Isaac sat with a dead expression on the bridge of the Norfolk. Bremerton sat with a look of abject horror on her face as she reached his Final Message to the sirens before the recording shut off.
"Commander..." Bremerton said.
"I told you I didn't want to watch it..." Isaac said.
"Yeah, Now I can see why. Why did you go so far?" Bremerton asked as she fought to keep her breakfast down.
"I don't know. She had cracked so early. I had gotten every bit of information out of her that she could give. I could have stopped at any time." Isaac said as he looked at her with pain filled eyes.
"What kept you going? If you wanted to stop, why didn't you? It was all under your control." Bremerton said.
"I guess... when I saw Nimi that night... the pain came back. And that pain led to an anger that took over. I... I wanted her to suffer." Isaac said as Bremerton looked at him.
"Commander... I understand why you wanted her to suffer. But... I think if you would talk about things more, you could let those feelings go." Bremerton said.
"Bremerton..." Isaac said as he looked directly at her.
She looked at him and saw the sincerity on his face.
"Do you know what it is like to have your loved ones die in front of you, and not having the power to save them?" Isaac asked, making Bremerton realize that the anger that motivated him wasn't from Nimi's death.
"Commander... I think you just hit a critical vein." Bremerton said as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"My family was killed by the sirens during our attempt to escape the Union. My mother... was strung up by her neck and beaten in front of the masses until she died. My father... he was the lucky one." Isaac said softly.
"What did they do?" Bremerton asked.
"He resisted heavily, which resulted in him being shot before they were able to torture him. I can at least thank the sirens for their short temper, and the fact that my father didn't suffer." Isaac said as Bremerton realized that Isaac's pain was much more than just his feelings towards the fleet.
"You never talked about it properly, did you?" Bremerton asked as Isaac shook his head.
"How could I?" Isaac asked.
"You have people who would listen. You wouldn't have used that anger to torture Oceana in such a horrendous way." Bremerton said.
"Talking about it won't bring my family back!" Isaac yelled angrily, catching Bremerton off guard.
"Commander..." Bremerton said as Isaac stood up and walked around the desk and looked out the window.
"I'm done talking. If my anger stems from the death of my family, then that anger will not go away... not until this world is purged of the Sirens that enslaved it." Isaac said as a knock came to the door of the bridge.
"Come in." Isaac said as he grabbed his helmet, slipping it on to hide the emotion on his face.
Nimi opened the door and ran over to him.
"Liebling, we have a problem." Nimi said softly.
"What's wrong?" Isaac asked as he got down at eye level with her.
"Bismarck." Nimi called out. Several seconds later, Bismarck walked onto the bridge. Isaac's heart dropped as he saw the blue haired girl in her arms.
Isaac tapped his helmet.
"Vestal, Vengeance, Head Bulin. Report to the Norfolk on the double." Isaac said in a serious tone as he got up and walked over to Bismarck.
"Bismarck. please explain." Isaac said softly.
"This is my Parzival. My little knight, Kommandant. She swore to protect me from the day she hit the water. And she did everything she could the day I came under attack. I failed her and left her alone that day. Alone to wander the seas as a tool for the Kriegsmarine." Bismarck said.
"What happened to her?" Isaac asked.
"I think you already know, Kommandant." Bismarck said as Isaac noticed a solitary tear fall from her eye.
"Damn it..." Isaac said softly as he looked down at the submarine in Bismarck's arms.
"We're going to fix her. I promise." Isaac said as he put his hand on her shoulder.
Bismarck recoiled a bit, but relaxed when she realized he was only there to help.
"I'm counting on you, Kommandant." Bismarck said softly as Vestal and Vengeance entered with the head bulin hot on their heels.
"What happened, Commander?" Vestal asked as Bismarck turned to face her.
"I know that work all too well." Vengeance said as she quickly looked over 556.
"Who did it?" Isaac asked.
"That is the work of Strength. A battleship class with power comparable to the Empress, and a sadistic attitude to match." Vengeance said.
"I will slaughter her. Diese Hündin!" Bismarck spat angrily as Isaac finally saw some emotion come from the German Battleship.
"Correction, Bismarck." Isaac said as she glared at him.
"We will annihilate her." Isaac said as Bremerton gave him a worried look.
"Commander..." Bremerton spoke.
"It's my job. They won't stop committing atrocities just because I have personal issues." Isaac said in a stone cold tone.
"If you help me, I will follow you to hell and back." Bismarck said as she looked at the blood streaked helmet of her Kommandant.
"Strength will fall. I will ensure you are there to witness it." Isaac said, earning him a nod from Bismarck.
"Then I, Bismarck, pledge to follow you to the ends of the earth, come hell or high water." Bismarck said.
"You will have your revenge." Isaac muttered as Vestal and the head bulin looked at each other.
"Let's get her down to the medical bay. We might be able to try something using the data that Vengeance got from reviving Nimi." Vestal said.
"What will you try, Union Repair ship?" Bismarck said defensively.
"Using a wisdom cube, we might be able to give U-556 her own arm and eye back. That way, she can use her body to the fullest." Vestal said.
Bismarck looked at her for a couple of seconds.
"Fine. I will allow it." Bismarck said as she finally relented.
"Bismarck, go with them. I can already tell that you won't be comfortable anywhere else." Isaac said.
"Thank you, Kommandant." Bismarck said as she followed Vestal and the bulin.
"What am I here for then?" Vengeance asked.
"We're gonna work on the blueprint for your ship. That way you're over here and ready to assist them if they need your expertise." Isaac said.
"Shouldn't you be dealing with that General? The arrival of the Admiral delayed his punishment." Vengeance asked.
"You're right. But please remain here. We will need to get the blueprints ready. I think once we leave here, we will head to a place with decent ship building facilities." Isaac said.
"Alright then, I shall remain here, Isaac." Vengeance said as she went down the corridor.
Isaac nodded and headed for the door.
"Is that all, Commander? Just like that?" Bremerton asked.
"I have nothing left to talk about. You know my past. You know where this pain and anger comes from. I have a job to do, without this... I have nothing. So if you're done trying to analyze me, I need to get back to work." Isaac said.
"I know you're in pain, Commander. But you can't clam back up again." Bremerton said as she followed him out onto the main deck.
"There is nothing more to discuss. I'm sorry if I'm sounding rude, but the world doesn't stop just because I'm a little sad." Isaac said.
"Commander, you nearly bombed a fucking city. This is serious, damn it." Bremerton cried angrily.
"What would you have me do?! I fixed Nimi. I dealt with Oceana. I CAN'T FIX MY FAMILY!" Isaac yelled.
"You have a second in command. She can run this fleet while you take care of this. You need to get over the death of your family and find a constructive way to move forward." Bremerton said.
"I won't force Odin to deal with all of this on her own. She may be my vice commander, but she's my wife as well. A good husband will always support his woman." Isaac spat as he walked down the gangway towards the Iowa.
Bremerton followed right behind him.
"Fine... I'll let you go for now." Bremerton spoke as she fell behind.
Isaac stopped and turned to face her. He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes.
"Bremerton... how about we meet when these things happen? I'll give the order to the fleet to contact you if I go out again. Despite how things are at this moment... I cannot look past the fact that we did uncover something. I can't fix it all in one go. It's too much to try and tackle all at once." Isaac said.
"If you mean that... then I'll feel better letting you off with the progress we made today." Bremerton spoke.
Isaac tapped his helmet.
"Odin, come in." Isaac said.
"Kommandant." Odin replied.
"I want Bremerton to be notified first thing if I... space out again." Isaac said.
"Is that a fleet wide order?" Odin asked.
"It is. Everyone is able to contact her. I want it done." Isaac said.
"Then I will relay the order. What are you doing now?" Odin asked.
"I am headed to the Iowa. I have to deal with MacArthur." Isaac said.
"I'm already here. I was going to take care of the punishment in your stead since you were busy dealing with everything." Odin said.
"Stay there, I'll be in momentarily." Isaac said as he tapped his helmet.
"There you go. It's done." Isaac said.
"Then I will expect calls to tend to you." Bremerton said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Why were you crying?" Isaac asked.
"Because... I was just thinking about what you said. And I was thinking how bad I would be if something happened to Baltimore." Bremerton said.
"That's why I'm here. I will do everything I can to make sure you never have to see that day." Isaac said as he walked over to Bremerton and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Can I?" Bremerton asked.
Isaac nodded, knowing what was coming. Bremerton wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug, which he willingly returned.
"If something happens, I will not let her go without a fight." Isaac said.
"That's all I can ask for, Commander." Bremerton said as she refused to let him go.
"Bremerton, please." Isaac whispered after an uncomfortably long amount of time.
"I'm sorry!" Bremerton said in a surprised tone as she quickly let him go and took several steps back.
"I'll catch you later." Isaac said as he turned and walked off to the Iowa.