Three tugboats were moored at the southern pier. The boats were spacious enough to comfortably carry around eight people and cargo.
I had built myself a jet with a vertical takeoff feature, so refurbishing some boats that had washed up on the island was an easy task.
The three cadet divisions each boarded their own boat, leaving the island temporarily empty save for the automated defenses.
It wasn't an issue at this stage whether personnel were on the island or not. And the cadets needed this experience.
All three captains were given their own orders, and they would be the ones leading their subordinates into the wastes.
I'd outfitted them with the best generic equipment, so I wasn't too worried about them, even though they had only trained for three months.
The training itself had been mostly focused on defensive and stealth tactics. The goal was to stay alive and complete the objective, not get the highest kill count.
That's why, while my materials were still limited, I splurged on gear suited to their talents.
Division One was planned to become my Spec Ops division, with a focus on espionage, infiltration, sabotage, and assassination. As such, for now, they were equipped with black vault suits, light shadowed combat armor, and Mountain Scout goggles, which were part of an outfit plan that included a black ski mask with night-vision goggles.
For their main weapon, they were currently equipped with The Fixer, a weapon I had a plan for from 76.
The Fixer was a modified Combat Rifle with a built-in silencer that was perfect for a stealth build.
They also carried 10mm submachine guns for close-range combat.
Division Two was an Infantry division. Its focus would be on close-quarters fighting on foot to capture, destroy, or repel enemy forces and hold ground.
The current standard armor was Marine Armor, which was a type of combat armor once used specifically by Marines.
Making them depleted my ballistic fiber stock, but it was worth it to see them decked out with the Cerberus insignia boldly printed on the front and shoulders.
The standard-issue weapons were an automatic laser rifle, a short pump shotgun, and a Ripper.
Division Three was our Research and Support division. Its focus would be to serve as a versatile tactical and support division responsible for conducting field research, collecting data and samples, and maintaining technical assets.
The standard kits consisted of Vault hazmat suits, tool pouches, light combat armor, and field kits.
The standard-issue weapons were a single 12.7mm pistol and an explosives box filled with mines of various types.
This division would also have robotic assets for additional protection and labor.
Two Assaultrons under Reina's command also boarded her boat.
I watched the boats sail away into the distance. We would reunite somewhere else, so it was time for my group to move out.
Elizabeth, Lady, and I boarded the Hydra. The Hydra hadn't changed much in the last three months, except for an autopilot feature I'd added to it. Now I could order it to fly itself to me or send it back to Acheron to park.
I had to install new hardware and software to achieve this, but it wasn't too difficult.
Once we were inside and seated within the Hydra, Elizabeth was already practically vibrating with excitement. This would be her first time flying, after all.
I decided to give her the full experience.
"Vertical thrusters engaged."
The thrusters kicked on, and the craft slowly rose into the air.
Elizabeth looked out the window as the island began to grow smaller.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed, to which I just smirked.
"Flight altitude reached. Activating main engine."
The jet engine kicked on, and the craft began to move forward and pick up speed. Elizabeth clutched her safety belt as she got used to the sudden force.
The vertical thrusters shut off, and we began climbing in altitude, eventually reaching the cloud cover.
Once we broke through the clouds, I leveled the craft out so we were just above them and maintaining cruising speed.
The morning sun reflected off the tops of the clouds, painting a heavenly scene.
Elizabeth's face was practically pressed against the glass in wonder. I activated autopilot and then began fiddling with my new Pip-Boy... or should I say, Cerber-Wear Mk. 1.
On my left wrist was a sleek black band holding a new device with a rounded black casing and a flat screen.
It was my first real attempt at combining modern technology from my previous life with that of this one.
Thanks to the upgrade to my memory, there were tons of scraps of information for me to pull from and use here. Things that had fallen through the cracks of my mind back then.
'How smartphones are made,' being one example.
But what was on my wrist wasn't exactly a smartphone. It was more of a compact personal computer with better features than the Pip-Boy.
The Pip-Boy was built with longevity and durability in mind.
Powered by a fission battery, they were expected to hold a charge for over 200 years. That's why they used the operating software they had, along with a built-in timeout function for inactivity to limit power consumption.
And that's where I differed. I didn't need 200 years of charge with reduced capabilities. I was perfectly willing to sacrifice battery life for better features.
My Cerber-Wear Mk. 1 was the first prototype I had made. It used a custom-made OS similar to the Android phone I used to have and featured a touchscreen, but it also had a small rotatable ball on the side that could be used like a mouse. Kind of like a BlackBerry, but mine was a bit larger.
It was capable of playing and recording videos, taking pictures, and connecting wirelessly to my own little network. This meant that once I made more of them, they would be able to make calls and send texts.
On top of that, I had improved the sonar capabilities of the Pip-Boy, which used echolocation to map the surrounding area. When used in conjunction with pre-war mapping data, it could provide an accurate map of the region you were in, including any subterranean structures.
The battery life of the fission battery was now around 40 years. But to a person from a different Earth who had to charge their phone every day... this was not a big deal at all.
I had put all my current skills to the test to make this, and it was miles above a Pip-Boy, in my humble opinion.
I thought about mass-producing them for my people, but I still believed improvements could be made. Hologram technology existed, as did neural interfacing. My end goal was a personal system that operated from inside the mind and could be linked to a hologram implant at the wrist.
Similar to the implant from Ark: Survival Evolved.
I continued to mess around with the Cerber-Wear while I let Elizabeth enjoy the view before deciding to spice things up by taking back control and performing some stunts.
We spent a few hours in the sky before heading back toward the Commonwealth and landing a few miles away from my personal vault.
Lady got off there and made her way to my warehouse on her own to retrieve the Vertibird and bring it to our rendezvous point.
This was where we would be waiting for the cadets to arrive.