They are led into the bridge by Antoine, it is magnificent. It fits me perfectly, thinks Louis. They all gather around the chart and the map. Antoine knows procedure within the Imperial Navy that the first mate must be requested to brief by the Captain of the ship. As usual, Louis puts his hand in his jacket pocket before turning to his friend and saying calm:

“Antoine… Could you please give us all a proper and clear briefing of the mission before I dive into this personally and offer my own opinions?”

Tipping his cap, Antoine with enthusiasm says “Certainly Commodore. Things have somewhat changed since you were assigned command so feel free to interject.” Louis nods and Antoine continues
“First and most urgently, we are protecting Sherah in her journey to the land of the Saplings.”

Putting his hand on his chin, Louis remarks calmly “Well this is certainly a surprise to me, but it makes more sense of matters to me.” looks at Sherah “You will find no more safe place on the sea than on my ship.”

Sherah smiles and says “Thank you, Commodore.”

He nods back and waves for Antoine to continue.

Antoine, who was thinking about something else, quickly responded when alerted “M-my apologies, continuing. We are to stop at Leontyne to pick up some of the Dirajarisuners that the Admiralty has requested we take aboard to train one an extended voyage.”

With a look of frustration, Louis says with annoyance “Bloody hell, they couldn’t have assigned that to someone else? This isn’t a training cruise but a rather important mission after all!” Sighs “Well, orders are orders. We will break those greenhorns into sea dogs by the end of this all.”

“Don’t get me started, friend!” remarks Antoine with some annoyance as well. The other captains were also quite annoyed, poor Sherah didn’t understand what the fuss was all about but Antoine quickly continued

“Right after we pick them up we are to sail up to Infintium to meet the Black Fleet at Kronistadt.. We will hand over Sherah to the Deadbeats there, resupply and refit briefly before heading with them towards the western coast of Ailivia. Once near the Land of the Saplings, the Deadbeats will separate from our squadron.”

“What Black Fleet Admiral will be commanding, Antoine?” asks Louis inquisitive

“I unfortunately do not know.”

“Hopefully it isn’t one of the walking zombies I met during my time down there.” Antoine and Sherah laughs. Louis turns to Sherah “Either way, when we hand you over, I can assure you that the Black Fleet will do everything in their power to make sure your mission is successful.”

“Thank you!”

He nods once again before stating “Thank you Antoine, before I give further thoughts and lay out my plan, are there any questions or remarks?”

Sherah speaks up “Ummm… Commodore? I have never been on the sea before, what is it like?”

Politely and with kindness, Louis replies “The sea is seen rightfully as a dangerous force of nature by many. But for us sailors, it is our home. My family have been sailors for generations and it runs in my blood. I grew up on ship and around ships, and take great pride in my lineage. But never mind that, for someone like you, this journey will likely be terrifying, especially when we encounter our first storm. But have no fear, because I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety so long as you are aboard my ship. We will have a deeper talk about this later, just the two of us, ok?”

Sherah looks fascinated by Louis but also in her mind is unnerved by what he said.

Lisa speaks up next “Commodore, if I may?” Louis gestures the go ahead before Lisa starts with a bit of annoyance “This pit stop to pick up these southern Risuners is a waste of time and time is money after all. We were not paid for this venture nor told of this beforehand. I demand that the Imperial Admiralty assign this to someone else!”

Louis looks at her with an intrigued expression before he says calmly “Captain, quite honestly, while I am not satisfied with the orders myself and would have the pencilneck who gave us this task a lashing of the first order; insubordination would be one of the greatest blunders we could commit at this point.” He puts his hand on his chin “I don’t know much about you, other than the famous surname and the company you work for, but I will ensure personally to you that you and your men will be paid for this wasted time in a more than appropriate manner, if not be the Imperial Navy, by me personally. If it is not gold you desire, then something else may be arranged.”

With a sigh, Lisa remarks “Thank you and apologies Commodore, twas my impatience getting the best of me.”

“No need for apologies, every voice matters in my opinion, at least in my ship and in my squadron. We can discuss the terms personally later.”

Lisa nods with a smile, and Louis asks “Any further opinions or concerns?”

Everyone shakes their head no.

“Alright I will give my deliberations and we will set sail at once. This whole affair in Leontyne isn’t ideal, but it is our orders and if nothing more, just a short detour. Once we get the men requested, I will be distributing them between the Victoire and the Rapide. Takeda-san, you know what must be done and Antoine, you do too. They will be by the end of this the best damn sailors we can make of them. Once that short stop is over, we will take the winds up to Kronistadt. Should take a month if we make good time, and if the winds are favorable. The rest, quite honestly, will be discussed at Kronistadt because things will inevitably change by then. All of you aside from our special guest are worthy captains and mates, you know what to do and how to do it. Furthermore, I need to remind everyone here that we are ambassadors for our respective peoples and ought to behave as such, with dignity and honor to all. Keep your men in good order and I will see you all soon enough!”