Isaac said. Eldridge cocked her head.
"Basically you wont show up and the rest of us will look different on radar. That way we can fool our enemy into not taking us seriously." Isaac said.
"Bad Sirens. Zap!" Eldridge said in her adorable cutesy voice.
"Exactly. Let's get those adjustments made then we can welcome the new memeber of the fleet before bed. Okay?" Isaac asked.
Eldridge nodded before jumping on Isaac's back, pointing him in the right direction to get to the generators. Isaac found the generators quickly with the help of Eldridge. As Isaac and the MIT boys had designed, it sat on the opposite side of the room from the engines, heading more towards the bow. Isaac kneeled on the floor before opening a panel on the side of the generator. A radio frequency gauge sat with dials and buttons as far as the eye could see. Luckily for Isaac, he had designed it so he knew how to tune it.
"Did you want to know how it works?" Isaac asked. Eldridge nodded.
"So basically. Radio waves are sent out by a dish at a certain frequency. The waves of said frequency bounce off solid objects, barring a few exceptions, and return to the dish. The act of reading those waves and interpreting it as a shape is what radar is. The thing is, your hull has several open circuits along the hull. If electricity passes through those circuits, it creates a flow of electrons that can, and does in our case, ionize the air around your hull. Radio waves are blocked by ionized gas particles. So if we hone in on the Ironblood and Sakura frequencies, the invert them, we can capture the radio waves inside our ionized atomosphere and either disperse them or completely prevent them from returning to their sender. No return signal, no radar picture. No radar picture, means youre invisible." Isaac spoke, barely containing his excitement.
"No can see?" Eldridge asked.
"Yes. They wont see you." Isaac said as he rubbed her head. Eldridge smiled happily.
"Alright. Just a little more... and done." Isaac said as he flipped the cover down.
"Shall we go meet the last member of the fleet?" Isaac asked. Eldridge smiled and nodded, climbing on his back before promptly falling asleep.
"I swear you act like a child sometimes." Isaac muttered as he smiled and headed for the top deck.
Isaac wandered off the gangway and onto the dock where a very prim and proper lady was waiting.
"You're late, Kommandant." The woman said.
"I see. And you are?" Isaac asked.
"Z23. Ironblood Destroyer, reporting for duty." Zed said proudly.
"Excellent. Welcome back to the fleet, Z23." Isaac said as he offered her his hand.
She took it and shook.
"Just next time, try to be on time. That green cat gives me a headache when she's all flustered." Zed said, clearly distraught over Isaac's lack of punctuality.
"Alright. I'll do my best. Let's all grab food in the mess hall before bed. Since we have a full fleet, I'll go over our first sortie in the morning. Have you checked over your hull already, Z23?" Isaac asked.
"Yes and the bulins are doing whatever needs to be done. Maybe at dinner you can tell us about yourself and why youre such an unorthodox Kommandant." Zed spoke in a less than casual tone.
"I think I'll do just that." Isaac said as Eldridge woke up and jumped off of his back and pulled his shirt.
"Isaac, hungry, now." Eldridge demanded impatiently.
"Yes. Yes. Let's get everyone for dinner. Go get the others while i find something to make." Isaac said as Eldridge sauntered off to find the others.
"If you're going to make dinner, allow me to assist you. I don't know how long it has been since we were blindsided by the sirens, but I'm sure living off rations is not something you want." Z23 said as she walked with Isaac.
"I had meant to get nets in the water for fish but got caught up doing repairs and maintainence lists for the bulins. It's taking all my attention just to learn how to be a commander." Isaac said.
"You have no military training?" Z23 asked curiously.
"Not really. I'll explain more at dinner, but I used to be a private mechanic. Most of my contracts came from the Union Navy. I serviced our allies in the war both the second world war and the secret war against the Sirens. So I do not have a clue about you or Akashi in terms of repairs or maintenance. So you'll have to tell me, or teach me how they made you so that if something catastrophic happens, I can lead repair efforts. But i got side tracked. No i dont have military training. Never even went through Basic." Isaac said.
"I see. I guess its a good thing I'm here then. I'll be visiting your flagship daily to teach you during our sortie. After all, being the secretary of our last commander gave me plenty of insight on how to run a multinational navy such as Azur Lane." Z23 said.
"I see. Thank you. The flagship will be HMS Eagle, so plan accordingly." Isaac said as he and Z23 entered the mess hall. The other girls were there, glaring at Eldridge.
"What did you do?" Isaac asked, looking at Eldridge.
"She zapped all of us!" Omaha stated loudly.
"If you're to be our commander, then you should really be more astute to the issues certain ships could pose." Rodney spoke.
"Hey! No more talk like that, Rodney!" Isaac yelled.
"I didnt mean..." Rodney tried to say before she was cut off.
"You all are sisters of this fleet! I expect you all to act like it and not cast put others because of their quirks or antics. And Akashi, Your temper tantrum earlier today was inexcusable. One more outburst like that and you'll be scraping barncales off every hull in the fleet, understood?!" Isaac yelled, his growing frustrations finally venting.
"H-hai." Akashi quivered hearing him raise his voice.
"I have nothing to say about you, Z23. The rest of you, however, have been treating one of your own like a black cat, a red headed stepchild, an outcast. And I'm sure you all look down on me somewhere deep down too. But i dont care what you think of me. Eldridge, however, is a Kansen, just like the rest of you. I dont care about your nation. I dont care about how your homeland treats those different. I command you to put your differences aside and work together." Isaac spoke sternly as Z23 went to the kitchens to make dinner.
"Eldridge. I know you dont like talking. But zapping people is not the correct way to get their attention. I find out you zap someone without reason, you'll find no sweets in your hand for a week, got it?" Isaac asked.
Eldridge looked horrified but quickly nodded.
"No zap friends!" She squeaked.
"Good. Now that thats over. I guess dinner is being made. While we wait, I'll tell you a bit about me, then give a brief summary of our sortie." Isaac said.
"I was born in the Union, specifically upstate New York. I worked with my Pa in his garage, making sure people could get their cars back on the road. I was 18 at the beginning of the second world war, the war where you girls became intrumental in defending the rights and liberties of your nations. It was also around the time the sirens chose sides and began planning their assault. I wasnt drafted due to me entering the private sector back in the Union. I had graduated from cars to ships in the 2 years before the war." Isaac spoke before noticing that Omaha was staring. "Did you want to say something?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah. You said you were from New York. Did you meet Long Island? Or any of the ships named after the state you grew up in?" Omaha asked.
"If I did, I dont remember off the top of my head. You girls have unique hulls so its easy to remember based on design. If you have a bunch of sisters, it gets confusing. But i wasnt really allowed to interact with the Kansen so the girls themselves i never met, but their hulls, more than likely. Eldridge was the only exception because she kept zapping everyone on base. They finally stuck her with me to keep her away from the docks. So i looked after her." Isaac spoke.
"Please continue your story, Commander." Rodney spoke in a less than confident tone.
Alright. Let's see... From graduation onward it was contract after contract from the Union Navy. Projects, experiments, tests, and maintainence of allied ships. I used my momey to go to school and learn how to be an engineer. I was set to graduate the day the Sirens attacked. I fled the Union after watching my parents and loved ones die. And I came to rest here. You all know the rest." Isaac spoke, keeping some of the finer details of his life a secret.
"So thats why you wanted to take notes. You plan on upgrading our hulls with the Bulin's help?" Rodney asked, having shaken off the fear she had been feeling.
"Yes. After this sortie, i will have some idea of how your hulls can stand up to siren weaponry. My thoughts initially are deck armor and protecting vital systems. But i have plans to salvage Siren tech once we can get our hands on a transport ship. I want to find a way to use their armor and weapons to spot weaknesses, then create shells, torpedos, bombs and other munitions to exploit said weaknesses. And as they evolve, so will we. Stronger hulls, strudier air frames, and upgraded systems." Issac explained.
"You keep speaking of a sortie, care to elaborate, commander?" Eagle asked as Omaha nodded.
"Yes. We will be taking an exploratory sortie
into the Philippines. There is a large port city there that could be helpful for trade if it isnt being run by sirens. If we see any siren drone ships, we will try to evade using Eldridge's Cloaking System and manuevering based on scouting data from Eagle's air squardons." Isaac said.
"Cloaking system?" Omaha asked.
"Yes. Its a system i designed and tested myself, with help from some MIT boys. The open circuits on Eldridge's hull will ionize the air, making it nigh impossible for the enemy to see her on radar. But that atmosphere is also going to spread after a decent amount of time of use. So much so that it should lessen our radar signature as a whole across the fleet. My hope is that they see an insignificant threat and either ignore us or only come in force after we sink a few solo scouts." Isaac said.
"Thats why she can zap people, nyaa?!" Akashi exclaimed.
"Yes." Isaac said simply.
"Dinner is served, everyone." Z23 said as she emerged with bowls of cold noodles and hot broth.
"Udon, nyaa?" Akashi asked.
"Yes. Its not too heavy, since it's late, and it was easy to prepare since it was the old commanders favorite dish. He always kept stocked with the flour and ingredients needed to make it." Z23 said.
"I see. Well thank you for the food, Z23." Isaac said.
"Call me Zed or Nimi. No need to be formal all the time, Kommandant." Nimi said as she handed him his food.
Dinner went by quickly. Everyone questioning Isaac about what had happened. Isaac answered them in turns as the meal drew to a close.
"Alright everyone. Off to bed. We leave early tomorrow so get as much rest as you can before we head out." Isaac ordered.
× Our first sortie is in the morning. Nimi will teach me how to command a fleet as we approach our target. Speaking of, our target is the city of Davao in the Philippines. One of the more cultural centered places in the Philippines and the south asian territory as a whole. Heres to hoping all goes well. × Isaac wrote before turning to go to sleep.