Isaac watched from the Norfolk as U-47 sped ahead of the cruiser and sank beneath the waves, carrying Wilhelm's troops, aptly named by Norfolk as Der Schwarzer Tod.
"Quite the menacing appearance you gave them, Norfolk." Isaac said as he turned to walk towards the changing room on the bridge.
"Well, it fits our enemy's description of you. They call you Apollyon, Archangel of the Abyss. So why not have your elites be named in turn?" Norfolk reasoned.
"And it's in German, an ode to Jager being the head?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. If my understanding of the language is correct. Jager now is in command of the Black Death." Norfolk said.
Isaac shook his head.
"You gave them the name of a disease that wiped out over a third of Europe?" Isaac asked, the irony not being lost on him.
Norfolk scratched her head.
"I guess I didn't think about it that way… but it's still the truth. Your very words for Jager were to kill any cultists he comes across and to dispense his judgement on any perceived threats. That kind of indiscriminate chaos is fitting of the name Black Death." Norfolk said as Isaac locked the door of the changing room.
"Odin, update?" Isaac asked through the door.
"We have closed to within eighteen miles of the enemy fleet. All remaining ships are awaiting orders. Vengeance has also reported that the enemy Super Battleships have moved outside of the projected fallout range of our munitions." Odin said.
Isaac stopped and smiled.
"Good. Order Enterprise and Richthofen to retreat to friendly lines. They've done all they can. Have Vengeance open up with the wisdom dust weapons. Once the blast clouds clear, have the rest of the fleet open up formation and open fire on the remaining enemy vessels. After that, Full steam ahead into the strait and into the bay. We'll operate on sight from there. We can also meet up with Michael and begin our landings on the interior islands." Isaac said.
Odin smiled.
"Quite the bold strategy to charge in like this." Odin said.
"It took the Union over a year and a half of fighting to both lose and retake the Philippines. I want this to last no longer than a month at the absolute worst. Most of the locals here, according to Michael and Atago's report, are merely under threat from the Siren Wolfpack. So we take out Tester, the cultist's will rush us in a last ditch effort to keep us from completely taking the islands and moving North to Japan." Isaac reasoned.
"I see. So we still are unable to wage a proper war… To think, with a fleet of this size, that we still must give our all to defeat our enemy." Odin said with a sigh.
"Odin, as upsetting as that statement is, I will not undermine your knowledge of war. Would you recommend a different approach?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. While Tester is our primary target. We can always attempt to reduce casualties by drawing the Wolfpack to the beaches and forests on the islands. If we attack cities, the Wolfpack can use human shields." Odin said.
"Hmm. You make a fair point. Alright. We'll amend the strategy a bit. For the inner islands, we can hold off on invading all but Cebu. Cebu is the central island here in the Philippines, so it makes the most sense that Tester is hiding there. And if I remember correctly, Michael reported seeing a mass of Cultists surrounding some old Spanish fortifications that date back to the Spanish colonial period. So Cebu is going to be invaded. But the remaining islands can be blockaded and any Cultist's shot on the beaches from the vessels in the blockade. We can save our men. And we can spare the civilians if they manage to stay in their homes." Isaac said as he came out of the changing room wearing his combat armor.
"And remember. You won't be doing the invading, Kommandant." Odin spoke firmly.
Isaac sighed.
"Yeah. Yeah. I know." Isaac said as Odin relayed his orders.
"Richthofen, we have to pull back." Enterprise spoke as her fighter dipped low towards the water, looking for Richthofen in the waves.
"Understood. I'm over here." Richthofen's voice came on the radio as one of the many tentacles on her rigging surfaced from the water.
Enterprise dodged several more flak clouds as she tipped her wing low enough for Richthofen to grab on and climb onto the Skyraider.
"Thanks for the assist, Enterprise." Richthofen said as she laid on the wing, holding onto the wing as Enterprise flew out of the area.
"Vengeance, weapons free." Enterprise said as soon as she and Richthofen were clear.
"Finally. I get to see what all the hype is about!" Vengeance said as her fighters broke cloud cover faster than any prop plane could hope. Almost faster than Enterprise could see, Vengeance's planes flew over all fifteen Super Battleships, dropping a pair of two hundred and fifty pound bombs packed to the brim with Wisdom Dust. Just as fast as the planes entered the area, they had disappeared back into the clouds and were already making their way back to the carrier.
The moment the first bomb impacted the shields of the Super Battleships, the sound of glass shattering could be heard as all fifteen shields were shattered by the sheer force of the bombs. The second bombs passed through the smoke and fallout to strike the drone ships directly, annihilating the vessels beneath in a massive blue and white fireball.
"What the hell was that?!" Tester yelled as she looked around for answers after seeing a massive blue light come from over the mountains on the island of Bohol.
"We've just received word of an attack on the drone fleet! All of our drones have been sunk by some kind of superweapon! We didn't even see the planes that dropped these special munitions, nobody could get a good look. We also have reports of Heavy Cruisers destroying land emplacements on the island of Camiguin. We've been taken by surprise, Mistress." A hooded man spoke.
"Nobody saw a damn thing?!" Tester cried.
"No, Mistress. They described a blackish blur in the sky just before detonation. Other than that, nothing. Everything took place in the clouds as is." The man said as squabs on the radio were heard.
"Answer that!" Tester ordered.
"On it." The man spoke as he listened in.
"Well?" Tester asked.
"It's...Apollyon. He's here. And his entire fleet, more than we could have guessed, is now bearing down on the newly opened channel from the direction of the Dapa." The man reported.
"How the hell did he get so close?! Where are our radar operators?!" Tester yelled.
"Heavy fog cover this past week must have spoofed it. We were completely off guard." The man said as his existence was erased by Tester's cannons.
"Fucking damn it!" Tester spoke furiously as she headed towards the tower of her fort.
Upon reaching a radio, she activated it.
"Explorers and Oceanas, mobilize with your Wolfpacks and engage Apollyon within the bay. Drone support will be coming shortly. We must end him here and now!" Tester yelled as sirens sounded out throughout the entire island chain.
"A resounding success with the Wisdom munitions. The Super Battleships were decimated with our two hundred and fifty pound variants." Vengeance reported.
"Variants?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. I took the liberty of designing munitions as small as fifty pounds and as big as one thousand pounds." Vengeance said.
"One thousand pounds?! Vengeance, that could wipe out a city!" Isaac cried.
"Precisely." Vengeance said.
Isaac sighed, resigning himself to the new age of war he had just ushered in.
"And what of Laffey?" Isaac asked.
"Look here, Isaac." Vengeance said as Isaac looked towards the Vengeance.
With a sudden flash of light, the Laffey changed. The vessel grew by over ten meters as new weapons took over the deck. Her single barreled cannons changed into three double barreled turrets. An extra quintuple torpedo launcher appeared on Laffey's deck along with a massive boost to her AA compliment. To round it all off, she gained an extra depth charge launcher before the light faded. Before Isaac now floated an exact copy of Allen M. Sumner's vessel with the name Laffey painted on the side. On the Superstructure, the Alphanumeric code, DD-724 was painted in large white paint was seen.
"Woah… I take that as the procedure being a success?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. Laffey has also undergone a change, however, I will send her to you so you can see for yourself." Vengeance said.
"Alright… can you get those two up and at it? We're in range." Isaac asked.
"I have them running for their vessels now, Isaac. Laffey should be returning with your helmet and Zero soon." Vengeance said as she cut the line seconds before her main batteries fired.
A few minutes later, a knock came to the door of Norfolk's bridge. As the last remaining drones outside were mopped up by the fleet, Isaac answered.
"Come in." Isaac said.
"I'm coming in, Commander." A new voice spoke.
"Who the…" Isaac said as he spun around to see someone who was undeniably Laffey.
"Laffey?" Isaac asked.
"Yup yup yup. It's me, Commander. See?" Laffey asked as a pair of neon pink and white bunny ears were visible on her hair ties.
"Wow… Vengeance said you changed a bit… but I didn't expect this." Isaac said as he looked at the new Laffey.
Laffey's long white hair was now stained with black tips. The small destroyer now stood with the top of her head level with Isaac's chin. Gone were the cute puffy jackets and sailor dress, replaced by a pitch black bikini top and black shorts covering a slightly more mature body. A white Admiral's coat, embroidered with the number DD-724 on the sleeves was visible along with Laffey's name on the collar. A black and white pair of boots adorned the lapine destroyer's feet as she looked up at her Commander. Surrounding Laffey were several black cubes with glowing red centers, each cube having a small picture of a bunny with X'ed out eyes.
"Holy hell…" Isaac said as he took it all in.
"Something wrong?" Laffey asked, her tone more fluent and not as sleepy.
"You've almost completely changed!" Isaac cried as Laffey activated her rigging.
On her hips graced two slivers of her hull. One side carried two of her DP gun turrets while the other held both quintuple torpedo launchers. In her hand was a large handgun, meant to symbolize the third turret, as evidenced by the double barreled configuration. On her shoulders sat two small floodlights, an ode to her previous rigging's spotlights.
"All conditions green, Commander. I'm ready to fight." Laffey said as she handed him his helmet.
Zero appeared next to Isaac after reconnecting to the Norfolk.
"I don't think I've seen Smasher so happy before. She looked so proud when she pulled this off." Zero said.
"I'm proud of her too… god damn it!" Isaac said as he took Laffey in a hug.
Laffey was surprised, but quickly relaxed in his grip.
"Commander… I'm sorry for shooting you. I was wrong." Laffey said softly.
"It's alright. Don't worry about it. Now. Let's get out there. We have a battle to win." Isaac said as the shores of the Philippines loomed ahead.