You'd think a 67,000 ton warship would be immune to things like nerves, and maybe it was. A warship turned human though? Not so much.
She couldn't help the slight fidgeting she was doing despite her best efforts. She was a flagship Dammit, not some scatterbrained Jackal Lander! At least she was still sailing straight, she needed to look presentable for her...subordinate? What exactly the island was to her she was not sure.
The collective shrugs from her crew didn't really help either. They were much calmer then her though, which helped a bit. Focusing on the somewhat monotonous tasks some of them had been unfortunate enough to receive was a welcome distraction.
Though it wasn't gonna last long. The pier was in sight and growing larger, as well as the figure packing a much larger radar profile then any human should. She couldn't make out much from so far away save for what she assumed was the island's version of her own ensemble.
With her speed it didn't take long till she was cruising up onto the pier. Had she been less concerned with making a good fist impression she may have had second thoughts about hopping up onto it, alas she was being watched by more then her crew.
Lucky for her the unconventional maneuver went off without a hitch. She'd thank whatever diety was watching over her later, right now she had an island to speak to. Yea, that was a thing she did now. Speak to islands.
What had her life become?
Nothing she could do anything about now. She had more important things to worry about. Her focus finally fell to the more important thing in question.
Ah...she'd been a bit presumptuous with the island girl it seemed. Or had she? The person before her had a fairly androgynous face topped by a rather unruly looking mop of curls, standing a half head or so shorter then her oddly enough. They were wearing a mix of APA and UEF coveralls, which made sense since islands tended to change hands to often to develop permanent alignments.
As her eyes traveled downward, she noticed the distinct lack of a pair mounds in the chest area, and the coveralls weren't excessively baggy. The rig surrounding them seemed fitting enough, a headset similar to her own seemed to represent the main command building with the structure of either side, and there was the comms tower extending up behind them, presumably connected to the backpack they had on.
There were a few other articles, the miniaturized comms center attached to their right forearm and Manta landing pads on the left, a belt housing their defensive turrets, and few other minor things, all representing different structures of a physical command complex.
Her eyes were about to wander lower when she was interrupted. "U-uhm, flagship, I know you need to make sure I'm fully operational but maybe this can wait...?" She glanced back up at her new island instillations face, realizing 2 things.
First, their Asian looking individual was very red despite their rather dark skin, darker then her own at least. Second was that she'd turned every sensor she'd had on the poor installation, and now had detailed map of both them as the command complex and them as a person.
Well At least she knew she was dealing with a guy now.
Her own rising embarrassment aside, she turned most of her sensors away, feeling guilty as they visibly relaxed. Though at such a close range she doubted being scrutinized in such detail was particularly comfortable.
"Right, sorry. I'm sure your fully operational, just a bit worried is all. Our Situation is...less then ideal" she said, looking over at the horizon. It was just her and her island now, and while he had a command center, he was far from being able to defend against any determined attackers.
Something he understood if his hum of acknowledgment was any indication. "I'll have to build a lot of infrastructure..." he seemed to be talking more to himself then her, probably doing the 'looking inside' thing she tended to.
"My commander says it can be done in a few days if they start now, but uh...what are..." she looked back towards him, and he was fidgeting in place like she'd been, fiddling with the fabric of his coveralls, eyes she was now realizing we're a metallic copper like her own. "What are your orders?" He finally said.
Right, she needed to give those now, not her captian. There was a brief moment of internal panic she really hope didn't show as she scrambled for an answer. She needed to secure another island.
Sure, In theory one could cover everything, but it's ability to mine, produce, and store resources as well as defend itself would all be reduced in efficiency.
So she'd need at least 3, and now that one was able to operate itself she had little reason to stick around other...other then defense of course.
"I need to expand our Territory as quickly as possible. Get basic production facilities up, but focus on defending your self and easing logistic...." and she was drawing a blank for a name. Fuck.
The list of names from the archipelago came to mind firs but those felt...wrong. This wasn't the archipelago. "How would you feel about the name Hyron?" She asked, fully facing the command installation.
He still looked rather anxious, but now his face was screwed up in thought. He seemed to be mulling the name over, and it was time for her own nerves to rise. What if he didn't like it? What if he hated?! What if he-
The thought was never finished as a sharp ring echoed in her head. Her captain was glaring down at his dias. "Hey hey, hey hey hey. Hey" and as usual He was right. She needed to relax. A good flagship wouldn't crack under something like this.
"I like it" the newly named Resource island Hyron said, anxious expression having shifted to a small smile, then back to thoughtful. "But uh...what about you?"
"Me?" She asked, almost incredulous, and Hyron looked like he was about to start backpedaling hard, but something glinted in the metallic hues of his eyes. A word from his crew, or rather his staff if she had to guess.
"Well..yea, I can't just keep calling you flagship, and if I get a name then you should too" and that sounded so earnest she couldn't say no if she wanted to. She couldn't stop the smile on her face.
"Alright Hyron, what do you want your flagships name to be then" he wasn't expecting that if the way his eyes widened was any indication.
"Oh...uh..." thoughtfulness again, he even rubbed his chin, and she'd be lying if she didn't find the display cute. Her previous name had been 'Green dragon', or Sōryū in APA common, but Hyron was neither APA or UEF if his appearance was any indicator.
"How about...Renegade?" The way he phrased it like a question made her chuckle, doubled by the irony of such a name. He was looking nervous again, looking up at her for approval.
"It's good, perfect event! Thank you Hyron. Now-" she turned back towards the water, looking over her shoulder. "-focus keeping yourself safe above everything else. Radio me every hour with construction updates, understood?"
He nodded, and with far more confidence then before, she hopped out onto the water, engines revving up and sending her forwards. She could feel Hyron standing on pier on her radar, as well as his own radar sweeping over the landscape. Hopefully that wouldn't draw any attention to him.
She was his flagship-his carrier, and it was her job to come to his aid as much as it was his to ensure she had e supplies to do so. If someone threatened him, she'd sail at flank to come to his defense. The fact that that felt so undeniably true was a little unnerving...
But she had more important things to worry about, like another island, preferably one within supply barque range, not that it'd hard
Her attention turned to her radar, and she prepared to launch scout drones. It was time to get Hyron a sibling.
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Anxiety. That's what Hyron was feeling, or at least what his staff thought. He wasn't entirely used to having little people inside him, or that he could move now. Command complexes went supposed to walk around their islands and yet here he was.
On an instinctual level he knew everything built on this island was apart of him, attached in a way he couldn't quite describe. The metal ensemble on him now didn't portray the mines or pier, but they were still him. Still things he could feel and manipulate like a limb. Even the things in production were like that.
He'd taken to pacing, watching as construction workers and the small number of drones they had worke. He was prioritizing production facilities, because more vehicles at his disposal meant more efficient construction. A drone production building now and perhaps a Walrus assembly center combined with a garage later.
Oh and a barque pen. He's need to be able To supply Renegade while she was in the field and away from him. And of course now his thoughts we're drifting back to his flagship. His...mother? Sister? The human part of him wanted to use one of those words, and considering she'd built him, mother felt more apt.
But the island command installation did not care. To it, she was his flagship. And he needed to support her, which meant it was in their best interest for him to get up and running as quickly as possible.
His pacing came to a stop as he thought again. It was hard to be crushed by all the things he didn't know or understand yet when he was thinking of what he needed to do. Roads had oddly been rather easy, and while they were only dirt now, it'd suffice till he could build the underground rail network that islands normally had.
With that in mind, he ordered every last drone he still had on board or on patrol to focus on that first drone factory, even making his way over to the site to help himself. The Only way he'd get this done was one step at a time.
It was a bit odd helping with the construction, and while his commander was a bit disgruntled at him being used as a glorified crane, it was speeding up the process. As he carefully placed another steel beam in place for a group of drones to weld, he couldn't help worrying again.
His flagship/mother/sister was out there, alone. Sure, that was the standard for carriers like her, and she'd likely be fine, especially With how experienced she seems.But he wanted-no, he needed to support her. He would support her.
Hyron latched onto the certainty that the statement brought, easing the emotions he'd yet to come to understand. The soothing words from his control room helped. The small pat one of the engineers gave his thigh where he was kneeling helped even more.
It'd be okay. He'd be okay. Renegade said she was going to find Another island, and she would. Until then he'd just have to support her on his own, anxiety be damned.
