"Vestal. Are you sure you're okay?" St. Louis asked as she pulled her ship alongside the stricken repair ship.
"I'm okay. I'm just cleaning out the boiler that I used for our escape. I'm going to be quite a while so if I begin to lag behind, please radio me and I'll pick it up." Vestal said over the radio.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Phoenix asked.
"Just keep the three of us safe. We have to reach the commander." Vestal said.
"Then we will do our best." St. Louis said as she and Phoenix closed their formation to cover Vestal.
I-13 had embarked off to the west to begin her first trial run of her C&C module. After completing a handful of complicated maneuvers, I-13 concluded that complexity of orders did not affect effectiveness.
"Akashi, can you hear me?" I-13 asked via radio from her circling aircraft.
"Hai. What does I-13-san have for Akashi, nyaa?" Akashi asked.
"Complex orders do not appear to hinder the ships ability to remain in my control. I'm going to take it on patrol. Hopefully come across another drone ship to test on." I-13 said.
"Understood, nyaa. Be careful." Akashi said as she dropped the connection from her end.
"Wait! I just got something from this thing." I-13 said.
"Nyaa?" Akashi asked as she picked up the receiver again.
"I didn't remove the radio receiver, only the transmitter. I am picking up a radio transmission from another drone ship. It's encoded. I'm sending it to you." I-13 said as she surfaced her submarine.
"Receiving feedback, nyaa. Just a few more seconds." Akashi said.
"Did you catch it?" I-13 asked.
"Hai. Akashi will break the encryption." Akashi said.
"Let me know what it is when I return." I-13 said.
"Okay. Be safe, nyaa." Akashi said as she dropped the line again.
"If I pinpointed the frequency correctly, that came from Pearl Harbor in Eagle territory." I-13 muttered.
I-13 began a large slow circle of the island, heading towards the south first.
"The Shikikan said that the last Shikikan sent his fleet down this way on a sortie. Maybe I can find some of the remnants." I-13 pondered.
"This just in, Alexander Grantham was found dead outside the charred remains of his house early this morning. Investigations have led to a small cell of extremists living in the northern part of the island. Sources say that they have been growing more violent towards supporters of Grantham's governing over the past few months. The leader of the extremist group, Joni Brown, has also come forward and confessed that his people were the ones who burnt down the governors mansion and then shot him outside the residence." The radio in the hospital played the emergency broadcast. Isaac cast an accusing glare at Odin and Friedrich.
"Do you two honestly expect me to believe that?" Isaac asked, after checking if the door was closed.
"The only thing I am guilty of, Kommandant, is destroying the equipment that he was using to communicate with the sirens." Odin said.
"So you didn't set the fire?" Isaac asked.
"No. But the equipment did spark up after I destroyed is so maybe the house caught from that." Odin said.
"And you didn't murder him?" Isaac asked.
"He was alive when we left. The only thing I did was destroy the gun he tried to shoot me with." Odin said as she opened the door to allow Nimi and Mutsuki in.
"I see. Well, what's done is done. After what you told me, I probably would have done the same were I not trapped in a hospital bed. Now enough about that." Isaac said as he turned to look at Mutsuki.
"Hello little one." Isaac said as he looked at Nimi.
"Could you put her up here?" Isaac asked.
"Mutsuki is fine where she is. Mutsuki is just hungry." Mutsuki said.
"I see. It's okay if you don't trust me. I am new after all. Go with Nimi back to the port, she'll get you your food." Isaac said.
"Okay, mister." Mutsuki said as Nimi led her out.
"We have to find her ship." Isaac said.
"Why? She's a child, Kommandant. As much as we need firepower, I will not use children to form my plans." Odin said.
"I only wanted her ship to get her back to Azur Lane. I do not wish to bring a child into a warzone." Isaac said.
"Can we send someone back?" Friedrich asked.
"I think Intrepid may be able to send Mutsuki by plane. Her P51 Mustangs have a range of 1600 miles. And by my best guess, we are a little under 800 miles from Azur lane." Isaac said.
"Then I will tell intrepid to prepare her fighter to take Mutsuki to the little green cat." Odin said as she left Isaac alone with Friedrich.
"You know Kommandant. I would not mind becoming an actual mother. I adopted your fleet as my children, but I do not think that will be enough to satisfy me." Friedrich stated offhandedly.
"What?!" Isaac said as he turned to face her.
"Oh sorry, I was simply thinking out loud, Kommandant." Friedrich said.
"No! That wasn't at all what that was!" Isaac said, more nervous than angry.
A knock came to the door several seconds before another nurse walked in.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Garner?" The nurse asked.
"I'm in less pain, and I haven't coughed up anything black for a while." Isaac said.
"Well, let's get you checked out and see where we are at." The nurse said as she turned to Friedrich.
"Ma'am, I must ask you to step out." The nurse said.
"I will stay. Do not worry, I will not intrude on your work." Friedrich responded.
"I wouldn't argue with her." Isaac muttered under his mask.
"Alright, everyone! Attention!" Odin yelled as everyone stopped and turned to face her.
"Two items of importance. One, we are to begin construction of a Command Ship for the Kommandant. The fleet is getting too big to manage from any of our bridges. So, using the blueprints we found, we are going to build an advanced Command cruiser to serve our Kommandant." Odin said as the fleet looked at Eagle.
"So that will become his own personal flagship?" Eagle asked.
"Do not worry, Eagle. If everyone is able to remotely control their vessels, there will be living quarters onboard. Enough for everyone." Odin said laying out the blueprints.
"And number two, this little one." Odin said as she helped Mutsuki out of the armored car.
The entire fleet gasped as they looked at her.
"We need to get her back to Azur Lane. Kommandant's orders. She does not seem to have a ship, possibly due to it being sunk. So, we will need to fly her back to base." Odin said.
"Intrepid, you will be the one flying her back. Your P-51's have the range to reach Niue. Send a full squadron and rotate en route. I do not want a single siren getting between her and safety." Odin said.
"Understood. I will ensure she makes it there safely." Intrepid said
"You had better make it your top priority. You all are dismissed." Odin said as she ushered Mutsuki over to Intrepid.
"Come little one, you're going to go on an adventure." Intrepid said as Mutsuki followed quietly, clearly nervous to be in a new area. Within minutes, the sound of V12 engines filled the air as a 6 plane squadron of fighters took off from the flight deck of the Intrepid.