MACKENZIE GETS A PROMOTION
Daniel Mackenzie sat in his quarters on the Andromeda, his own ship, staring at the picture that seemed to have been taken so long ago.
Neither he nor Piastol had figured out how, but the camera had managed to take the perfect picture of him and his old flame, a profile of the two of them kissing, that fateful day all those years ago.
He sighed to himself. Ever since that day something had changed about him. He had become cold and ruthless. He had no friends, no loved ones, not even his mother, who had become snobby and had re-married and had a daughter.
He however had used his new personality to his advantage. He had risen through the ranks of the Armada with alarming speed. Getting command of his own ship, logging over one hundred battles, each one a victory, and with a promise of a fleet of his own if he continued to fight for Empress and country.
In fact…
"Hail Valua Admiral Mackenzie!"
Daniel sighed as a Lieutenant burst through his door, not even bothering to knock.
"I'm not an Admiral, Davidson, I'm still only a captain."
"But…but sir! We just received new orders, and this message!"
He raised the piece of paper slightly and cleared his throat.
"To the Captain of the H.M.S. Andromeda, stop. By the power of Empress Teodora the first, Let me be the first to congratulate you on your promotion to Admiral, stop. For all your hard work during this war, the Empress has granted you the power of the Fourth Fleet and the responsibilities that come with it, stop. With this message comes your orders, stop. The Empire feels it must have a stronger hold in Mid Ocean, stop. Therefore you are ordered to take the Fourth Fleet and engage in a temporary takeover of Sailor's Island, stop. You are ordered to not to use force unless completely necessary, stop. Good hunting, stop.
Lord Admiral Draco Galcian, Armada Command…stop.
While Davidson had been reading out the message, Daniel had gotten up and looked out of the window. Sure enough, half a dozen gunboats, three mage ships, four cruisers and two destroyers lay outside.
Daniel smirked. With this combined with his Serpent class ship (Named after the first of her class, captained by Lord Admiral Galcian.) there would be very few fleets that could stand up to him.
"May I be the second to congratulate you on your promotion Admiral," The Lieutenant said brightly, "It's great honour to be named commander of Admiral Galcian's fleet, and right after his promotion too."
Daniel smiled grimly at the fleet, before cocking his head over his shoulder as someone knocked on his door.
"Enter,"
The door opened up, revealing a young female, dressed in a captain's uniform, holding a captain's uniform, a slight blush on her cheeks, a brown parcel in her hands.
"Admiral Mackenzie?"
"That would be me,"
"Captain Jennifer Desoto sir, of the Orion, the second Flagship of the Fourth Fleet. I'm your Vice-Captain. Hail Valua!"
Daniel turned round to see her properly. She wasn't the largest of people, perhaps a head shorter then he was, with dark brown hair and dark stormy blue eyes, pale feminine features, very few people in the armada like her, very few women in the armada for that matter.
Daniel did his best to smile, holding his hand out to her, "Valua rule the Skies. A pleasure to meet you Captain."
The young captain looked down at the hand, before roughly tucking the package under her arm and taking it, "Can I just say it's an honour to be serving under you sir."
Daniel raised an eyebrow as he withdrew his hand, "I'll take your word on it," he indicated to the package, "That for me?"
The Captain blinked, before realising what it was he was talking about.
"Oh yes right," she hurriedly placed the parcel on the table and pulled at the string, causing it to fan out revealing the contents.
Daniel smiled, "Admiral tassels and a note,"
Picking up the note, he read to himself:
To Admiral Daniel Mackenzie,
With the rank of Admiral, comes great responsibility. You owe it to your crew, your ships and your Vice-Captain. Captain Desoto is new to the Captaining business, however, she is strong willed and I'm sure she will serve you well.
These tassels are to be worn when on duty. As with all Admirals, you may wish to change your uniform is that is what you wish, however once you have decided on a uniform keep with that set of clothes.
Good luck to you and your fleet
Hail Valua!
Admiral Gregorio Vadeck.
Daniel smiled slightly at the note, before setting it down and holding up the long tassels.
"Very nice," he murmured to himself, before setting them down again and turning to Jenny.
"Captain Desoto, I thank you for your time, you may return to your ship, or head for the Bridge, whichever you choose, Lieutenant Davidson, report to the bridge and tell the crew to stand by for orders," he placed his right hand over his chest, "Hail Valua!"
"Valua rule the skies!" the two chanted back, mimicking his moves, before bowing and exiting the room.
As soon as the door shut, Davidson let out a whistle, "By the Moons Ma'am, he must really like you!"
Desoto gave him a confused look, "What are you saying Lieutenant?"
Davidson's eyes widened, "With all due respect ma'am, in the two years that Mackenzie has captained the Andromeda, you are the first person to make him smile!"
Desoto blinked, "I am?"
"As clear as you see me now Ma'am, that's gotta be a record."
Jenny scowled, "You're out of line Davidson."
Davidson suddenly became shocked, "Oh…sorry Ma'am, I meant no disrespect."
Jenny smirked slightly, before pushing Davidson in the direction of the bridge. This was the beginning of an interesting relationship.
Jenny couldn't help but stare when she saw the Admiral in his new uniform.
His uniform was new, it could be plainly seen.
He wore a long sleeved, tight fitting, black turtle-necked shirt, which poked out of a dark blue tunic.
The tunic was again, tight fitting, and had decoration around the arm cuffs with four gold stripes. On either shoulder were two small golden metal pads, from which his Admiral tassels hung straight down his back.
The tunic was fastened by six gold buttons, and roughly went down to the belt.
Poking out of the bottom of his tunic was a pair of tight black Admiral's trousers, which finished in a pair of black leather boots that went halfway up his calves.
"Admiral on deck!" she managed to squeak.
Daniel had turned into his usual self, commanding, domineering and fearful.
"Comm, get me the rest of the fleet."
"Aye sir, Channel open,"
"To all ships of the Fourth fleet, this is Admiral Mackenzie. I know many of you will know my reputation as a man who is feared by all, but carry out my orders to the fullest extent of your capabilities and you will not feel the wrong end of my sword."
He sat down in his command chair as he continued, "Our orders are simple. We are to take control of Sailor's Island to use as a base of operations for Valua's ships. Estimations say no casualties, however should anyone resist we have orders to defend ourselves, that is all. HAIL VALUA!"
"VALUA RULE THE SKIES!" the crew roared.