Otto stared in a sense of wonder as the three of them approached the Norfolk.
"What is this ship?" Otto asked.
"This is my personal command ship, the Norfolk." Isaac said as Norfolk made her presence known on the main deck.
"And I am assuming that girl is the Kansen for this vessel?" Otto said.
"It is. That is Norfolk." Isaac said as he waved her down to them.
"Commoner, I must bid you a temporary farewell. I am going to help Eagle get adjusted to her new shipmate." Elizabeth said.
"Alright. I'll leave it to you." Isaac said as she nodded and headed off.
"You have quite the impressive fleet, Kommandant." Otto said.
"Isaac, please call me Isaac." Isaac said as Otto looked at him/
"Well, Herr Isaac. What is it like being married to my daughter?" Otto asked in a jovial tone.
"I know you're joking, Mr. Otto, but she is a really sweet girl. Very tender and caring when it comes to her personal relationships. Although, she tends to fly off the handle a bit when the battle is at hand." Isaac said.
"Ah. I guess she would get that from me." Otto said with a small smile.
"I would assume. There is a running theory among the fleet, that the girls that are produced by blueprints and files, actually have traits from the ones who designed them." Isaac said.
"Do you happen to know Roon, Herr Isaac?" Otto asked.
"No, but several in the fleet have worked with her and I have heard the name." Isaac said as the two of them walked onto the deck of the Norfolk. Norfolk held her tongue and followed as they walked inside.
"Well, ask your fleet if Roon is violent. If she is, that will confirm your theory." Otto said.
"Did you know her designer?" Isaac asked.
"I did. He was in the middle of designing the turret when he flew off the handle. He killed several scientists that day... took several SS to put him down." Otto said as he reminisced on the day.
"I can personally confirm that Roon has some extremely violent tendencies." Bismarck said as she walked onto the bridge carrying a healthy looking blue haired submarine.
"Ah, Bismarck. It is good to see you once more." Otto said as he gave a little wave.
"Herr Otto! It has been so long since we last met. How have you been?" Bismarck said, sporting a small smile.
"Bismarck? You know him?" Isaac asked.
"Everyone in Ironblood knows of Herr Otto, Kommandant. He would come to see everyone off for their missions. He would just happen to be passing by upon our return, allowing us to offload a bit from our mission. If Friedrich claims to be the mother of Ironblood... then Herr Otto would be our caring grandfather." Bismarck said.
"So the entire Ironblood navy knows him?" Isaac asked.
"Not everyone. Odin, Roon, and Heinrich along with a few others might not. But before he left in 1941, everyone in the navy knew him." Bismarck said.
"I see. Well, then I best let you get caught up. I'm sure the other Ironblood girls would love to spend some time with pops as well." Isaac said jokingly.
"Pops, huh? I like it. It's a nice nickname." Otto said as he walked over to Bismarck and looked down at U-556.
"How is the little knight, Bismarck dear?" Otto asked.
"She is doing much better now." Bismarck said as she and Otto made their way down into the corridor towards the crew Quarters.
Isaac watched them leave.
"With an attitude like that, it's hard to imagine that he was ever a Nazi." Isaac said as Norfolk came over to him and poked his back.
"Commander, over here please." Norfolk said as Isaac turned around to face her.
"Why did Odin give me these?" Norfolk asked as she showed Isaac the folder and blueprint of Manfred von Richthofen.
"We will lock them away until we reach an area where we can build ships in drydock. Her power will be needed since we will be splitting away from the majority of the fleet in a few days, once we can ensure the city is defendable for a short period of time." Isaac said.
"I heard about that plan in passing, why are we splitting?" Norfolk asked.
"We need to leave a sizable fleet to defend the island chain from any sirens that wish to use our friendly territory as hostages." Isaac said.
"So we are going to need to take the strongest ships with us." Norfolk said.
"Everyone is strong in their own right. I am going to begin drafting a list of those who are coming with us." Isaac said.
"How about I take care of that, after all, I can tailor our fleet to gear us better towards victory against our present foes." Norfolk said.
"Then I will allow you to take care of that. I trust you to use your best judgement." Isaac said as he looked at her.
"I will not disappoint you, Commander." Norfolk said as she headed down into the corridor towards the Pond.
"Alone again, huh?" Isaac asked what he thought was an empty room.
"If I were still your enemy, you'd be dead..." Vengeance said.
"So I would. Sorry about that." Isaac said.
"It's no problem. I was trying my hand at a joke." Vengeance said.
"I see. It needs a bit of work. But I feel good knowing that there is no bad blood." Isaac said.
"I never really had the desire to attack the human race. So I never had any of this so called bad blood." Vengeance said.
"Really? Your old name suggested otherwise." Isaac said.
"I guess. But I know me better than some name." Vengeance said as she glared at Isaac.
"I would hope so." Isaac said as he looked back at her.
"Well, shall we get to the drawing room? We have to get your blueprints done before we head to Australia." Isaac said.
"Why Australia?" Vengeance asked as she followed him down the corridor and deep into the bowels of the ship.
"Ground forces. Australia is allied to the Union through Britain. So if we get there, we can get troops, transports, armored vehicles, and possibly a port with building facilities." Isaac said.
"Is it worth losing more than half your fleet to defend this island chain?" Vengeance asked.
"I believe it is. Plus it can help us catch anyone that may be drifting about the south pacific." Isaac said.
Vengeance shrugged.
"I don't understand how that mind of yours works, but if you managed to get this far thinking like that... then the power of the human variable is much more potent than the Sirens have anticipated." Vengeance said.
"Some among us get really unpredictable when we're backed into a corner. I just so happen to be one of those people." Isaac said.
"Well I would hope so, aside from commanding a fleet this large, I haven't really been too impressed." Vengeance said.
"Coming from a former enemy, that doesn't mean much." Isaac said.
"Shut up, Isaac." Vengeance said.
"Don't let Friedrich hear you say that." Isaac said, easily shutting down any rebuttal from Vengeance.
Isaac allowed Vengeance through the door first before closing the door behind him.
"So we agreed on the type, yes?" Isaac asked.
"You had mentioned the concept of a Hybrid Battleship. But I am fuzzy on the details." Vengeance said.
"I have been doing some thinking. We will still do a hybrid battleship, but I need information from your end." Isaac said.
"Ask. I want my ship, so anything I can do to help, I will give." Vengeance said.
"Siren Aircraft. How do they work?" Isaac asked.
"Short takeoff and Vertical landing. They are only limited by the processing power of the user. They can do what you need, and fit any flight deck." Vengeance said.
"How short of a takeoff?" Isaac asked.
"Converting it to your Union measurement system, 250 feet since the aircraft are powered by vectored plasma. And considering that I am the one controlling it, you may want to increase the flight deck to 300 feet just in case." Vengeance said.
"Would training with the carriers help?" Isaac asked.
"With practice, anything is possible. Is space that much of a concern?" Vengeance asked.
"It is. I want to give you as much firepower as I can muster. And I have to think of how much material I can spend on this project." Isaac said.
"I agree on that. Logistically speaking, a longer flight deck would rob you over more than 5 tons of material." Vengeance said.
"My point exactly." Isaac said.
"Then I will make do with 250 feet. Do we have a hull design?" Vengeance asked.
"I want to use something Shinano left in my quarters." Isaac asked as he unrolled a large blueprint and put it on the wall of the drawing room.
"A-150 Super Yamato?" Vengeance asked.
"It is a large hull with space for modification. I want to attempt something completely unprecedented." Isaac said.
"Like what?" Vengeance asked.
"Well, I have two ideas." Isaac said.
"Alright. Let's hear it." Vengeance said as she sat down next to Isaac, intent on hearing every word.
"We remove the two rear turrets and place an angled deck that slightly extends off once side. We can then use the extra space for storage of aircraft and an elevator." Isaac said as he began to quickly sketch a rough drawing of the potential ship.
"Hmm. That one's a bit interesting. That would definitely have the room needed to launch Siren aircraft." Vengeance said. (1)
"Or, we can do a dual short deck." Isaac said.
"What's that mean?" Vengeance asked.
"By removing one turret and the catapult system, we can lay down two short flight paths that intersect in the middle, creating an X on the stern where you can launch aircraft." Isaac said. (2)
"And by the way you're drawing it, you would lift the flight deck a bit to ensure storage and elevator space for both flight paths?" Vengeance asked.
"That is correct. Of course, I do not have access to 18 or 20 inch guns, so I will have to replace the front turrets with triple 16 inch guns." Isaac said.
"6 guns is better than four, Isaac. I will not argue." Vengeance said.
"Both designs allow for massive amounts of secondary guns. But I will be cutting down AA because you will have your own air wing at your disposal. So you'll have half the AA at your disposal." Isaac said.
"That works. You seem to have a well rounded fleet, and I can operate well enough on my own if we get separated." Vengeance said.
"I would hope so." Isaac said as the two of them began drawing the initial plans for the new ship.