Azur Lane The Siren War

A long way to go

Lieutenant Tanner settled into his dorm room right after Enterprise accepted him as her commander. The room was plain and equipped with a single person bed, a drawer and a wardrobe. His room was just opposite of Enterprise's room, she told him to find her if he had any questions on mind and if he needed any help settling in. He at least had a great view of the bay where he could see massive aircraft carriers, escorting destroyers and cruisers of the US Navy disembarking out of the bay to conduct naval exercises at sea. He slipped into a pair of striped pajamas and tucked himself into bed earlier than usual, he'd need the rest as he was getting up early tomorrow to hear from Vice Admiral Percival. 'I'll have long way to go,' Lieutenant Tanner thought before closing his eyes to knock out. 

"Shit I'm going to be late!" Lieutenant Tanner whispered loudly as his hands fumbled clumsily with the laces on his shoes. Again he looked like a mess with an unironed uniform and uncombed hair. "You're only 10 minutes early again, Lieutenant Tanner and you look like dogshit," Vice Admiral Percival said with an bemused look on his face. Again 11 other officers and 12 ship girls were waiting in the meeting room except for him, he hurried to stand beside Commander Marks who smiled haughtily at him. Vice Admiral Percival stood up and walked around the officers and stared each one dead in the eye. "You are all getting promoted, you can discard your US Navy ranks, they are nothing here on these grounds, you are now Eagle Union Officers!" He boomed and strode around once more before coming up to face Commander Marks. "Commander Marks, your rank is no longer commander, you are a captain, same with your other compatriots who are now aircraft carrier commanders," Vice Admiral Percival said, held out his hand to collect Commander Marks' badge and in return gave back a shining captain's badge. Lieutenant Tanner felt proud, he would be shooting up 3 ranks right up to captain. It made sense, most warship commanding officers were either commanders or captains, imagine a commanding officer who commanded an aircraft carrier and was still a lieutenant. After passing the last captain badge to 'Captain' Tanner, Vice Admiral Percival moved onto a lieutenant commander with brown hair, lean muscular build and most noticeable moustache that was similar in size to Stalin's despite his young age of 19. "You are no longer a lieutenant commander, you will now be called Commander Porter Pierce am I clear?" The gruff vice admiral stated before handing a commander's badge. "Sir yes sir!" 'Commander' Pierce chanted back causing small flecks of spit to sly into Vice Admiral Percival's face while saluting at the same time. In disgust Vice Admiral Pierce pulled out a hanker chief and gave Commander Pierce a bemused look, to which Commander Pierce reddened in embarrassment. "Dismissed!" Vice Admiral Pierce announced before leaving for the toilets.

Captain Tanner made his way through the corridors to the cafeteria, he spotted Enterprise walking with another blonde girl with green eyes and decided it would do him good to mingle with them and get to know them better. "Hey," he greeted to which the other two turned around, however only the girl with green eyes waved at him. "Hiya there, I'm Hornet CV-8, I hear that my sister allowed you to become her commander," the girl greeted back. It made sense now, Captain Tanner remembered that the three Yorktown Class Carriers were nicknamed the blonde aces, they all had golden blonde or platinum blonde hair. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Captain Tanner," the shy captain said and slowly held out a hand. "I heard you were a lieutenant only just a few minutes ago, you should come and eat breakfast with us," Hornet chuckled and shook his hand. 

The cafeteria was neatly designed, it was massive with a spiral stair case sitting in the middle and leading to a leisure room above. An anchor from USS America CV-66 which was sunk during the initial years of the Siren War sat beside the spiral stair case. There was a lot of choices on the menu, ranging from hash browns, omelets, pork sausages, bacon, Captain Tanner's favorite, Lasagna and many other food to name. "May I have two slices of lasagna, two pork sausages and a serving of scrambled eggs please?" Captain Tanner asked the server at the counter. The server nodded and gave what Captain Tanner asked for on a tray. He made his way over to Enterprise and Hornet sitting at a wooden table, who already had their food in front of them. Captain Tanner sat down to begin chowing down before he realized Enterprise only had a can of baked beans, canned pork in jelly and instant coffee sitting on her tray. "What's with that kind of diet? There's fresh breakfast waiting behind that counter over there," He asked Enterprise curiously. "I eat rations only, this is to keep my mind battle focused. I have eaten nothing but rations, if I eat such food, I'll become sloppy. I'd prefer to be battle ready in case the Sirens open another portal at out doorstep," Enterprise replied solemnly. "Oh sista, you need to calm down a bit, the enemy hasn't bothered us for the past two years," Hornet laughed with a mouthful of bacon and gave Enterprise a thump on her back. "There is a reason not to become calm, you should remember how our sister was hurt badly due to our mistakes, Hornet," Enterprise said with an annoyed face.

Enterprise finished her food and beverage the fastest due to having the least amount of food compared to Hornet and Captain Tanner, she then excused herself to go and use the washrooms. Captain Tanner and Hornet the looked at each other for a few seconds before Hornet opened her mouth. "My sister looks like she has a screw loose doesn't she?" Hornet asked. "No, not at all, it must be difficult for you all given your years of service, it must take a toll on your emotions and well being," Captain Tanner replied and sipped his glass of orange juice. "Enterprise held our dear sister, Yorktown in her very arms during our last battle in 2017 when we made our final push to get them back to their world. Yorktown suffered heavy injuries and damage to her ship gear. That is when Enterprise swore to destroy every single one of them even if it costs her life," Hornet said and shook her head sadly. Captain furrowed his brows and leaned in to listen and talk to Hornet more. "Does Enterprise have any hobbies, go anywhere to leisure or anything she enjoys doing in particular?" Captain Tanner asked with worry listening to Hornet about how deteriorated Enterprise's health sounds. "Other than walking around the whole of Oahu like a deranged woman, I don't think so. She keeps telling us 'We were made for one purpose and that purpose is to wage war and fight against a greater terror'," Hornet answered with a worried look on her face. "I just wish to see my dear sister do something she enjoys, she doesn't even enjoy killing Sirens and she's damn good at that. I know you just got into the job, but please help her return to her joyful state, how she was before Yorktown was injured badly," she said as a tear streamed down her cheek. Captain Tanner grasped her hands and leaned in. "I promise I'll help make your sister joyous again," he said with a calming smile.