Commander's Rounds Volume 1

Entry 53- Off The Chart

Javelin burst into the commander's office like she had an appointment, waving a group of papers around wildly. "Bad news, commander, you made a big mistake you're gonna have to fix real fast, or it's big trouble!"

The commander blinked. "Well, what's the problem?"

"It's the fleet organizational chart for the next mission!" She said tossing the bundle on the table. "Take a look! There's something really important missing."

The commander took his time looking through the charts, and Javelin sat herself down on a couch while she waited for the commander to make the connection. The commander looked through everything from top to bottom- there weren't any technical errors at any point, and he'd had the thing proofread by Shangri-La and Gascogne, two people who'd be certain to catch any kind of mistakes. "I don't quite follow what you're getting at. Everything is in perfect order."

Javelin piped up. "But... Isn't there someone important missing?"

The commander looked over everything again- all of the squadron leaders and other persons were properly assigned to their posts in the command chain... But then he realized exactly what Javelin was talking about.

King George V wasn't on the fleet chart. He knew this was going to cause some domestic trouble, and probably sooner rather than later. "Well, it's too late to change what's written here, everything has already gone out to the others... And it's not like I'd mean to leave her out."

Javelin quickly popped back over to the desk and put her hands on it. "Are you sure you didn't mean to leave her out? Or maybe it was a thing in the back of your head that made you want to spare your lady love from the flames of battle?"

"It's not something I'd do consciously, that's for sure."

Javelin was entirely wound up. "So... What will you do?!"

The commander sat back. "It's too late to keep her from seeing the chart. She takes her duties very seriously. Once the bomb has dropped the only thing you can do is damage control. I will do what I can best to explain myself."

"But... Aren't you worried?"

"Of course." the commander closed his eyes. "There's not a worse than hurting someone's feelings without meaning to, when you're this close to them."

King George arrived, and there was the immediate feeling of the air being sucked out of the room. "Commander."

He took a deep breath. "Yes?"

She gave a nod to Javelin and then turned to him. "Perhaps you might explain a certain omission in the fleet chart that I received this morning?"

He went right to it. "It was a complete accident. I would never do something like that on purpose, especially not to hurt you."

"That is all?"

He gave her a nod. "That is the truth."

There was a pause. "...I see. Perhaps you might see me again when I have decided if such an explanation is sufficient." With a flourish of her cape, she marched out of the commander's office.

Javelin could feel a figurative chill fall over the room, and she looked over at him. "Commander...!"

He looked over at her. "...I know. But chasing after her won't do me any good. By accident or otherwise, I've hurt her pride, and that's a raw wound for someone like her to bear. She has probably gone to talk with her sisters or even Azuma." He sighed. "I know I probably should have said more, but all I could think of to say was the simple truth- being put in the hot seat by her is intimidating, so I need to think of what I'll say when I run into her again."