October 22nd
During the night, Norfolk was taken from the hospital back up to the castle so that the device the Sirens had kept could be re-used. The machine had been turned off and certain parts were hidden accordingly in case the Sirens came back. However it seemed that they hadn't returned, so all the parts were recovered and the machine was reactivated. After a couple of hours of waiting, Norfolk could be placed into the machine. Resource checked over every single little thing as the water level rose in the tank and Norfolk began to float in the tank. "Right. If my calculations are correct. I just have to do this, put the cubes in as required. And then her revival and revitalisation shall begin." the repair ship commented. "That or she'll explode right in front of us" Hector, Suffolk and Anson, who had gone along with Resource just glared at the repair ship. "It was a joke" she replied after an awkward silence.
"You need to work on your humour" Anson remarked as Resource inserted the cubes into the device and pressed the button to get it started. The water inside became fogged up and a blue glow began to appear from within the tank.
"How long will this take?" Hector inquired.
"No idea. Never done this before" Resource replied. "Could take only half an hour. Might take an hour or two. It's not displaying a time to finish"
"Um. I think it's already nearly finished" Suffolk observed, seeing that the Blue glow inside the tank had become very bright. After a few more moments, the bright blue light faded away and the water began to clear again. As Norfolk became visible again, something was different. Gone was the child that had entered the pod, and a much older figure emerged. Norfolk looked far more mature. Her hair had grown out but It looked like she had retained one of her little ponytails. As Resource had hoped, her injuries were gone. Norfolk's outfit had seemingly undergone a change as well. The little red outfit best suited for cold weather missions was gone, replaced with a more suitable outfit. Though her boots had remained, something she may have subconsciously kept. Her red hood had remained too, but that wasn't up around her head anymore either. She slowly opened her eyes as the water drained from the tank and once it was drained, it opened and she fell forward, being caught by Hector before she could hit the floor.
"Morning, Norfolk" Hector commented as the renewed cruiser was helped up.
"Wh.. Wha-What happened? I- I recall jumping in the way of that Siren for you. And th-then it all went black." Norfolk asked.
"The Siren hurt you rather badly, Norfolk" Resource said as she came up to Norfolk to check her over. "You've been out for three days. I managed to repair the damages inflicted on you. However, it came at a price" Resource continued before she summoned a small mirror to her hand and brought it up so Norfolk could see herself.
Norfolk took a few moments to take in her new look. She for a moment thought she saw her sister in the reflection, but after she looked again, she looked to the repair ship. "You retrofitted me?"
"I had no other choice due to the injuries" Resource replied.
"I see" Norfolk replied as she then noticed the pink hair to her left and turned to see Suffolk staring at her, tears in her eyes. "Suffolk?"
Suffolk didn't say anything but instead launched herself at Norfolk, enveloping her in a hug. "I was so worried about you…" the other cruiser admitted.
"I'm okay now, am I not?" Norfolk replied as she hugged her sister back.
"Yeah." Suffolk replied quietly as she helped Norfolk out of the room and back upstairs. Resource, Hector and Anson watched them go.
"Good to have our fleet back up to full strength" Anson commented.
"With a newly improved member." Resource replied before she activated her rigging and got on her radio. "Bulldog? I'm ready for you now"
"Okay, Resource. I'll be on my way" came the destroyer's reply before Resource deactivated her rigging and turned back to the couple.
"I'll be fine here. I'd request a guard as well. Perhaps Swift can accompany Bulldog here?" Resource commented.
"I can arrange that" Anson replied before she and Hector headed back upstairs. The arrangements were made soon afterwards.
The Bren Gun Carrier rolled back up to the castle with Bulldog and Swift riding in the back. Norfolk, Suffolk and the couple boarded in their place and the small vehicle trundled back down the road to the hospital where the others were. The news of Norfolk's revival had certainly gotten to them quickly as several of the Royal Navy ships were eagerly awaiting them.
"Um.. I feel a bit uncomfortable about this" Norfolk commented as the vehicle stopped and they all got out.
"I'll be fine, Norfolk" Anson reassured her.
Indomitable and Unicorn were at the front and Unicorn looked up to her big sister. "Will I be bigger like her if I got retrofit?"
"Perhaps. Would you want to be retrofit?" Indomitable asked her little sister
"If it means I can protect my friends, then yes" the little carrier replied and Indomitable smiled as Unicorn went up to Norfolk and hugged her. Norfolk was a little surprised by the little carrier's willingness to hug her, but she accepted Unicorn's hug.
"I'm glad to hear that you are well, Norfolk" Indomitable commented as she approached the cruiser.
"Thank you, Lady Indomitable" Norfolk replied as Unicorn went back to her big sister's side.
"Oh please, no need to be so formal with me. Indomitable is fine with me." Indomitable replied with a soft chuckle. "I'm sure my big sisters would say the same thing"
"I can agree with that too, Indomitable" Anson commented as she and Hector drew alongside. "Times have changed, and whilst a structure needs to be upheld. I don't see why some changes can't be made in order to better suit morale and bonds between us"
"You're sounding like Hood when you say that" Formidable remarked.
"Maybe I am. I suppose Hood was just such a great person to talk to about issues" Anson replied.
"Hood? As in… the Battlecruiser?" Hector inquired
"The very one. I think you'd love to meet her in person. As long as she's still around" Formidable replied.
"Yeah. I recall what happened. I'd come off a sortie when I found out about it. Boy did it make my blood boil" Hector said, recounting the day it happened.
"Well it's in the past now. We all have a shared enemy in the Sirens. Pre-war conflicts are over. We'll just have to sort it all out when this one ends. If it ever does"
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Bulldog's retrofit went off without an issue and she was soon back with everyone else, Resource and Swift having returned with the destroyer.
But since the group was back up to full strength, their next moves needed to be made. Sovereign and Anson began mulling over a possible location to set up a permanent base of operations in order to liberate the rest of the country.
"We need somewhere large. But not large enough to cause us tremendous issue when we attack it in order to capture it" Anson commented as she, Sovereign, Indomitable and Perseus all sat around a table in a more secluded area of the hospital, away from anyone else.
"Maps of the local area could help us tremendously. We might then have a good idea as to where to go"
"I'll ask Sheffield to retrieve some maps" Indomitable as she got up and left the room to find the Light cruiser. She was back a few minutes later. "She's gone to find some. We shouldn't have to wait too long"
"Excellent. This location should also have a large amount of land for us to be able to build facilities on. I imagine we'll be taking that device from the Castle with us this time. So we'd need to find somewhere safe for it once we get it there." Sovereign replied.
"Yes. We will need to build dry docks, launch bays, stores, barracks and such" Perseus commented. "After all. We will need to find some of the locals in order to help."
"Yes. Local information would be vital to our plans. Some Bulins would be in order. We can ask Resource to create some in preparation for our move." Sovereign responded before they continued to discuss what they required out of their target location.
Sheffield was along with some maps about fifteen minutes later. And it didn't take long for the agreed target location to be found.
"Felixstowe. That's a perfect location." Anson remarked.
"We'd better get some initial scouting of the area done. So we know what we may be up against" Indomitable mentioned.
"Well. We have 5 carriers among us. Should be able to cover a lot of ground whilst keeping one another well defended" Anson replied.
"It would be good to send in some close recon as well. I'm sure Sheffield would be up for the challenge" Sovereign added.
"Oh I'm sure she'll love some more Cloak and Dagger work."