With a nod to Hornet, she turned the doorknob, opened the door and went inside. The Commander followed after and behind him was Enterprise.
Inside, they saw a frail looking woman sitting upright on the bed. In front of her was a young girl with short white hair, looking like she was ready to fight.
"Calm down," said Hornet, her voice sounding markedly softer, in an effort to reassure her "he… he didn't come to fight."
Before anything else could be said, Enterprise noticed the lady on the bed and exclaimed "Yorktown!"
"Sister?" said the woman in question, noticeably surprised at seeing Enterprise.
"It is good to see you," said Yorktown as Enterprise hugged her tightly. "When you stayed back to protect the others…."
"I was," said Enterprise "but then he brought me back."
"The otherworlder," said Yorktown, turning to him "you have my thanks for bringing my sister back."
"So she's the one you spoke about?" he asked, turning to Hornet.
"Yes. This is Yorktown. She was originally an aircraft carrier but during one of our run ins with the sirens, she was severely injured. Seeing as you technically are my Commander now, I thought it best for you to meet her and decide what to do."
"Decide what exactly?"
At that question, Hornet relented and looked away. She seemed a little nervous and fidgety and looked like she did not want to answer the question.
"And you are?" he asked turning to the girl with short, white hair.
"I'm Juneau and I've been the one taking care of Yorktown while Hornet and everyone else were busy fighting," the girl replied, still keeping her eyes trained on him.
Given what little knowledge he had of this world, the Commander surmised that they were wondering if he was going to send Yorktown into any battles, which given by her current condition was suicidal.
The other option was to bench her, but that too seemed to be a bad idea. He needed to think of a way to make use of her while not actually getting her into any fights.
It was then that he noticed the bookcase to the left, each level filled with a variety of different books. Interested in the literature of this world, he forgot what he had to do and made his way to the newly discovered item.
When he was closer, he took out one of the books and read the title.
"10,000 leagues below the sea?" he read in surprise. "This book is something from my world, how'd it wind up here?"
"We're not exactly sure either," said Hornet. "From time to time, these books just wind up on our beach or in the forest."
"If I were to guess," interjected Yorktown "I'd say that the world you come from and ours are close to one another. Sometimes, the two worlds get close enough for things to pass through."
He was not the least bit knowledgeable in the physics involved in dimensional transferrence and so, decided to take Yorktown's explanation at face value.
He turned back to the books and noticed a number of them on mathematics, physics, chemistry as well as English prose.
"Yorktown," he said, turning to her "how many of these books have you read?"
"All of them," she replied "I do have a lot of free time on my hands, given my situation.
The four ladies in the room watched as the Commander tap his left foot against the ground, seemingly thinking of something.
"Have you thought about becoming a teacher?" he asked
"A teacher?" she asked back.
"Well I noticed a lot of little girls here on this base," he said, then turned to Enterprise and Hornet "I take it that everyone here also goes to a school right?"
"Yes, the girls would normally be preparing for school in another three months or so," said Hornet "but…."
"Then it's settled," said the Commander "I'd like you to become a teacher."
"I can ask Akashi and the others to build a school back at the base or we can use one of the empty rooms we've got. Then you'll be able to teach the kids here and Juneau can be your aide."
The two of them looked at each other, looking genuinely surprised at the statement.
"Would that be ok?" asked Yorktown "for me to be a teacher instead of a soldier?"
"Of course," he replied, making his way to the door "I'm not just looking at this war. I'm also concerned about what comes after."
This was after the Commander recovered from a heart attack caused by seeing Unicorn.
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Three weeks had passed since the fight against Hornet and her fleet. A number of members from the Eagle Union now joined the Commander, along with some girls from the Royal Navy.
Akashi had a record of everyone, which she gave to the Commander through the tablet. She also provided him with a communicator (at a very steep price), which allowed the Commander to keep in touch with the rest of the girls.
A sizable fleet gave him the opportunity to send some girls out on routine patrols, improve the conditions around the base and participate in small scale commissions that helped in overall development.
True to his word, he also got a small school up and running, with Yorktown as the teacher and Juneau as her aid. He then informed everyone in the fleet that the youngest members such as Spence, Thatcher, Aulick, Foote, Raleigh, Maury, Unicorn and others would be attending school and not participating in any sorties or missions.
Although this move did decrease the overall effectiveness of his fleet, considering how no one voiced their disapproval on the matter, he considered it a positive.
With regards to the supposedly dead girls that came back, Akashi explained to the Commander that this was the result of an object called 'Wisdom Cubes.' A rare material in this world, said to 'bring back those who were on the other side.'
The Commander surmised that this other side must be what everyone calls the afterlife. Although he accidentally used what wisdom cubes Hornet had to bring in reinforcements, the Commander quietly thought about trying to acquire more of them.
If he could, he could use them to bring back Hood.
With regards to the girls that returned, Illustrious and Wales spent most of their days in the library, reading or having tea together, Eugen enjoyed either lying on the beach or lying in the Commander's office, Enterprise made herself right at home overseeing the small scale missions and Belfast took up the role as the Commander's maid.
(A position that the Commander never even knew existed)
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The Commander groaned a little and covered his face with a blanket in an effort to hide away from the morning rays of sun penetrating his bedroom.
"Rise and shine master," said Belfast, grabbing the edges of his blanket "it is a new day and you must get ready."
With a quick yank of the blanket, the Commander had nothing to hide him from the morning rays of a new day.
Groaning and growling a little under his breath, he rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times before slightly jerking back at seeing Belfast.
"You're…. Belfast," he said, stating the obvious "what are you doing here?"
"I am doing what is required of me as your maid," she replied "and a maid must take care of her master."
"You don't need to do something as troubling as that," he said, rubbing his eyes "I'm former Navy, I can take care of myself thanks."
"As you wish," said Belfast, bowing and motioning towards the chair where his clothes were. He watched as she neared, the pulled out his sabre and held it near her chest.
"WAIT, WAIT what are you doing?" he shouted, scrambling off the bed, no longer sleepy.
"A maid without purpose is a wasteful life," said Belfast, a sad expression on her face "It was an honor to…."
"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay," he said, beads of sweat trickling down his back "you can be my maid Belfast. Just put the sharp object away please."
In response, Belfast smiled a little at him then chuckled and said "Master, I have learned something important today."
"Which is?" he asked, tilting his head a little.
"You are easy to manipulate," she replied with a cheeky smile and headed out "now come along master, I have your bath drawn and ready."
Of course he didn't exactly listen. He rubbed his forehead with his left hand, all the while thinking 'did a ship/woman/maid from another world pull a fast one on me?"
(AN: Belfast does NOT play around)
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Much of the Commander's day was spent in his office, behind the desk. He took it upon himself to create a cyclic table, wherein everyone in the fleet had a chance to participate in some small-scale missions, thereby keeping the fleet on the whole busy at any point in time.
While one team dealt with the smaller missions, another team worked on the maintenance of the base and the third team could relax in their dorms. By working in a cycle, each team had a chance to rest, train and work on keeping the base in tip top form.
Aside from this came the issue of food. Many boots on the ground meant many mouths to feed. Luckily for him, an answer presented itself when Hornet volunteered herself and three others to go out fishing every morning. Given that this world has an abundance of marine life, it was a good choice.
Much of his days were spent in the office, signing his approval on some forms or reading reports submitted by some of the girls. The only bit of respite came from when some of the little girls would hide or play around in his room.
This of course got him in trouble once when some Thatcher and Raleigh skipped their classes and stayed in the Commander's office playing, while he worked. The verbal beating Yorktown gave him afterwards was worse than any punishment he received while in the Navy.
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One fine day, while the Commander was strolling through the base, he came upon a curious sight. Two curious sights in fact.
Two little girls, one with short white hair and long gold hair, were busy playing with Enterprise. Surprised that there were two additions to the fleet that he did not know about, he made his way to the trio, ready to introduce himself.
"Ah, Commander," said Enterprise, noticing him "I'm glad you're here. I want to introduce Purin and Buri."
"Hi Commander," said Purin, waving to him with an energetic smile "I'm Purin and I can help make your fleet stronger."
"And I'm Purin's little sister Buri," said the girl with white hair "I can also help make the fleet stronger."
"Wow that's pretty impressive," he said, bending down and patting their heads "I didn't think we'd have such knowledgeable little girls joining our fleet. Glad to have you aboard."
"Um, Commander," said Enterprise, looking a little troubled by what he said "I don't think you understand how they can help."
"Hmm, what do you mean?"
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"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" he shouted after hearing the explanation.
The two of them were no longer outside of the base, they were inside the Commander's office. Enterprise took it upon herself to explain that when the girls get strong enough, a Purin or a Buri appear based on their requirements. Then one of the sisters accompanies the girl to an 'altar' when they're sacrificed, thus making the girl stronger in the process.
"That's insane," he said, falling into his chair "god damn, it's downright barbaric."
"That's how it works in this world Commander," said Enterprise, crossing her arms "it's a cold thing to do, but a necessary one."
"Necessary," he repeated, glaring at her with an intensity she had never seen before.
"Are you telling me it's okay to kill children just so that you can get stronger?"
"That's the purpose. That's the reason they both exist."
"And do you think they're okay with that?" he asked and Enterprise seemed confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Have you asked them? Has anyone asked them if they're okay being killed off for someone else's benefit."
"Commander, I understand that this can be a little jarring to you, given how things are different in your world. Perhaps in peaceful times, we wouldn't have need for Purin and Buri, but we're at war."
"Our enemy possesses technology greater than our own and numbers vastly superior to us. We need every advantage we can get if we're going to win."
With that said, Enterprise excused herself from the room, leaving the Commander to his thoughts.
That night, rather than sleeping soundly, he thought about what Enterprise said. It's true, that he did not know how this world works. There are many aspects to this world that remain unclear to him and this was one such case. No doubt during the first war, the fleet of the Azur Lane must have done the same thing, sacrificing countless of those little girls in order to become stronger.
Lying in bed, he thought maybe Enterprise was right. Maybe this was the only way to do things.
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It was a memory from long ago. Before he was the Commander, before he was whisked off to another world, before his discharge. It was when he was still a grunt, getting the life drained out of him by his Commander, the man he looked up to a great deal.
It was the end of a mission and the team was tired. They got back to the ship, bathed, had some well earned grub and went to sleep. Well almost all of them: as he was the only one still sitting in the cafeteria when he was supposed to be asleep.
At this time, his Commander entered the area, surprised to see him here. The man in question was equally surprised to see his Commander here as he was supposed to be on deck with the Master at Arms, going over the plans for the next day.
"I won't tell if you don't," said the older man, referring to the fact that he and his protege were not where they were supposed to be.
The Protege quietly nodded in agreement.
"So kid," said the older man, reaching behind what looked like a wall and pulling out a half full bottle of whiskey "what's got you looking like its the end of the world?"
"From what I heard, the operation was a success. Team got in, did the job, got out, no casualties."
"I saw the target's family," said the Protege and the older man's expression shifted. His slightly jovial exterior faded as he took a seat opposite the youth, then poured himself and the boy a glass.
"When we were heading out, one of the doors were open and I thought we may have woken someone up. I went in to check and I saw them: mother and two girls, all huddled together, looking at me like I'm the god damn grim reaper."
"Commander," he said, his hands shaking in fear "are we the bad guys here?"
The older man downed his shot like a professional would, looked at his protege and said "Damned if I know kid. I stopped asking that question a long time ago."
"But in the time I spent here, I've learned there's a fine line between the only thing and the right thing."
"How do you tell which one's which?"
"That's an easy one," said the old man, beating his chest with his right hand "you listen to your heart. You listen to it good and if your heart is telling you this is wrong, if you're sure there's another way then you take it kid. Because otherwise…. Otherwise you're going to find yourself sitting in a bathroom stall with a gun to your head and no one there to stop you."
The protege did not even want to ask where his Commander got such a dark analogy from. "Even if I did, I'm not someone high up. It's not like I can change things where I am."
"Then climb the ladder. Do your term, rise the ranks and become someone who can make those changes."
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Morning arose on a new day.
Enterprise woke up, brushed her teeth, changed into her regular clothes and headed out the door.
Today, she was going to become stronger.
With that in mind, she decided to skip breakfast and head out to the altar. As she walked to the location in question, she couldn't help but think about her conversation with the Commander yesterday and the things he said.
'Is he right?' she thought, walking past everyone else who were going about their daily activities 'Is what we're doing unfair?'
The more she thought about it, the more she kept questioning whether or not it was a good idea. Perhaps there was a way to become strong without this ritual. Maybe no one thought about it because it normal it had become.
But when she reached the steps to the altar and saw Purin standing at the end, Enterprise thought about her last few moments alive.
Surrounded by sirens, she was attacked on all sides. If she were stronger, then she could have overcome them. She could have defeated them all and got back to the others. If she were stronger, she could have done much more.
'The Commander can be as kind as he wants and that's alright. But kindness alone will not win wars. In the end, the only way to avert the disaster from the first war is strength. And I'll do whatever I can to gain that strength.'
She looked at Purin, who asked her "are you ready Enterprise?"
She nodded and with a joyful smile, Puring summoned her drills and created a column of light in-front of them. The two of them would step through it and then Enterprise would come out, stronger than she was before.
However, as the two were about to take a step forward, neither of them heard the sound of his feet banging against the ground.
Before either of them knew it, the Commander leapt over them and before either of them could react, he touched the column of light, vanishing in an instant.