"Admiral, come in." Michael said as he sat with Friedrich and Amagi on the latter's bridge.
"Michael, what do you have to report?" Isaac asked.
"As previously mentioned, our forces were victorious. The drone fleet has been destroyed with no casualties on our side. Chicago has definitely seen better days, however." Michael said.
"How bad is it? I thought I ordered Gangut to leave her alone." Isaac spoke.
"You did, dear husband. It wasn't Gangut who did the damage." Friedrich lied.
"I see. And what happened to the hull? Is it salvageable?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. The Chicago should manage to stay afloat long enough for a repair crew to begin work. She took a lot of friendly fire due to her poor maneuvering." Friedrich said.
"Did the drones do that damage?" Isaac asked.
"While I wasn't entirely focused on her, I would assume that to be the case." Friedrich admitted.
"I see. Can the hull handle a trip down to Kure? We're preparing a landing to begin clearing the naval yards, but we should be able to mop up here pretty quick based on Zero's intel." Isaac said.
"I would not recommend such an action, Shikikan. The hull of the Chicago has many holes in the armor belt. A rough wave could cripple or sink the hull. Right now, our best bet would be to hold anchor until reinforcements arrive. Based on several trails of smoke coming from the surrounding land mass, Friedrich and her team have already dismantled the land defenses around Yokosuka." Amagi said.
"And what of land based aircraft?" Isaac asked.
"We shouldn't have to deal with many. After all, with the main fleet in Kure, that's where their attention will be. But since Enterprise, Yume and Elizabeth are there with you, you should have no problem dismantling the island's air defense." Amagi said.
"Wise words as always, Amagi. I'll keep the girls ready for that eventuality. Should I be wary of kamikaze attacks?" Isaac asked.
"It is definitely within the realm of possibility, Shikikan. You should expect a last stand comparable to the final days of the war, after all, I can only assume that the majority of the cultists that remain here are former members of the military. They will put honor above all else." Amagi said.
"Great. Suicide attacks… alright. Thank you for the heads up, Amagi. Michael has free reign to operate as he sees fit. Our main goal here is to get the blueprints for Ibuki, Izumo and Hakuryuu. Secondary goals are to achieve a safe port of call here in Japan and to requisition troops for our liberation efforts in Russia." Isaac said.
"Understood, Shikikan. We won't let you down." Amagi replied.
"I know you won't. Good luck." Isaac said as he cut the line.
Amagi looked at Michael.
"Now we wait. Maybe we can scout the port if we're careful." Amagi said.
"That sounds like a good place to start." Michael said as Amagi piloted her vessel towards the others that were anchored in the bay.
"Ben, Jager, report to the Norfolk for briefing. Taka and Kido are already here and waiting." Isaaco ordered as the fleet situated itself far enough from shore to be out of range of any potential coastal batteries while also maintaining distance from the blockade that was holding formation nearly fifty miles away.
"You're one-hundred percent sure that those drones won't move to engage?" Isaac asked Zero, who had appeared next to him to help brief his raiding party.
"Not one hundred percent, but in the range of possibility that makes our current situation tenable. I would estimate a modest ninety three percent chance of them not engaging this fleet. However, the small chance of the Cultists breaking the encryption on the surviving equipment in my hideout still exists. After all, we used rather simple algorithms in this timeline as the world's most sophisticated form of encoding messages is simply to use another language or a simple letter replacement cipher or some combination of the two. But if someone in their ranks was smarter than the average engineer of this time… then they could have easily gotten into the command console to recode the drone fleet. After all, the drones were only under Empress's control long enough to get them here before they defaulted to the closest command module, namely, my computer in the warehouse district here in Kure." Zero explained.
Isaac's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"You seriously dumbed down your security based on our tech levels?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. You tend to forget that the remaining sirens are controlling the governments of entire nations. The easier we can make our other tasks, the better we can enforce our control. So we only set security slightly above what the world is capable of at the time of our… intervention." Zero spoke.
"And I guess this is due to you never anticipating someone like me finding someone like Norfolk who could break that encryption easily." Isaac guessed.
"Precisely. Tester was meant to find an area to keep Norfolk hidden away so we would not have had to worry about a situation as bad as this… but then again, even we Sirens are not perfect." Zero lamented.
"Hey. You got to live, as did Smasher and Norfolk. I don't think you three would agree on this being a horrible outcome. I could have killed all three of you." Isaac said as Norfolk turned to him with a shocked look on her face.
"Isaac!" Norfolk cried.
Isaac flinched a bit.
"Right. I wouldn't do such a thing now, you three have become part of this ever-expanding family. But still, this isn't the worst outcome." Isaac said.
"That is correct in my case. As is Smasher and Norfolk for sure. But this is the worst case scenario for many of the others." Zero spoke as Norfolk butted in.
Speaking of worst case scenarios, I have been keeping tabs on the other Sirens. Alpha, merely two weeks ago, took an abnormal amount of damage after using quite a bit of energy. Her power level is low, so I am safely assuming that she is laying low in London, where her signature is currently pinging from. We should consider the Wilhelmshaven raid a success based on that parameter." Norfolk spoke.
"So New Jersey and Vittorio managed it after all. That is excellent news. Try and contact them once we clear the port here. I don't want us vulnerable right now." Isaac said.
"Understood." Norfolk said as she returned to her work.
A few moments later, Ben and Jager walked through the door.
"Sorry we're late, Admiral." Ben spoke. Wilhelm nodded, meeting Isaac's gaze.
"Excellent. First, a gift and question for Ben." Isaac said as he gestured to a wooden crate on the captain's table.
"How is Kashino doing?" Isaac asked as Ben walked over to the crate.
"She's getting bigger by the day, Admiral. I think she may be ready to pop by the time we set sail for Russia." Ben said truthfully.
"I see. Do you have a name?" Isaac asked.
"I do. Kashino and I agreed on it. Kure. She will be taking my last name as well." Ben confirmed as he dug his nails under the lid of the box and pulled it open, neglecting the crowbar Isaac had set on the desk.
Ben looked inside.
"What is this, sir?" Ben asked.
"The first full production model of our mass produced infantry armor. It covers vital organs in the same level of protection that covers myself and those of the Schwarzer Tod. Jager and his men have the prototype model embedded in their uniforms, and since their data has come back from their infiltration of the Philippines and the pacification of Shangri-la, we can finally put it to a full production run with the machine shop onboard the Tug-o-war. The Bulins made it strong and they oversized this one to fit you specifically." Isaac said as Ben lifted the vest from the straw interior.
"So this thing is meant to stop bullets?" Ben asked.
"Yes. Anything up to small caliber rigging, like Laffey's hand cannon." Isaac said as he knocked the plate that covered his chest.
"Still crazy to think something so light could stand up to abuse like that." Ben said as he slipped the vest on.
"Well? How's the fit?" Chief asked, causing the room to jump as she had managed to sneak in.
"Fits fine, I suppose. I ain't had anything like this before so I don't exactly know what to be looking for." Ben said.
Chief took a few moments to inspect the fit before nodding.
"It fits you like it should. Your heart, lungs and major internal organs are covered. I actually included something a bit more for the first full production model since I had some left over plating. It's what the girls and I like to call a ballistic mask. Basically what Jager has but not as thick. It will stop pistol rounds and normal rifle rounds. But .50 caliber rounds will not be stopped completely. We theorize that you should be able to survive based on your insane healing ability, but just in case, don't get hit by anything bigger than a handgun and you won't have to worry." Chief explained.
"Huh… thanks, short stuff." Ben said as he slipped on the black mask. It fit him well and the mask itself resembled a human face to a degree, but was otherwise nondescript.
"Now, onto the briefing." Isaac said as Chief left, closing the door behind her.