Chapter Text
1300 Local Time - 11 May, 2037 - Midway Base - Azur Lane
Lieutenant Otto Anderson, formerly of the Eagle Union, presently head of logistics for Azur Lane, stood at the pier-side. A woman approached, “Can you see them yet?” she asked.
He shook his head, “Negative, Doctor Anzeel. You still haven’t been told who they are yet?”
This time, she shook her head, “No. And that worries me.”
Otto reached over and squeezed her hand, a small gesture to let her know that he understood. He quickly released it, though, as a gaggle of ship-girls approached, “Lieutenant!” Hornet greeted, “You’re early.”
Otto smirked as he turned to face them all, “I’m punctual. Everyone other than the Good Doctor is late, though the officer of the hour is the latest,” he remarked, turning to Helena, “Anything?”
Helena shook her head, “Not even from the Early Warning System. The new Commander was coming today, right?”
Otto frowned, “So Command said,” he replied. “And they said he was on schedule.”
Doctor Anzeel rubbed her brow, “Did this one not even manage to take command before kicking it?” she muttered.
Otto groaned, “That’d be… what? Eleven commanders in as many months? Less?”
Yorktown frowned, “You’d think at this point they would just bite the bullet and promote you to the position. You’ve basically been commanding us since this all started.”
Otto raised an eyebrow, “You know exactly why that can’t happen,” he said.
Unfortunately, all of the women around him did know. His grandmother being from the Ironblood didn’t matter to the Ironblood, or the Royal Navy, not even Iris or Vichy cared. For whatever reason, however, the Eagle Union did care. Or at least the Eagle Union High Command. They vetoed every proposal to that effect, and it was starting to piss off the other nations. It didn’t matter that the rest of his family was from the Union or that they had served with distinction in various branches of the military; it was a single grandparent that raised their hackles. Quiet clicking behind them drew their attention as Hood approached. “I fear I have an answer to the prevailing question,” she said, drawing everyone’s curiosity. “Six days ago, a convoy was destroyed by the Sirens. Certain sources have confirmed that our new Commander was part of that convoy.”
Doctor Anzeel rubbed her face, but Otto furrowed his brow, “But I was contacted two days ago with the update that he was on schedule!” he remarked before shutting his eyes, “Of course, Union Command didn’t want to admit their fuck-up.”
Hood grimaced, but nodded. Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, snarled, “Bugger it! Bugger them! The other leaders will agree with me and so will their nations, barring yours, New Jersey.” She snapped before turning to Otto, “As of this moment, you are the Commander of Azur Lane. Do us all a favour and live for more than a month.”
Seeing the other leaders nod along, Otto frowned, “You know the Union will pitch a fit,” he replied.
Enterprise spoke up, “Commander, I think I speak for all of us when I say that I am tired of their whining.” she said, others nodding along or voicing their agreement, “The last three attempts at giving us a Commander were from them and they ended up having a mental break, getting transferred after getting too handsy and now dead before even stepping foot on this base.”
Otto grimaced, remembering all of that and others. In truth, it was probably a minor miracle that no one, especially Elizabeth, hadn’t thrown in the towel sooner. “I shall endeavour to ensure that the trust placed in me is not misplaced,” he said.
Everyone smiled, and Elizabeth spoke, “We’ll do a more formal ceremony later. We’ll be in touch,” she said before turning and leading most of the Royal Navy contingent away, that being the cue for the other factions to leave as well.
Only Hood, Yorktown, Enterprise, Belfast and Doctor Anzeel remained with him. And, perhaps unsurprisingly to the group, Otto rubbed his face, “How the Hell do I keep getting into these situations?” he muttered.
Doctor Anzeel smirked, but Yorktown answered: “Perhaps when the Sirens first invaded, your antics in the Coast Guard made you exceptionally skilled at killing Sirens,” she replied with not a small amount of cheek.
Otto blushed at the reminder. Especially when he remembered what had happened after his little stunt of ramming a Siren Battleship with a Coast Guard Cutter, he was reasonably sure that his jaw would never recover. The sight of him subconsciously rubbing his jaw caused Doctor Anzeel to smack his arm, “Lay off, I didn’t hit you that hard.”
Otto jumped away while yelping, “Ami, I took more damage from you after the battle than I did ramming a fucking Battleship! Even the Medics agreed!” The look that she flashed at him quickly made up his mind, “See you later, ladies. I’ll be… around,” he said before booking it, Doctor Anzeel hot on his heels.
Enterprise looked at the others, fond looks of exasperation on everyone’s face. “You think they’ll stop dancing around each other anytime soon?” she asked.
Yorktown giggled, especially as she heard muffled yells of the pair in the distance, “Hon, the pot is so black the abyss is telling you to lighten up.”
Both Enterprise and Belfast squawked, “Hey! We’re dating at least!” Enterprise retorted.
Hood smiled at the pair, “Yes, five years after we started telling you that you needed to sort out whatever was between you two,” she replied, watching as Belfast started dragging off Enterprise to eat. “Enjoy lunch!” she called out.
Yorktown smiled as she watched the pair disappear, “She did ask a valid question, though,” she mused as she joined Hood. “When do you think they’ll finally stop dancing around each other?”
Hood sighed, “Mother says they’ve known each other since they were teenagers in school. I’m not sure they’ll ever admit their feelings for each other at this point.”
Yorktown hummed, “Not by themselves then,” she mused. “Perhaps you should enlist Illustrious into our scheme.”
Hood hummed and nodded, “If I can pull her away from Littorio, that is.”
Yorktown giggled, “Don’t risk life or limb in that regard, my friend. It’s not worth it.”
Hood huffed, “Yes, well, I’m sure the Commander would like his Flagship in one piece.”
Yorktown continued giggling as the pair walked through the base, keeping half an eye out in case they ran into Otto again, but they never saw them.
The reason that they didn’t see their new Commander and his not-girlfriend-girlfriend was that they were roped up by Pennsylvania, and Otto had to undergo a tour of his new office complex and new quarters, truthfully, a house in all but name for tax reasons, he was sure. He had already had all of his uniform jackets confiscated and had been given new ones with the proper ranking. He could already practically hear the hackles raised by Union High Command at this arrangement, despite it mainly being their fault that they had to take such drastic action. “Problem, Commander?” Pennsylvania asked.
Otto sighed, “Oh, just the usual issues Union Command will raise, I’m sure, once they hear of all this,” he replied, “Nothing to worry about. I’m sure I’ll be relegated back to logistics once they find out.” If they let me stay on… he thought.
Pennsylvania hummed, “Well, you’ll be glad to know that Union can’t do anything about this.” she replied, drawing a curious look from him, “Article 7 of the Azur Lane Charter states that “Any Officer appointed to the position of Commander of the Azur Lane may only be removed on a unanimous vote of the Azur Lane Security Council and Kansen Leader Council”.” she said before looking pointedly at him, “And since the Royal Navy, Northern Parliament, Ironblood and Sakura Empire all approve of you and have veto powers, you’re safe on that front, to say nothing of the Kansen Leader Council.” she remarked.
Otto raised an eyebrow, “And the fact that I was appointed by a Kansen?” he asked.
Pennsylvania smirked, “Article 6, subsection 4 of the Charter: “Kansen of the Leader Council may nominate Officers to the position of Commander.” subsection 5 states “If Azur Lane goes for more than six months without a stable Commander, then a unanimous decision of the Kansen Leader Council overrides any decision of the Azur Lane Security Council.”” she replied, “Sorry Commander, you’re stuck here.”
Otto rolled his eyes, “Once you demobilise, you should consider entering law. I think you’d do well,” he said as he circled his desk and took his first seat as the Commander of the Azur Lane. “Feels strange being on this side of the desk,” he murmured.
Pennsylvania smirked, “You’ll get used to it. And you better stay there, or I’ll get Akashi to resurrect your ass so everyone has a chance to kick it for dying on us!”
Otto just blinked. “Somehow, I’m more scared of Doctor Anzeel’s threat than yours,” he deadpanned.
Pennsylvania raised her eyebrow, but decided discretion was the better part of valour and didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she turned her attention to the mountains of paperwork that had piled up. “God… I need a secretary to filter out the minor stuff.” Otto muttered.
Pennsylvania hummed, “I’ll get you a list by the end of tomorrow,” she replied.
Otto hummed as they set to work. Acquisitions to request, Akashi’s experiments to restrict, Commission Reports to sort through. All sorts of things passed through his hands as he started to make a dent in the mountain. Then a report sat before him.
Commission for the Defence of the Midway Atoll in the event of hostile attack: Conclusions.
The Commission determined a few deficiencies in the current defences of the Midway Base in the event of attacks from certain hostile forces.
Wargames regarding a force comprised of Siren Forces: Inconclusive
Wargames regarding a force comprised of Sakura Empire Forces: Weakness detected once Sakura Forces made landfall
Wargames regarding a force comprised of Eagle Union Forces: Weakness detected in Air Power
Recommendations:
1: Increase Anti-Aircraft Artillery presence of various calibres
2: Recommend a detachment of Marine Forces from Azur Lane Member Nations be stationed at Azur Lane Facilities
3: Overhaul Convoy System to eliminate the dependency on every convoy to reach Base at a 50% success rate
Otto frowned as he read the recommendations of the commission he had been a part of for a short time. They were all things he agreed with; in fact, he had wanted these very things, but now he could actually push for them. Then a sudden thought came to his mind. He quickly jotted down a few orders and handed the sheet to Pennsylvania, who merely nodded and left to execute the orders.
Just as he thought he was going to get a moment to himself, Doctor Anzeel came in, “There you are! It’s late! I would have thought you would have gone to your new home by now, Mister You-Need-Eight-Hours,” she said before seeing the stack of paperwork on the desk. “You seem to have made a dent in the paperwork at least.”
Otto laughed, while Doctor Anzeel raised her eyebrow, “Ami, this stack is the done pile,” he said, gesturing to the four-inch pile before gesturing to the five-foot stack, “This is the To-Do pile.”
The good Doctor blushed at her assumption. Otto, on the other hand, stood up, joints popping loudly as he did so. “What brings you by anyway? Or just seeing how I’m settling in?”
Doctor Anzeel sighed, “Wanting to make sure you’re doing alright, but also to warn you,” she said, drawing his attention, “Elizabeth just let me know that they’re going all out with the ceremony to name you Commander. Speeches, a Banquet and… a Ball.”
Otto made a sound like a kicked puppy; he really did not like dancing. Or at least, he never liked dancing with most people. It didn’t help that he was often nervous, which caused him to trip or step on toes. “I’ll speak with the Faction Leaders.” Doctor Anzeel said, “You’ll have to dance with them, but since there are only five at the moment, once you finish those, you’ll be able to rest.”
Otto flashed her a weak smile, “T-thanks, Ami,” he murmured before rubbing his eyes. “Did Her Majesty say when the event was?”
Doctor Anzeel grimaced, “Next week at the earliest. Bismarck is still a few days out, so we need to wait for her arrival,” she said before closing the distance, hoping to get him distracted from the shadow of a Royal Navy Ball, “You look good with the Commander’s stripes on you.”
Otto’s smile didn’t gain any strength, but he did lean into her hand when she touched his cheek. “It’s been a while since I last wore some,” he murmured.
Doctor Anzeel smiled slightly, “But I’m glad you joined us. We needed the help, and you’ve been the only one with their head on straight,” she replied before smirking, “Well, when you aren’t ramming Battleships with Cutters.”
Otto rolled his eyes, “Come on! That was one time! And it worked out!” he complained.
Doctor Anzeel just smiled before taking him by the hand and dragging him out of his office. However, as soon as they left the building, he pulled her close and scooped her up in a bridal carry. Not even her yelp or demands to be let down phased him. He just smirked and continued walking. None of the Kansen saw them; if they had, they would have been stunned seeing their new Commander being rather intimate with Doctor Anzeel. He didn’t let her down until he had crossed the threshold of his new quarters. “I know that you’re typically supposed to do that as newlyweds…” he began.
He didn’t get far, though, as Doctor Anzeel quickly pressed a kiss to his lips. When they parted for air, they lay their foreheads against each other, “I’ve missed this,” she whispered.
Otto hummed, “Well, since I am the Commander, you don’t have to leave,” he murmured.
She smiled and shut her eyes. Before, when everything had been so turbulent, and they couldn’t be sure the Commander would approve of interpersonal relationships, they had to maintain a degree of professionalism that they both knew was forced when they both would rather indulge their more base needs. Now though… “Promise me that you’ll stop me before I become a problem.”
Otto smiled, “I promise,” he whispered before scooping her up again and taking her to bed, the pair of them too tired to even change out of their clothes or get under covers.