Chapter 4
UNNV Manifest
Pacific Ocean
February 28, 20XX
Water splashed into Henry's face once again, washing away what drowsiness still remained from the night prior. Even though he was in one of the most armored ships around and was smack dab in the middle of one of the most secure bases on the planet, did little to keep old nightmares from plaguing the Captain. A faint ring of the sleepless night remained under his eyes, but there was little he could do about that as the officer pushed off of his sink and away from the mirror.
Taking the khaki service shirt from the back of his desk chair, the Captain went about finishing getting dressed. Even though the Manifest hadn't been in harbor for more than 24 hours, there was a lot of work for him and his crew to do. Henry wanted to finalize a site that Enterprise and the other kansen leaders would let them use as a barracks for everyone aboard. They were all in for the long haul with this deployment and would be spending a great deal of time at sea from the post. Having some form of respite at a safe harbor that was off the ship would do a world of good for morale.
First though looking at the sealed manila folder on his desk, Henry needed to go through the new standing orders that he had been sent out with. While they had been issued to him when Admiral Augusta offered him the position, it was to remain closed until the day after the Manifest had arrived. Taking a letter opener, the Captain cut the binding tape. Opening up the cover, he read through the document. A grimace came to his face as he reached the end of the first page before hurriedly flipping over to the next.
—-
Azur Lane Base
Pacific Ocean
February 28, 20XX
Cooper was waiting outside the command building of the base, taking in the opportunity before the meeting to enjoy a cigarette. Looking around, the sailor enjoyed the tropical beauty of the island that he found himself on. The Lieutenant Commander hadn't really spent much time outside the territorial waters of his homeland, due to most of his service being restricted to the coastal fleets. Well before his time the Union was one of the premier ways to see the world. While it was now few and far between, Cooper counted his blessings as he took another drag on his smoke.
Standing there, the executive officer had heard some of the little snippets of scuttlebutt from some of the kansen that had been passing by. While their arrival hadn't been an upset by any means, the Manifest was a great point of confusion, worry, and curiosity. Travis could understand each part of it to some degree because the crew was relatively green even though a good number of them were part of various coastal fleets. Even in such an assignment, the likelihood that any had encountered an elite Siren was slim to none. Out of them all there was only one that he knew.
Looking down the pathway that led to the port the Lt. Commander could see Jones approaching. Taking one last pull from his cigarette, he tossed what remained to the ground and stomped it out. The warm smile on his face to greet his friend shifted to one of concern as he saw the furrowed features on Henry's face.
"So what's put you into such a fine mood this morning?"
Gesturing to the manila folder under his arm, the Captain answered shortly, "You and everyone in there are gonna love this."
"Tch. That bad huh," Cooper said, turning around and joining the Captain heading to the Enterprise's office. By the time they got there, all the ships and officers that were there the day before were gathered. Some were partaking in the drinks and food that were once again provided by Belfast and Sheffield.
Finishing a sip of her tea, Queen Elisabeth returned the cup to its plate before addressing the two Americans. "Ah now that you both have arrived, please partake of some of the treats my maids have provided. Then we can get straight to the matters you wished to discuss."
Jones didn't respond to the diminutive battleship, gaining a puff of annoyance from her as he moved to the front of the table that everyone was seated around. Eyes moved between one another in confusion before settling upon the Eagle Union Captain as the atmosphere in the room began to turn cold. Opening up the folder, Jones read aloud the orders kept inside.
"From: The Office of the United Nations Maritime Council
To: Captain Henry Jones, UNNV Manifest and The Kansen Commanders of Azur Lane
Effective February 28th at 0800 Hours, command authority of Azur Lane; its bases and Kansen personnel are to be transferred from CV-6 Enterprise and her staff are to be transferred to Captain Jones and the officer cadre of the UNNV Manifest. A Kansen will be assigned to each of the officers as 'Secretaries' to assist with the transfer of command responsibilities."
The room was deathly silent as Henry finished the first order from the file; the rest wasn't for all the ears currently present. The silence itself was deafening, as the focus of everyone there was set solely on him. Eventually their gazes left Jones as the ships and officers looked to one another for any help in understanding the outlandish orders.
"What…," came a nearly silent question from Queen Elisabeth, her eyes staring down at the floor. The Captain waited patiently for the remainder of the question to be asked while Warspite gently patted the back of her sovereign. Jones hadn't expected any of what was about to transpire, but considering the sheer power of a battleship type Kansen, such a sudden change from zero to a hundred was in the realm of the possible.
Queen Elisabeth jumped up from the sofa she was seated at and jumped from her position squarely into the chest of the Knight Commander next to her. The short battleship then grabbed hold of Chamber's uniform collar to not only stabilize her position, but also to wring the poor man's neck.
"What does he mean Secretaries, I AM YOUR QUEEN!"
"This… Is... All news to… Me," was all that Chambers was able to get out between each violent shake."
Takeda quickly hopped into the situation in an attempt to de-escalate things, "While you hold the title of Queen, your direct sovereignty is supposed by the Royal Family and the Prime Minister. Both of which he would have to answer to first before falling to you."
Though the effort was in vain, as the battleship was spurred on by this assessment of her authority over the situation and one of her subordinates to continue. However it did not last long as the Captain stood up and with a booming voice issued a command to the battleship that was like a father scolding a child.
"Elizabeth stop right now and get off the Knight Commander this instant!"
The room once again turned silent as the focus returned to the Captain and then moved to the royal, waiting to see which would be the first to budge. If a glare could kill, Jones would have been buried about a month ago. With the encouragement of Warspite, who also held a biting scowl at the new commander of Azur Lane, the Royal Navy's lead ship released her grasp on the officer. Sitting back down with her arms crossed before her.
Tension had continued to mount in the room until it was shattered and the next micro battle in this conflict began. The 1st Division carrier sisters were clearly not fans of this new decree as their fox ears began to twitch. The white fur on Kaga's head flattened out as she made her displeasure known to the room.
"What makes you think that you have the right to toss us and our leaders aside like nothing," the hot-tempered kitsune challenged as she aggressively brought her arm up to point at Jones. "The last time we tried this, it ended in abject failure, with you all cowering inland.
Nagato's voice cut sharply into the carrier's tirade, "Kaga! Mind yourself!"
Her words however did little to stop the carrier, though the Captain stepped up to defend himself and his colleagues.
"Since you were not here yesterday Kaga, I won't hold it against you. As I said then, our ability to fight and now lead in the battle against the Sirens can't be judged until we have had a chance to engage the enemy in battle. For what gives me the right to take command here, the order is a mutual agreement from those that we all answer to," he said, placing the sheet on the coffee table seated between them all. Sliding it towards her, Jones went on in a tempered tone," You don't have to like me or the orders but they are our orders. Yours and mine."
Kaga was just about to jump into another round of verbal sparring with the Eagle Union Captain, but her sister placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping the kitsune. "My dear sister, do not take out your anger on the Captain. He is just…. A messenger in all this. I'm sure that Takeda could bring up any of our concerns up to the Council," Akagi said with a cheshire grin on her face as her tails swayed behind her.
Jones wasn't sure if her meaning behind the comment about him was a slight or not, but he let it slide for now. Soon the Japanese commander spoke to answer the lead carrier, "Considering my current role in these matters now, it is safe to assume that I would also represent the concerns of the kansen of the Sakura Empire in addition to the Self Defense Forces."
"That's my understanding of how this all shakes down as well Commander," Jones replied.
While neither of their words seemed to defuse the white haired kitsune, it did appear that Akagi's intervention had simmered down her sister's blood. Staring the Captain down, Kaga returned to her seat. At this rate Jones wagered that he'd have the ire of most of the powerful warships by the end of the week. A brief sigh broke from his mouth as the thought of such a possibility crossed his mind, momentarily breaking the silence that had begun to develop.
Enterprise was the next to speak up. Sensing the tension growing in the room from the last exchange, the carrier acted to take the ire that was focused on the Eagle Union officer and place the attention to something else. Bringing back the discussion to the meeting's original intention, "While this is a major change for us all, there was another pressing issue for why we had this meeting set already."
—-
While the unease in the room had persisted, Enterprise's help in diverting away from the main point of contention was appreciated. The group was able to readily come to a decision on where to place the new barracks stationed at the foot of the mountain that lead to the primary observation post of the base. Cooper had suggested requesting Seabees from Hawaii could handle the construction though Enterprise and Warspite countered with that of the Bulin corps that were stationed on the island. Being responsible for the more recent additions to the port as well as their location and skill made them the best choice, Jones decided for such a course.
"With that out of the way, "Bismarck said as she waved a somewhat dismissive hand before her, " Shall we return back to the prior topic set forth by 'our new orders'."
There was no way that the Captain could avoid it anymore, "Yes, it would be good to lay any questions about this all to rest. The floor is open for anyone."
Enterprise was the first to speak up for the gathered kansen, directly asking the question that was on the minds of all gathered. "Captain Jones, did the Maritime Council already decide which of us stationed here are to assist as secretaries to you and the other officers?"
"As of this morning I have not received any indication of orders that would make me believe that the folks at the UN are making this decision," the eagle union officer said with a shake of his head. "Taking that as an indicator, I believe that it is up to my discretion. As such I think it would be best to have the most senior lead ships of the factions take up the task."
Each of the kansen leaders had their own reactions as Jones' declaration was made. Enterprise herself gave a swift nod as she received the orders, hoping that she could provide good advice to the new/green leader of Azur Lane. The Iron Blood's leader betrayed her emotions very little, all that Bismarck did at the news was to take a hand and brush some of her blonde hair away that had fallen in front of her face. For as animated as Queen Elizabeth had been prior, now her features were almost deadpanned. Though Chambers would have sworn that under her breath she did make one utterance, "Off with his head…"
Nagato however gave a solemn nod to the Captain before speaking. "While I greatly appreciate and consider your decision well, I will not be able to accept it. Besides being the current flagship of the Sakura Empire, I also act as a spiritual guide for all of the kansen that serve Japan. I have been away far too long and as such must return to the Sanctuary."
"That is entirely understood, Nagato. I wish that we could have had your insight here as I am sure that with the integration for the Manifest and its crew with the dynamic of Azur Lane that there will be some growing pains. If you were to return to the Sanctuary, then would it be safe to assume that after you the most senior ships stationed here would be Akagi and Kaga?"
Two pairs of fox ears twitched at the mention of their respective owners. While Kaga quietly fumed at the idea of being moved from a battlefield role to some glorified clerk, her elder sister's mind raced as Akagi tried to figure out what angle that the man might have for calling out the two without missing a beat and not trying to assert his new authority by ordering the elder battleship to stay.
"You would be correct, Captain Jones."
"Then I would ask that before you leave to decide which of them would be best suited to work as an advisor to us as we transition into the new command."
The battleship gave a respectful bow to the officer before answering him, "I will do my best to meet your request before I depart."
Henry returned the motion towards Nagato before scanning his eyes across the Kansen gathered looking to see if there were any further questions. It seemed like the kansen gathered were currently content, though after a moment Bismarck spoke up.
"With this new role are we to only act as advisors to you all?"
"It wouldn't be," the captain went on to say. "You will all still maintain your regular duties around the base as well as participating in sorties in the field. Just in addition to that you'll provide first hand accounts of how the sirens operate, how we can best counter their strategies, and help us smooth any issues of the new transition of command here."
Giving a nod to all that Jones had laid out of the new secretary position's role, the Iron Blood battleship seemed to be satisfied for the time being. Though Kaga still had a bone to pick about it all. Quietly saying "Here's some advice: leave the fighting to us and go home."
While Jones was able to hear the carrier's retort, he decided just to ignore it and not get into a verbal sparring match with her. Looking around again leaving the floor open for any other questions, it seemed that there were no other pressing issues that any of them wanted to bring up.
"Fine. Then with that I think that we can bring this meeting to a close for now. There are some additional things about our ship's role here that the officer cadre need to discuss on our own. Once we are done, Enterprise, I'd like to meet with you to go over the current deployments for the Pacific fleet."
"Understood, Captain. I'll gather up the necessary documents and have them ready within the next hour and a half."
—-
"Well that considering what you had to bring forth, Herr Kommander of Azur Lane," Kohler said lingering on the newly appointed title before continuing. "I would say that the meeting went quite swimmingly."
Jones only spared the Iron Blood officer a brief cold glance, his mind thinking of their next topic of discussion A topic which would make the already strained alliance between human and kansen much worse. As he was about to bring up the next orders however, the Captain noticed that the Japanese junior officer Sasaki Ohta raised a hand to grab his attention. From what he had read, Ohta, while only being just under two years out of the academy had shown great acumen for coastal defenses and naval artillery calculations which helped him earn a spot on the crew. It seemed that a few of the habits from his academy days still lingered in the officer, raising a 'Tch' from the room's resident marine.
Nodding to the man, Ohta proceeded to ask his question, "Sir with the... uh, secretary ships, will each representing officers for the factions have one as an advisor or will it just be the ranking officer."
"It'll be the ranking," Jones stated plainly, not sure though if he had seen a slighted droop in the younger officer's shoulders. "Though on the matter of secretary ships, there is more that we need to discuss. besides what was already brought up in the meeting there were additional orders that I was to give but not to any of the kansen."
Reproducing the manila envelope from earlier, the Eagle Union Captain opened it up and drew a handful of papers from it . Sliding a copy of a new set of orders to each of the officers gathered. Jones waited for them to take a look at what was on them, before speaking again. "Briefly summing it up, the assignments of the kansen as secretary ships will stand as follows: the ones choosing from Iron blood and Eagle Union will be assigned to their respective faction officers. the representative selected for the Sakura Empire and Royal Navy will be exchanged."
While it didn't garner the same reactions as the prior meetings revelations the order did raise many questions from those concerned. "But Captain Jones, why only ours would be switched? I don't really see the point of that at all. "
"It's stated plain as day that your Nations Representatives on the Maritime Council as well as the members of the JSDF still do not fully trust the loyalties of the First Carrier Division. And I'm guessing that they banked on the likelihood of one of them being selected for the secretary role. As such they want one of the members of Azur Lane direct factions to oversee and report if there is anything still happening between them and the sirens.
"I don't know about this Henry. Wouldn't changing only our faction secretaries raise a few bloody alarm bells to everybody else." Chambers inquired
"He's got a point there," Maeve said, deciding to pitch in. "Not to overstep my authority into Naval matters as a grunt, but changing out the members of one's team for somebody that you haven't worked with before on the field just raises eyebrows. Heck I'd be asking what wanker placed a bet against 'em."
All Henry could do was nod his head. Each was a valid point but with how it stood his hands were tied. The Captain also understood why the Council wanted this to occur. Hell the thought that their guardians of the sea could turn against them was one of the main reasons why they were all there. Some were likely still not satisfied by whatever the Sakura Empire's report was as to why Akagi and Kaga decided to join ranks with the enemy.
"I get it, but that's our standing order. If... no when they ask about this, the best cover we have is that it's a part of a cultural exchange. To my understanding Chambers, Takeda, there hasn't been as much direct interaction between England and Japan in terms of seafaring since the close of the war. Thanks to the Eagle Union's position we've been able to interact with both Iron Blood and Sakura forces more extensively than the Royal Navy."
"That would be the case. With our only direct holding out there being Australia and the distance of the other territories that we're sworn to safeguard, our kansen are pretty stretched thin and operate much more defensively in the Pacific," mentioned Chambers.
Takeda affirmed the statement from his own nation's perspective. "Indeed this is how I am aware of the state of things between our navies. Granted I am not privy to any of the correspondences that are sent between Sakura Empire ships and other kansen that operated within Azur Lane before the initial fracturing. As such I would strongly voice against this Captain Jones."
"Understood. Thank you all for your candidness in the matter." Moving his gaze back over to the German officers that were in the room, Jones raised a question to them, "Is there any input that either of you would like to add?"
Kohler shook his head in response, "None at all. The final verdict on the matter is in your hands, Herr Kommander.
The Beck remained stone faced, giving no indication of what he thought on the matter. The Iron Blood executive officer was probably a very dangerous man to play poker against was the thought that Maeve had shared prior to Chambers, Cooper, and Jones; granted she did not let on that such a conclusion came from experience. "None whatsoever. Sir."
"Very well then. Everyone is dismissed, return to your normal duties for the rest of the day," Jones ordered them. "I need to get ready to go over the current fleet dispositions with Enterprise."
With that the officers started to shuffle out of Jones' in port quarters. The only one that remained was Travis as he leaned against the wall. Casually holding up a cigarette, checking with his friend if it was ok for him to smoke in there. The Captain waved this hand signaling that it wouldn't bother him.
"Thanks," the executive officer said before lighting up and taking a drag from the cigarette. The metal kink of his lighter echoed off the steel walls of the room.
"You were quiet for a lot of all this," Jones said, reaching out to his friend for his thoughts on the matter.
Cooper gave a lite chuckle at that. 'Well you did have a helluva whole lot more placed on ya today. Thought it would be best not to add to any of the fire. But yeah, they've given you a bit of an upward battle already."
"You're telling me," Henry said as he let go of a sigh and he dropped onto the sofa that was in the room. "Wasn't how they sold it to me in the brochure."
"And when was it ever?"
That drew a laugh out of both men. "You're right about that, Travis. We just have to deal with the cards we got and make the most out of it. I don't like having this cloak and dagger shit going on but I get their concern with the First Carrier Division."
Jones rubbed his hand against his forehead before continuing, "Kaga will likely not take well to everything, based on how she reacted before. And Akagi… well I'm not sure what she might be playing at yet. That fox played a very close hand during the meeting."
"You sure that Chambers is up to the task? However this thing shakes out, if either one of those two are selected as the Secretary ship from the Sakura, he'd have to deal with the other."
Waving his hand around in a halfhearted manner before offering to Cooper to take up one of the other seats, the Captain gave a guffaw. "Chambers may be a bit of a goof at times, but if there was one thing I learned by having him as a roommate during the academy days is that he can handle himself just fine. He's got a lotta fight in him."
"As long as his opponent isn't an eagle then he should be fine I guess," the Lieutenant Commander said. Both were barely able to keep from laughing about the prior day's events.
And with that the Captain of this story has become the Commander of Azur Lane, but much like the war against the Sirens, it is not going to be an easy task.
For those of you that have been around for the last couple of chapters, thank you. I've read through all the reviews for the story and I keep them in mind as I write. Initially I was hoping to post two chapters in time for Christmas but was unable to finish up the next one. However, in some good news its not going to be a couple of months till the next installment of Changing Tides. The next chapter will be ready for New Year's Eve so stay tuned.
To date this a little bit further, hope y'all have a Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas.