Commander's Rounds

Entry 27: Marduk

There was one last mass-produced Siren battleship between the commander and their goal, but Georgia dealt with it in the way she normally did. She fired off a full volley that pierced the ship from bow to stern, and the resulting internal explosions split the armored beast open lengthwise from front to back. The commander looked up as he heard some of the smaller fragments of the enemy machine fall on the roof of his armored command boat. With that, the last of the enemies in front of them seemed to have been dealt with- all he had to do was wait for confirmation.

She called in. "Commander, that's the last of the enemies here."

"Confirmed." He started to call the other task forces. "Force 2, how are things over there?"

Incomparable responded. "Everything's clear over here- Just as I thought, they were no match for us!"

The commander nodded. "Force 3, how are things over there?"

Kaga responded. "The trash has been disposed of, and Akagi said she'd destroy ten times as many if commander asked her to."

The commander put all of them on a conference call. Georgia spoke up. "Still, though, it looks like something was wrong- like we spooked them or something."

The commander looked over his files. "Yeah. While the force we just destroyed certainly wasn't nothing, Helena's intelligence suggested larger numbers. And since the Sirens rely on their numbers, technology, and prepping the field over tactical acumen, I don't think they split the fleet. I'd like everyone to continue on to the objective islands- we should be there in a few hours."

The commander left the bridge to go to his room on the command boat, and it wasn't long after that he heard a knock on the door. "Enter."

Georgia stepped in, minus her rigging, and tossed him a bottle of soda- the regular kind, as her own drink of choice was some concoction that only ships could stomach. "Hey there, commander. You doing all right?"

"Yeah, I think so." He opened up the bottle. "Just need a moment to unclench. You know, the first time I came back from battle, it turned out I was so seized up by the stress, Nevada actually had to bridal carry me back to my room."

Georgia took a long drink from her own cola, downing at least half the bottle in one go. "Really? Wish I could've seen that."

The commander sat back in his chair. "I'm sure someone can send you a link to the video, and I'm equally sure there is a video."

Georgia smiled. "Sounds like you've always gotten along with battleships. Don't think we don't appreciate it."

The commander shrugged. "When I first arrived, Oklahoma went through some lengths to convince me that I was the commander I was told I was- I certainly didn't feel like one, at the start. And Repulse was like that over-energetic childhood friend that I might've had, but didn't. Most of you are pretty easy to get along with, really."

"Sounds like there's always space for girls with big guns in the commander's life."

Unlike Kii, the commander knew Georgia was actually talking about military hardware when she referred to those."It's actually strange, in a way- how our encounters with the Sirens seem to have thrown everything into full reverse." The commander finally started on his own soda. "We were so sure about what the future of naval warfare would look like, but it turned out to be useless against the Sirens. Sure, carriers are still a big deal, but the fact that the Sirens are able to sometimes able to just sneak in and attack at any range without warning, armored ships with heavy guns might be more crucial now than they've been in a very long time. And that means I'm relying on those like you, Friedrich, King George, and her sisters quite a bit."