5 days have passed
Arthur wakes up on a medical bed. He looks around the medical room. A Manjuu is mopping the floor and another is looking at the vital monitor. The latter one notices he is awake and waved to the other one. The one who is cleaning looks at Arthur and then quickly dashes out of the room. It probably is looking for a Kansens.
After about 15 minutes, Hermione comes into the room. Arthur notices that her face seems paler than he last met her and she has bags under her eyes. She has been moving around in the medical bay these past few days.
"Arthur, oh wait, should I call you Commander Arthur?" asked Hermione
"No, I am acting under the emergency measure to prevent our fleet from devastation. How is the battle? Seeing how quiet around here, I assumed the battle was over." said Arthur.
"As you said, the Tester self-destructed, causing massive damage to nearby Kansens. Thanks to your command, no one took fatal damage. We lost a lot of riggings and planes."
"I see," said Arthur. He then tries to stand up from the bed but the wounded pain from his back prevents him.
Hermione explained what happened after the explosion and Hood is taking the command role until now.
Since Hermione still has other wounds she needs to check. Arther thinks for a while. A commander does not only command troops on a battlefield. Managing supplies, writing reports, etc. are all part of the duties. Since he volunteered to take the emergency command role, he should not quickly step back after a battle.
However, he was a stranger just about two weeks ago. Handling those commanding tasks would mean exposing sensitive information to a stranger, which no military officer ever wants to do.
"Manjuu, can you call Hood to me? I have important things to discuss with her," asked Arthur. The Manjuu bows its head and quickly moves out of the room.
There is no turning back now.
Hood walks into Arthur's room. Arthur can see the fatigue on her face but she still walks with her elegance. Women with such resilient willpower like her should be rare in the world.
"I heard you have important business to discuss." Hood looks at Arthur with a serious expression.
"Let me get this straight, I want to support you as an assistant in the commanding duty."
Hood remains silent for a few seconds.
She anticipated that Arthur would request to resume the commander's role. Technically, the "emergency" is not over yet until they reach the nearest port so the temporary title, "emergency commander" is still valid. She worries about letting him view those sensitive military documents. She intended to suggest working with him as an assistant. Humans are sensitive about their superiority, which applies to the position of commander and assistant/secretary. In this combination, she can filter some "unnecessary" information while providing sufficient support to Arthur to finish the ongoing tasks more efficiently.
To think a human would suggest the reverse, how many times does he intend to surprise her?
"You are still the commander. It should be me to request your permission to assist you."
Arthur didn't know he was still in power. In that case, he needs all the help he can get. He has no reason to refuse.
"I see, I certainly require assistance since there are many things that I do not know. I may not be an experienced commander but I swear to do everything I can."
The two of them smiled at each other.
"For starters, I need to make a strategy meeting to establish our schedule, objectives, and countermeasures. Can you call important personnel?"
A meeting room at the commanding ship
Hood, Prince of Wales, Ark Royal, Renown, and Suffolk are seated on the chairs. Arthur briefly introduces himself.
"First of all, my thanks to all of you for your efforts and compliance. We could not make this far without you." Arthur bows his head, surprising everyone except Hood.
"We only did what is necessary, please raise your head." said the Prince of Wales.
"My, I didn't know gentleman still exists in humans." Ark Royal has her eyes wide open for a second.
"I see why lady Hood agreed to let you take command, your attitude alone is worthy enough to be our ally." Renown seems impressed… in many different ways.
"Renown, teasing your sister is not how a lady behaves." Hood corrects Renown.
"I…I am not dreaming am I?"
Arthur takes a deep breath.
"I will explain what I planned for the next few days. First, for this convoy, I have assigned temporary positions to you."
Hood will act as Arthur's secretary while being the overseer of this fleet.
Prince of Wales will be the captain of the main fleet
Ark Royal will be the scout
Renown will be the head of the defense.
Suffolk will be the leader of the vanguards.
"These are the assigned positions, for the detailed and lower-tier positions I will leave to your decisions. Any questions so far."
Some of them think some write notes, and some seem mildly panicking. Commander Joseph did something similar in the past except he randomly assigned positions based on his current moods.
Arthur really sweated the details.
"Alright, feel free to ask questions later. Next, our schedule and routes. Frankly, there is not much to say. Our destination is the Port of Felixstowe. Fortunately, our shortest route there does not have many obstacles. What we do need to be cautious with is another ambush or assault on our fleet. I am sure none of us want to engage enemies now with almost everything exhausted."
The members nod their heads and agree with his explanation
"Hood, make an encrypted call to Queen Elizabeth. We need reinforcement and supplies."
"Understood, commander."
The meeting took about an hour. Arthur takes a stretch at the commander's chair. Although those orders are only valid for 7 days, it does not mean he should take things casually. If Siren makes another assault, they are likely to get annihilated.
Let's hope Queen Elizabeth sends reinforcement ASAP.