Shorter Chapter
New York City, home to many world headquarters of both domestic and foreign agencies, companies and organizations. It is also one of the most defended cities in the world. Its large population, dockyards and economic value, all make it one of the world's most important cities. Thousands of troops, hundreds of shore guns, and even a fleet of Ship Girls dedicated to protecting the city.
Shepherd stood at the docks, looking out at the horizon. He wears an updated version of his Great War uniform, his medals, his old rank. Technically he didn't have to wear it, it was more of a public display than anything else, Azur Lane was a part of the United Nations, and wasn't solely a military organization, though the militaries of the world had a lot of say in the Organization, which ships should be apart of it, and who should lead it. The Council was created to organize these discussions, though most of the time they talk about anything in the actual meetings, usually forming factions with certain subjects.. Now Shepherd must meet with them before he is officially able to take Command of Azur Lane, to his knowledge, Azur Lane is currently simply following their previous orders, guarding what they have and patrols, for the past two months that's all they've been doing, and most likely mourning over the death of the Commander, they were liked by the girls, many becoming close to the late Commander.
Shepherd looks out to the water, off to the horizon, he remembers when he was barely an adult, being shipped off to France, to fight on the Western Front, the trenches, artillery, and gas. He remembers much of it, the smells, the blood, the fighting, memories that would only leave him when he is dead.
"Commander Shepherd?" A voice from behind asks. Shepherd turns around and sees a group of young military men.
"Yes?" Shepherd answers.
"We're here to take you to the Council" One of them says. Shepherd simply follows them, getting in the backseat of a car, driving past hundreds of people simply living their daily life. Most people on the sidewalk would probably remember the last time New York was attacked by the sirens, only a few years ago, foundations of skyscrapers now used as memorials for those who fell during the battle, mostly civilians.
Shepherd tried to find any and all pieces of information that he could get his hands on to try and find out how this was let to happen. The Council got lazy, allowing for less defense, less training, less readiness. Shepherd didn't trust them, he never did. They got lucky that the previous Commander was nearby to take command and defend New York.
The car stops in front of Azur Lane Headquarters, across from the United Nation building. Exiting the vehicle, a Council security guard walks up to Shepherd
"The Council is about to start" He says, leading me inside, after a short walk and a few security checkpoints. Shepherd enters The Council Room, in front of him a crescent shaped room, like an ancient greek theater, 18 council seats, 2 for each nation. 1 seat faces all the rest, Shepherd takes a seat in that one, he looks at all of the Council members above him at an incline. Someone's assistant places a few folders on the desk in front of him. It's a profile of him, of Azur Lane, its bases, logistics, and fleets.
"Let's begin shall we '' What follows is what feels like hours of just random talk. The ambassadors of all these different nations, mostly politicians. Shepherd ignores them, this meeting is a formality, he technically has command right now but he must wait until the meeting is over. Searching the desk in front of him, finds some lined paper and some pens. The previous Commander had a system, it worked for them but systems like these are not universal, going through the Azur Lane Command Section in the folder, writing down some notes about the command structure, Shepherd gets a better understanding on how Azur Lane is internally structured at the moment. The Commander gave a lot of independence to each faction, each faction was able to pretty much go for their own interests and projects. It works when dealing with regional issues for each nation but it can also limit cooperation between the factions, as cooperation might not be too high on the list of 'important things to do'. The Commander did have a powerful central fleet, usually simply called the "First Fleet'' but this was usually split up into multiple smaller groups to help the factions and their regional commands.
Shepherd wonders what he should change and keep, he taps his pen on the paper. Passing through some of the files Shepherd sees something that catches his attention, Promotion Ceremonies and Future Operations. Looking over the Promotion Ceremonies sections, the previous Commander was going to create more fleets directly under Azur Lanes command, the organization's influence would be spread out more and have more control in regional command. Which also meant giving promotions to some of the ship girls more loyal to Azur Lane than to their own nations. For Future Operations, the Commander wanted to concentrate their forces and strike at multiple fronts before the Sirens would be able to attack. Would it have been successful would have been another situation looking through at of the plans for this operation. It was clearly in early development and not ready at all but it was a start at something.
The Council meeting ended without much fuss. Shepherd had asked for a ride back to the shipyards, he wanted to be by the sea, to look out further into the horizon. There was a strange calmness in everything, the waves crashing against the shipyards. The peacefulness almost caused Shepherd not to notice large black aircraft flying high in the air. Almost.
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