Work Text
Looking around as I sit on my favorite board, a traditional Alaia made from a Koa tree, a gift from Honolulu when I turned sixteen. Thinking on it, I’m not sure if this board or getting a hull to be bonded to was the better gift. I mean having a hull that I could control, almost like Mamma’s is pretty cool, even if it is smaller. Dad had called it an Alaska class large cruiser, apparently, it was the third one that got constructed, if never finished, said her name was the Hawaii. As I keep scanning for a good wave, I tug on the front of my old ratty wetsuit that I had turned into a cutoff swimsuit, just to save a few hundred bucks by the time I could either go to Hawaii and pick out a new one or had one flown out here to the ass-end of nowhere in the middle of the pacific ocean. My right ear perks up as I hear the droning noise of a big radial engine in the sky and I look up to see the unmistakable shape of the Dauntless dive-bomber, seconds before I hear Miss Ranger call from the shore, “Samantha Anne Bellamy! You need to get back here; we still have classes to go over!”
Looking over my shoulder I see her standing there, her hands on her hips, long red hair blowing in the light breeze, but most importantly, her flight deck was out. It also wasn’t lost on me that she had this look on her face that told me I didn’t have much of a choice, so I called back, “In a minute Miss Ranger!”
“Now, young lady!” She calls back her face going into a little pout as she adds, “You need to finish that math test so that I can get them sent off to the Academy!”
Out of instinct, I call back, “I don’t wanna, math is hard!”
“Don’t make me send out another plane!” she yells back.
Looking around quickly I spot a less than an ideal wave, but still good enough to get me back to shore and I yell back, “Yes, Miss Ranger!”
XXXX
When I got home that night, I felt my belly growl as I smelt mamma’s cooking, ribs! She made ribs tonight! Ugh! I wanna run right in the house, but I need to wash and wax down my Alaia first. Once I’ve got my board washed and start getting the wax on it, I hear my dad behind me say, “Hey there my little Beach Bunny, how are things?”
I turn slightly to look at my dad, Rear Admiral Jackson Bellamy. I grin at my dad and stop waxing down my board to hug him as I say, “Miss Ranger found me cutting out on that math test, again.”
He pats my back as he says, “Sam, those tests are important. I mean I leveraged a lot to get you accepted at the academy, but you still need to show you’ve got the grades to actually be there.”
I roll my eyes and go back to waxing my board as I say to him, “But daaad, why do I even need to go? Can’t the girls teach me all I need to know?”
He comes over and places a hand on my shoulder as he says, “They can teach you a lot, but there are some experiences that you can only have, by being around humans.” He pauses and gives me a sad look as he adds, “And sometimes I worry that I’ve done you a disservice by keeping you here at Beachhead you’re entire life.”
I shrug as I finish waxing my board and say to him, “I don’t know, I think I’ve had it pretty good. Helena and Cleveland have been awesome to hang out with.” I pause and put the lid back on the wax as I add, “Though a little weird when they stopped babysitting me and started hanging out with me as friends.”
My dad sighs and hangs his head as he says, “Yeah.”
I grin and turn as I hug him and let him in on a secret, “And Lou teaching me about boys was interesting.”
I feel every muscle in his body tighten up at that and he says with a warning tone, “Sam.”
Leaning out of the hug I laugh and say, “Kidding Dad, Lou said I should say that to you some time.”
I watch as he runs a hand down his face before he grabs a rag and flicks it at me as he says, “Get going, Carol’s not going to keep those ribs waiting for long.”
XXXX
It took a few days for the results of my grades to be sent out to where the Azur Lane alliance HQ was located in the Atlantic ocean, be looked in the at, and approved. When the letter came back saying that I had the green light to go, the girls and my parents had thrown me a massive going away party. And now after nearly three weeks at sea, I was pulling into the harbor that had been set up for all the hybrids that would be attending this year. Looking at the collection of ships, mine looked like it was one of the biggest, nothing seemed to be heavier than a heavy cruiser, making my large cruiser kind of a standout. Looking at the flags on some of these ships, I see the crest of the Iron Blood, Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, Iris Libre, Vichya Dominion, and Sardegna Empire. Stopping to count the ships I see at least twelve, counting mine!
Oh, this is going to be awesome! At least eleven other people, just like me… sort of.
Bringing my hull around the last pier, I see it, something about the same size as my hull, but her guns are massive! Like mine are big at being 12”, these look like full-on battleship guns! Looks like she’s got an AB-X setup as I do, but hers are mounted in dual mounts whereas mine are in triple mounts, the flag flying on her had the crest of the Iron Blood too. Taking my eyes off of the two-tone grey paint I spotted an open berth
across from it on the other side of the wharf. Coming around the stern of this beast, I see the name on the back and I read it out loud, “Siegfried.” I shrug as I add, “I doubt that’s her name, I mean my hull has Hawaii across the back, after all.”
Once my drives are shut down and lines attached to the pier, I grab my stuff I need with me and head to orientation. During my walk across the grounds, I can’t help but shiver a little, it’s so freaking cold! Taking out my phone I check the local weather and see that it say that it’s
only
50 degrees Fahrenheit that’s like the dead of winter back home! Dropping my pack, I open it up and take out the heavy leather jacket that aunt Enty had given me, telling me that it would keep me warm. With that on and done up, I blow in my hands and keep going.
It wasn’t long before I spotted someone that look too weird to
not
be a hybrid like me! She was in black leggings of some kind and a light jacket. From behind, I could tell she’s got to have a great figure, but the most striking thing I could see was on her head. She had black shoulder-length hair, but it was the small red horns that looked like real horns!
She stopped walking and twisted slightly to fix me with yellow eyes, holy sea cows! She is pretty! She gives me a quick look then turns her attention forward again, a moment later I saw this really hot guy catch up with her, the two of them started talking about something, clearly ignoring the fact that I was nearly drooling as I look at the two of them. Following her, I see that guy hang his head and break off like he just took a beating. A moment later, I feel someone bump into me from behind, almost knocking me to my knees, and I hear a guy’s voice ask, “You good?” Getting my footing under me, I turn slightly to say that I’m not entirely good, but my mind goes blank. He’s got gorgeous blue eyes, a great chin, short black hair, he’s taller than I am, and he smells amazing. Trying to jog my brain forward I simply nod and he places a hand on my shoulder before he grins at me and pushes past me as he calls out, “Elise, wait up!”
Turning around again I see him catch up with the dark-haired horn girl and she glares at him as she says, “When I say we need to get going, I don’t mean run back and grab something, Karl.”
He gives her a dismissive gesture as he says, “Yeah, yeah.”
I wonder if those two are like a thing?
I watch as they duck into a building and I check my papers and see it’s where orientation is happening, so I duck into the building and find an empty chair to listen about what life here is going to be like this year.
XXXX
After orientation, I take the note that had my assigned dorm room number and my key fob for both the dormitory and my room. Apparently, the school wanted to keep the hybrids and baseline humans separate this year, not a bad idea, I guess. Twisting my door handle, I hear a little beeping sound just as I feel it unlock. Pushing the door open, I hear who I guess is my roommate yell at me, “Ferme la porte, je me change!”
What I saw in front of me, was a girl, bending at her hips with her underwear halfway down! Closing the door quickly behind me I apologize, “Sorry!”
She finishes pulling them up and adjusting her skirt as she says turns to look at me with cool blue eyes, using a free hand she flicks some of her short silver hair before folding her arms under her modest bust and saying to me in a French accent, “Great, I’m given a moron for a roommate that doesn’t understand knocking on doors first.”
Blinking my blue eyes at her a couple of times, I rub my right hand on my blue and gold tartan skirt that I had been issued before my departure and told to wear on campus before I extend a hand to her as I say with a grin, “Samantha Bellamy, but my friends call me Sam.”
She rolled her eyes before adjusting her white button-up shirt and started to do up her short blue and gold tartan tie as she says, “Dominque Vandier.” She pauses and gives me a sideways look before asking, “You are like me, non? A hybrid.”
“Yeah,” I say as I move to put down my pack and I start to look at the wall above what is going to be my rack, I’d love to have my Alaia here, but I think I’ll keep that on my hull. Pressing my lips together and forcing them off to the side as I think about this blank space of wall, I ask, “My mamma is the North Carolina, what about yours?”
“My mother is the Algérie, the finest French cruiser ever built, she was meant to combat the Zara.” Dominque says to me in a bit of a haughty tone of voice.
Turning to look at my roommate and at her wall, I see that she had a huge French flag and she was looking down her nose at me, all I could do was grin at her as I ask, “So where did you grow up then?”
“Toulon, naturally, what about you, Pacific or Atlantic?” she says in a dismissive tone.
I shrug and turn back around to my wall and think about putting the union flag up as I say, “Pacific forward operations base, Beachhead in the Midway Atoll.”
I hear her make a scoffing sound as she says, “So a county bumpkin.” She sighs and says something in French again that I don’t understand, “Alors, je suis puni avec ça? Mieux que de recevoir une pute italienne.”
“No… well, maybe. Sure I grew up in the middle of nowhere, but all the kansen on the base made sure I didn’t feel like I did!” I protest as I spin around to face Dominque.
She walked over to me and patted my cheek as she said in an icy tone of voice, “I will give you one warning, beach bunny, do not get in my way with who or what I have my sights on.”
“Can’t we just be friends?” I ask a little hopeful as I take a slight step back and bump into my bed, falling onto my butt.
“Don’t do either of those things, and I am sure it will be possible.” She says coldly again before moving to the door and leaving me to sit on what is going to be my bed.
As the door closes behind her, I flop back onto the bed and stretch out as I say, “I’m sure I can be friends with her.”
XXXXXXXX
The next morning I was sprinting for my first class, I overslept! Oh god, it’s so early! Checking my phone again I see that it’s a little after oh-eight-hundred local, but that means it feels like it should be two am! Ugh! Why didn’t I try to get onto adjusted time during my trip out here?!
Skidding around a corner I crash into someone, causing me to fall onto my butt, and whoever I crashed into to fall on theirs. Blinking my eyes a few times I see I’m looking at the hot guy from yesterday, his golden eyes go wide and his cheeks go red before he darts his eyes off to the side. It takes me a minute to clue in and I shove my hands between my legs to close up my skirt while my own cheeks get hot and I mumble out, “Sorry! I should’ve been a bit more careful!”
He laughs and stands before extending a hand to me as he asks, “It’s all good, I think flashing me made up for it. You okay though?” I take his hand and note that it’s warm and it feels so different than a kansen’s hand, almost like my dad’s hands, but less rough. He helps pull me up as he adds, “Karl, Karl Adelebsen.”
Looking into his golden eyes I feel like I’m getting lost in them, they are so mesmerizing that it takes me a minute to catch up, feeling a little embarrassed I step back and fiddle with the hem of my skirt as I say, “Samantha Bellamy.”
He looks around and I notice he’s got a soccer ball with him and he asks, “Did I bump into you yesterday?”
Rubbing the back of my head I laugh a little and say, “Yeah, I think we should stop meeting like this.”
Not that I don’t want to stop running into you, or anything.
He laughs and says, “I can agree with that, I don’t think our uniforms will pass inspection if we keep landing on the ground.”
I give off a nervous laugh and rub my thighs together, just before I hear the bell ring letting me know that I am well and truly late for the first real day! I groan, just as I hear the voice of some other woman call out, “Karl, wo bist du, wir sind spät dran!” leaning to look around the corner I see that tall lady with the dark hair and small red horns, she’s dressed in the same uniform as me, but somehow she makes it look amazing. When her golden eyes land on me I see her roll them as she calls out, “Karl, you can flirt with a groupie later, we need to hurry.”
“Elise,” he says a tone of voice that suggested that’s not what he wanted to hear as he adds, “We’re already late for first period.” Karl pauses and looks at me and asks, “What’s your first class?”
I open my bag and take out my sheet and say, “Surface warfare theory One-Oh-One.”
“Interesting, that’s where we’re going too.” Says Elise as she stops in front of me and looks me up and down before asking, “Are you like me? A hybrid?”
I grin and nod as I respond, “I am!”
“Hull type?” she asks, folding her arms under her impressive bust line.
“Large cruiser of the Alaska class, my hull is what was going to be the Hawaii.” I say with confidence and a nod.
She’s quiet for a moment before gesturing that we should get walking as she asks, “I’m not familiar with those hulls, larger than normal heavy cruiser guns?”
“Twelve-inch.” I pause and look off to the side as I get the feeling these two are from the Iron Blood, but I grin and say, “My hull class was meant to counter the Scharnhorst sisters.”
“Oh, a battlecruiser then.” She says to me over her shoulder as I follow along slightly behind her, wow is she tall!
“No, large cruiser.” I contend.
“What’s the difference?” Karl asks.
Elise rolls her eyes again and sighs as she says, “Nothing really, just semantics, mostly. Take my own Siegfried, much the same, but with much larger guns.”
Oh! That’s her hull, the one I docked across from.
“Whatever,” Karl says waving a hand dismissively. God these two must be close to one another… After another moment Karl adds, “We both know Elise, that mom takes a special interest in your development as a kansen.”
Elise gives a bit of a laugh as she says, “Mother does know greatness, after all.” Elise pauses and looks over her shoulder at me and asks, “What of your mother, what class is she?”
I grin and tug on the straps of my pack as I say, “She’s the lead ship of her class, North Carolina. She’s a fast battleship with sixteen-inch guns. What about your mamma?”
Wait! These two are siblings?! Oh, thank you, god!
“She is one of a kind.” Karl says looking off to the side as Elise finishes, “Mighty Mistress of the Symphony of Destruction, Friedrich der Große.”
Giving a nervous laugh and rubbing the back of my head I say, “Sorry, but that name doesn’t ring a bell.”
Both of them stop in their tracks and turn slowly to look at me and ask in unison, “Did you grow up under a rock? She is arguably the most powerful battleship class kansen in the Atlantic!”
“No, not under a rock, just at a small forward operating base in the Pacific.” I mumble as I tap the ends of my index fingers together.
Elise gives me this look and I see her eyes soften as she says, “Now this is refreshing, Karl, someone that doesn’t immediately know our mother or us for that matter.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Karl says before starting the two of them started walking to class again, leaving me to catch up.
XXXX
When I got back to my dorm room that night, after having a quick dinner with Elise and Karl, my roommate was standing there, just inside the door, her lips compressed, arms folded under her bust when the door closed behind me and I said, “Hey Dominique, how are…”
I didn’t get to finish that sentence, as her eyes narrowed just before she stepped forward and slapped me across the face as she said, “Karl is off-limits to likes of a useless beach bunny like you.”
XXXXXXXX
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After my slapping from Dominque, I did my best to avoid contact with her, but well, easier said than done when she is my freaking roommate! Still, I took the lesson to heart and kept space between me and Karl, space that admittedly I didn’t want to keep. Either way, after a week of doing my best to not be around when she was awake, I’d gotten used to getting up juuust before my alarm would go. Today I was excited; this was going to be the first exercise day where us hybrids took our hulls out to see what we could all do!Standing in front of the mirror in the communal bathroom on this floor, I looked at the assigned swimsuit that I had slipped into. It was a nice one-piece, mostly, a mix of navy blue main body with gold-colored sides. My only real issue was the fact that it didn’t cover my butt, like at all. Someone had thought making it have just a thick bit of fabric back there was a good idea and it felt like I was riding up! Putting my hands around my back I lifted the fabric over my hips and down a little, to try and get just a little less… flossing. Just as I relaxed a little, I heard an all too familiar cackle of someone that thinks she’s better than me. Looking into the mirror and over my right shoulder I see Dominque standing in a changing stall, her swimsuit looks like had been painted onto her well-balanced athletic frame. Dominque comes over to me and places her hands under my bust, lifting them slightly as she laughs with her French accent, “I guess you are less of a beach bunny and more of a sea cow.”Bitch.My lips compress and I lift her smaller bust and say back to her, “At least I can’t pass for a boy with mine.”Dominque’s blue-grey eyes narrow at me as she says, “Chatte!”Guess I found a soft spot. Pushing past her I put on a smile and say, “See you out at the docks!”XXXXWhen I got to the docks, it was freaking cold! I was standing there, rubbing my arms, teeth chattering, rubbing my thighs together, it was all I could do to try and stay warm… I am not meant for cold!Looking around at the assembled girls, I saw a girl with what looked like a fluffy yellow tail that slowly turned pink towards the ends; she even had matching fox-like ears on her head! Wow, I had heard from mamma that some of the kansen in the Sakura Empire had animal-like traits, but neat! I see her take hold of her tail and pull it around in front of her, I can tell from here that she is shorter, or would be if it wasn’t for the ears, than I am, she’s also a whole lot more slender than I am! I see one of her ears twitch and point towards me just before she turns and smiles at me, she’s clearly got a father that is Caucasian going by how she looks. I watch as she bows a little and says to me, “Ohayōgozaimasu, Watashi wa…” she stops herself and bonks the top of her head with one hand as she says in English, with a heavy Japanese accent, “Good morning, I am Yumi Harris. Can I ask your name?”I grin at her and says, “Samantha Bellamy, but my friends call me Sam.”She looks down for a moment and whispers, “Samantha-san,”I wave a hand and say to her, “Sam.”Her face lights right up, a huge grin on her face as she says, “Sam-chan, what hull is yours?”As I keep rubbing my right arm, I point to my hull and say “That one, what about you, Yumi?”Her face goes bright red while her jade green eyes go wide; I guess I maybe should’ve used an honorific? After a moment she says while pointing at a small, but stealthy and speedy-looking destroyer, “I am over there, Samantha-sama. Mine is of the same class as my mother's, an Akizuki class.”I grin at Yumi again and say to her, “Hey, we’re all equal here, and I’m just happy to make some friends, we can be friends right Yumi?”Yumi lifts her tail so that it's just under her nose, clearly thinking for a bit before she nods and grins as she says, “Un!”I go back to trying to keep warm and ask, “So, any idea about our instructors for this?”Out of the corner of my eye, I see Elise standing at the other end of the collected girls, Dominque was standing with her, saying something to Elise, likely about what went down in the change room. I felt a pit in my stomach starting to form when all of a sudden I sensed the approach of a group from the water. Turning to look out there, I saw two women, no kansen, with purple-pink hair skimming on the water. Their rigging looked identical between the two of them and I felt like I knew who they were, or maybe my other half did? Flanking them was a girl, her rigging seemed so much less impressive, but I knew she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for a reason. Trailing just behind them I spotted another pair of kansen, one I knew on sight and I grinned broadly at her, Brooklyn! The other one I didn’t know right away, but seeing how Dominque seemed to tense up I guess she knew the last one.When the five of them reached the docks and jumped up on it, they banished their riggings into hulls and I instantly knew, well more like my hull instantly knew who they were, the Scharnhorst sisters. The five of them get into a circle and talk for a moment before the short blond girl calls out, “All destroyer class, please from a line on the A wharf, I’ll be with you shortly!”Looking to my right just as Yumi bows and says to me, “Perhaps we can meet for lunch later, Sam-chan?”I grin at her and say, “Count on it, Yumi!”Of the twenty or so girls here, I see nine break off and go with Yumi, the next kansen to speak was Brooklyn, she clicked a pen and looked over a clipboard as she said, “All light cruisers, with me please at B wharf.”Another five girls left, looking around that left five of us now. Adjusting my swimsuit, I see the one I don’t know step forward, she had what looked like armor on still and she looked over us and spoke with a French accent, “All heavy cruisers with me on D wharf.”Yes! Dominque has to go! That was when I noticed, it was just me and Elise left, standing before the Scharnhorst sisters. The two of them look at each other and the one with eyepatch shrugs before the one with the glasses steps forward and pops a lollipop in her mouth before saying, “Frau Adelebsen,” she pauses and looks at me and adds, “I was not expecting a second battlecruiser.”“Large cruiser.” I say defiantly.The one with the eyepatch comes up to me and leans forward into my space as she asks, “What class?”“Alaska class large cruiser.” I say with a bit more confidence.The one with the eye patch leans back and tilts her head up before looking at me out of a half-closed eye as she says, “Never heard of them.”I ball my fists slightly as I say, “Yeah well they were meant to counter you, but you sunk first!”The docks went quiet and I felt five eyes on me. I swallow hard as the one with the eye patch narrowed her eye at me for a moment, I can’t back down, I won’t back down!She laughed. Wait, what?!The one with the eyepatch swung a hand out and slapped me on the shoulder before saying, “Gneisenau, I like this one, she’s got some big brass tits!”Eh?I can’t help but blink a few times and I look to Elise who seems to have a surprised look on her face, looking back to Scharnhorst, she stops laughing and leans into my space and looks me dead in the eye, and says, “But don’t think that’s going to save your stern out there. We’re going to ride you till you collapse, then we’re going to ride you to the bottom of the ocean.”“Scharnhorst, enough.” Elise said with such calm that it even surprised me when Scharnhorst stood upright and turned, flicking some of her purple-pink hair as she said, “Ja, Frau Adelebsen.”Now I was curious, Elise seemed to have some power over these two, when I look at her with my head tilted to the side Elise simply smiled as she said, “Gneisenau was one of my teachers back home, along with Z-Twenty-Three and Peter Strasser.”Gneisenau pushed her glasses up with one hand as she tapped on a data slate, I see her brow work up and down for a moment before she takes out her lollipop and says, “From what I’ve been able to pull up on the Alaska class, they seem to be very similar to my own class, with slightly weaker armor, but higher speed and larger main battery.” She paused and looked at her sister and added, “I’ll continue working with Fray Adelebsen, you can work with,” she paused and looked at me, “I’m sorry, but your name is not on my list.”I grin, put my hands on my hips, and say, “Samantha Bellamy.”Pushing her glasses up slightly Gneisenau says, “Now, for your hull name, Frau Bellamy?”“Oh! CB-3 Hawaii, the third of the Alaska class.” I say as I look out over the water at my hull tied up across from Elise’s own.Gneisenau finishes tapping away on her datapad and she said, “Scharnhorst, remember this lesson is not just about gunnery, no need to shoot too much at Frau Bellamy.”Scharnhorst made a dismissive gesture with one hand as she said, “Ja, ja.” She paused and looked at me over her shoulder as she said, “Well? Get you stern in gear, we’ve got to sail offshore to get to the training area.”I looked to Elise and she gave me a nod before I ran off the end of the dock and summoned my rigging around me. To my left, the hull appeared with my Y turret on it, just above that on a secondary platform were four of my five-inch dual purpose guns, to my right the other half of the hull appear with my A and B turrets. Turning around on the water, I saw Scharnhorst land right behind me, her three turrets on her right and a big mechanical shark's head on her left. She took a moment to look at my rigging and nodded as she said, “Looks solid, come on and follow me.”XXXXWe had gone a few miles offshore when Scharnhorst came to a stop, spinning around to face me she ran a hand through her hair and asked, “Do you really just want to shoot at dummy targets or should we find something more interesting?”Right now, I was just happy to have my rigging out, it kept me warm, ‘case you know, the North Atlantic is cold! Stopping and thinking about her question, I tilt my head to the side and ask, “What do you mean?”“I was built for commerce raiding, if your hull is similar to mine, then you’d shine in that role too. So, let’s see what you got, let’s go find one of the other groups, you load dummy shells and pick a fight.” She says while putting her arms behind her head.“But if it’s just dummy shells, then how would we know if I did anything?” I ask as I look at my Y turret.“All of your rigging has been set to respond as if real damage has been applied since this is about learning how to dodge, angle, and bounce shots. So, do you want to go and pick a fight?” She asks, looking at me out of a half-closed blue eye.I kind of wanted to, just to show Dominque that I’m not useless. After a moment I say, “I don’t know if we should.”Scharnhorst rolled her blue eye before teasing me, “Then that just goes to prove, the Scharnhorst class is better.”Like hell.My hands go to my hips and I say, “Fine, let’s go find those heavy cruisers.’Scharnhorst punched her right hand into her left palm as she said, “Now you’re talking. You’ve got a way to find them, right?”I close my eyes and bring up my support systems and I nod as I say, “A hydroacoustic system and a horizon radar system.”“Use your hydro first, every ship has a unique sound, find a group of sounds that might be right in terms of numbers.” She says to me.Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly I focus on the sounds of engines in the ocean, cupping my ears and holding my breath, I try to separate all of the sounds and I pick up a group of four about thirty miles to the south. My blue eyes went wide and I said to Scharnhorst, “I found them, thirty miles to the south, just outside of my radar range.”She nods and skims over to clap me on the shoulders as she says, “Gute arbeit. Now, we need to get closer.”XXXXIt didn’t take us that long to close the distance to when I could pick them out with radar, standing in the middle of the pack was Dominque, I trained my guns on her and Scharnhorst asked me, “Do you think you can make that shot? It’s pretty far.”“In theory, I can.” I say as relax and try to estimate the shot.“You’re only going to get one salvo then you’ll have to run. Those French ships are fast.” Scharnhorst says while folding her arms under her bust.“I can do it.” I say again, making sure to have dummy AP loaded, I wanted a precision shot.“If you say so. How fast do you think she’s going right now?” She asks me.“I can’t tell.” I admit.“Look around her, look for flags, look at the wake, and look at the smokestacks.” She says.“The wake is minimal, but the flags are flapping like crazy and the smoke is,” I pause as my brow wrinkles and I say, “Going the wrong direction for her to be going forward!” I adjust my aim to be just behind her and let the salvo fly.I don’t get to watch what happens as Scharnhorst grabs me and starts to pull me away as she says, “Shoot and scoot.” She pauses before laughing and saying to me, “I owe you beer; I didn’t think you’d actually take the shot.”XXXXWhen I got back to my dorm that night, Dominque was pacing around the room, she was fuming and I just had to know why, so I asked, “What’s wrong?”“Some stupid bitch shot me and I failed the exercise because I was rendered immobile!” she all but yelled as she grabbed a pillow and threw it at the wall before adding, “One of the shells came down and damaged my rear turret roof! Then my rigging just shut down, saying that my drives had been destroyed! Then Saint Louis looked at me and said, ‘You’ve always been a disappointment, Dominique.’ Like it's my fault someone shot at me from beyond where I could see them!”Oh, this is too funny, she doesn’t know it was me!I try and give her a supportive smile as I say, “It’s just one exercise, you’ll pass next time.”Dominque glares at me for a moment before flicking her short silver hair and saying, “Whatever, just stay out of my way.”“Sure.” I say before going over to my drawers and taking out some clothes and changing so I can meet up with Scharnhorst at the pub for that beer.XXXXXXXX
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After a hard first couple of months at the academy, and right now I was sitting in the pub, rolling my empty glass back and forth on the table as I rested my head on my left arm. Dominque was taking her latest… conquest… in our room, it’s been every night this week she’s been doing someone! At least she wasn’t being totally awful to me right now, god I hate being roommates with her. My phone rings and I lift it to see my mamma’s face on it. Hitting talk I put it to my ear and say, “Hi Mamma.”
“Oh, it’s so good ta hear your voice, sweetie! How are thing’s goin’?” she says back to me with that southern drawl of hers.
Forcing a smile on my face, even though she can’t see my face, I’m hoping it will help sell this lie, “It’s been going great! Miss Scharnhorst likes me, and I’ve made a couple of friends.”
There’s a pause before my mamma says, “I’m not so sure ‘bout some Iron-Blood Battle cruiser teachin’ ya stuff.”
“It’s all good mamma, I really enjoy her class on surface warfare tactics. How are things back home?” I ask trying to divert the conversation away from school.
“Things are alright here.” She pauses and I sense something is up, just before she says, “I’m just sorry ya won't be able ta make it home this year for the holidays.”
I blink a couple of times and make a surprised sound, “Eh?”
“Sweetie, you’re three weeks away at your crusin’ speed, by the time ya got here ya’d have ta turn right ‘round an’ head back.” She says to me and I close my eyes and sigh, she was right. Granted classes were shutting down for six weeks between November and January this year, but it wasn’t enough time to get home and back. Mamma must have sensed it hitting me now as she continued, “Oh, don’t worry sweetie! I’m sure you’re not the only one that can’t make it home, maybe ya should do somethin’ with friends this year?”
Damn it… I don’t want to stay out here till summer break! Faking a yawn I say to my mamma, “Sorry mamma, but it’s getting late here, I need to turn in for the night!”
“Oh! Sorry about that, call me next week, I miss talkin’ with ya! Love you, sweetie.” She says, sounding a little surprised.
“Love you too, mamma.” I respond automatically before ending the call and putting my head down on the table and groaning out, “This sucks.”
A little while into my self-pity session, I felt a hand on my shoulder followed by the voice of one of those friends I had managed to make, “Sam, what’s wrong? Dominque being a little awful to you again?”
I roll my head back and forth, then stop and move it up and down as I say, “No… yes… kind of? But that’s not what’s got me down right now.”
The hand leaves my shoulder and I hear Elise sit across from me as she asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Sitting up I lean against the booth and make a big show with my hands as I lament out, “I don’t have the time to make it back home for the holidays this year! It’s three weeks one way at my optimal cruise speed.”
Elise runs a hand through her dark hair before sipping on the straw to her drink as she says, “Come to Europe with me then, it’s only two weeks each way.”
Sitting upright I tilt my head at her and say, “I can’t do that, I’d be imposing on you and your family.”
Elise rolls her yellow eyes as she says, “Trust me, you would be doing me a favor.”
“I’ll think about it, it’d be a great break away from Dominque at least.” I say with a sour tone of voice.
“How is that going anyway?” Elise asks me between sips of her drink.
Rolling my eyes, folding my arms under my bust and pouting out, “Badly, I’ve tried to get a new place to stay, but all the dorm rooms have been assigned, at least all the ones that a girl can stay in, and I think it’s so stupid I can’t stay on my hull.”
I can see Elise working her brow a little before saying, “Come and stay with me and Karl for a few days, just to get some space with Dominque.”
My jaw swings open and I put both of my hands palm out towards her as I stutter out, “I can’t do that!” then it hits me and I blink a couple of times and ask, “Wait, you’re not staying on campus?”
“Ja. Mother thought it would be best for us to stay together and co-ed rooms were not allowed, so she made arrangements for us to have an apartment.” She says, rolling her yellow eyes as she says, “I think the place is too large for just me and Karl.”
“I don’t know.” I say as I look off to the side.
Elise leans over the table to take my left hand as she says, “Up to you, but what are your plans, stay here all night?”
Placing my forehead against the table again I sigh out, “Fiiiiine.”
XXXX
I stood in the entrance to the apartment that Elise was sharing with her brother, my mouth was hanging open, this ‘entrance’ was bigger than the room I shared with Dominque! The floor looked like it was marble, Elise walked through the second set of doors, and from where I stood, I could see over the entire city that was outside of the Academy! She said to me from the other room, “If you want to grab a shower, Karl’s out right now and I’ll get some spare sheets on the spare bed for you.”
Blinking a few times, I kick off my runners and walk into the main room; everything in here looked expensive! Looking to my left and right I call out, “Sure, where is the shower?”
“To your left, down the hall and third door!” she called back from my right.
Once I was in there I found a spare towel and face cloth, stripped down, and stepped into the glass-walled shower, turning the hot water on and shutting my eyes under the warmth, it was so nice to have an actual hot shower. Usually by the time I got to have one the water was cold in the dorm shower. As I stood under the hot water, I look down at my bust and lift them before letting them fall back down and I start to wonder what kind of girl Karl actually likes. I mean I’d been doing everything I can to keep everything platonic, but I didn’t want to! I was only doing it to keep Dominque off my back, but well she was banging whoever she wanted to while trying to get Karl.
I sigh and lean my head against the side of the shower before turning around to let the hot water run down my back and I let out a pleasurable sigh. At least tonight I didn’t have to deal with Dominque, so that’s good. I kind of wish I had my razor so I could trim up down below, I mean well, I didn’t like too much hair down there. Turning around in the water again, I started to pat my belly making little slapping sounds when I suddenly felt a little strange, turning slightly I see blue eyes that have gone wide and a face that was turning bright red. It took me a second to figure out who I was making eye contact with and I suddenly felt my cheeks getting really hot a split second before I spun, putting my hands across my bust and between my legs and lifting one leg as I did so… and lost my balance, falling on my butt, giving Karl a clean look at all of me in the process! From outside the shower, I hear him yell, “Sorry! I didn’t know you were in here!”
He spun to put his back to me and the mirror on the wall and I shoved a hand back between my legs while I used the other arm to hide my chest as much as I could, before I could say anything, Elise was in the doorway, her cheeks bright red as she grabbed Karl by the shirt and said, “Didn’t you see the note!?”
I looked to the door and saw a whiteboard with the words ‘In use, knock first!’ written on it. Karl didn’t say anything
and Elise rolled her yellow eyes before dragging him out and calling back into the room, “I left you some pj’s to barrow, Sam.”
“Thanks!” I call back, still feeling really embarrassed.
Once I was sure the door was closed, I turned off the water, got out, and started to dry myself off. With that done, I pull on the PJ top and notice just how much bigger Elise is than I am, this shirt goes to my mid-thigh! Pulling on the pants, I see that I need to roll up the cuffs, a lot, and I roll the arms back too. Looking at myself in the mirror I look kind of funny, almost swimming in these clothes. Slapping my cheeks I say to myself, "Beggars can’t be choosers.”
Once I was sure everything wasn’t going to fall down on me, god I kind of hate that Elise is taller, bustier, and has bigger hips than me, but I can’t hate her, she’s like one of three friends I’ve made here. Stepping out of the shower room, I’ve got my towel on my head and I see Karl sitting on the couch, looking at the floor, Elise was standing in front of him, her hands on her hips and leaning forward, if I had to guess I think she might’ve been taking a round or two out of him. When Karl sensed that I was standing there he looked up quickly before averting his eyes and going bright red, just as I felt my cheeks get hot he said to me, “I’m sorry Samantha, I didn’t pay attention to the whiteboard.”
Way to give me any indication that you liked what you saw… Still, I guess he can still see it all.
With a shrug, I walk past him and say, “Nothing I can do about it, so I forgive you.” I pause and look over my shoulder at him and add, “But don’t go telling your guy friends about what I look like, alright?”
The slap I heard as Elise hit him on the head and demanded, “You wouldn’t dare?”
“Ow! And god no! I’d never do that!” he protested and I couldn’t help but laugh a little before I said, “I’m going to turn in for the night, thanks for letting me crash here tonight.”
“No problem, Sam, if you need anything, let me know.” Elise said before I went down the hall to find the room for me.
Once I was in the room, I turned and flopped down on my back, oh my god! This bed is so soft!
Stretching out a little, my phone lets me know I’ve got a message, rolling onto my side I lift it to see it’s from Jane Cooper, one of the other hybrids. With a smile on my face I open it up to see what she had to say, ‘OMG Where are you?!? I stopped by your dorm and heard lots of moaning!’
‘At Elise and Karl’s, Dominque is… entertaining a guy.’ I send to her, pausing to find a gif to convey my embarrassment as I add, ‘Karl saw me naked in the shower!’
‘O.M.G.! Did he, like, like what he saw?’ she typed back so fast with an emoji that had bulging eyes.
‘Don’t know, but he won’t look me in the face right now, without blushing.’ I send back and roll to my belly.
She’s quiet for a moment before sending, ‘Do you, like, need anything from your dorm?’
I grin and type, ‘Yeah, makeup and toiletry bag, clean panties and bra, and something cutie for tomorrow, and a phone charger.’
‘If that’s all you need, I’ll let you borrow some of my stuff and I’ll grab you some stuff from the commissary, I’ll be by in like an hour.’ She sends back with an image of her flashing me the peace sign.
‘You’re the best! I’ll see you in an hour.’ I send back before shutting down my phone and going to find Elise to let her know that Jane is swinging by shortly.
XXXX
It was the middle of the night and I was getting hungry, I had stayed up way too late. Kicking off the PJ bottoms, since they kept falling down anyway, I went with just the top and borrowed panties. Popping open the fridge I started looking in the containers to see if I could find something, anything to eat. Bending at my hips I see a container on a lower shelf and I pop it open and spot chicken wings! Heck yeah! Grabbing that container, after putting a wing in my mouth, I kept looking for a little more, just as I reached for the ranch dip, I heard Karl grunt in time with someone walking into a counter.
When I took my head out of the fridge I saw Karl flushes bright red and put his hands in front of his crotch as he said, “Damn it, Samantha!”
With the wing still in my mouth, my head tilted to the side as I closed the fridge with my right hip and put the container of wings on the counter, and opened the dip as I asked, “Whaf?”
Karl shuffles to the other side of the counter and reaches into the container and I slap his hand as I say, “Whaf oou fink oou doin?”
He rubs the back of his hand and responds, “Eating the leftover chicken wings, before Elise gets up and scarfs them in the middle of the night like she always does.”
Swallowing the chicken I had in my mouth, I lean forward against the counter, resting my bust on it before I reach in and take out another wing, tossing the stripped one onto the lid of the container. As I start dipping it in the sauce, I catch Karl looking down my top. Ha! He does look, score one for Sam! I grin at him, and I tease, “You snooze, you lose.”
He blinks at me a couple of times before it sinks in and he calls out, “Hey! Save me some!”
I grin again and use my arms to squish my bust together a little, making the girls show up a little more, drawing his eyes down as I tease, “Maybe we could work something out?”
His eyes go wide and he looks up to my eyes, fully aware that I’ve caught him looking. His cheeks get really red and he breaks eyes contact before rubbing the back of his head and sighing out, “No, it’s fine.” I press my lips together and point them off to the side in disappointment before I bite into the spicy chicken wing. Just as I go to swallow it, I start to choke when he adds, “Seeing you in the middle of the night is hard enough.”
“Eh?” I ask once I stop choking on the chicken.
He’s still not looking at me as he says, “You’re panties, when you bend over they get really tight.”
Now my cheeks get really hot as I ask slowly, “As in?”
He rubs the back of his head, his cheeks turning a deeper red before he clears his throat “Your folds are visible.”
Oh god!
I go to drop below the counter and bang my chin against it in the process while my cheeks get super hot. I fall backward onto my stern, doing my best not to yelp in pain. From the other side of the counter, I hear Karl ask, “Samantha, are you…” he stops talking as he leans over the counter and sees me sitting on my butt, legs spread apart, belly showing, while I’m propping myself up with one arm. I look to where he’s looking and I see what he was talking about! Damn it! Why me?!
I quickly slam my legs together and avoid eye contact with him as I say, “Why me?” That was when it hit me; I left him within striking distance of the chicken! Getting up off the floor I see Karl starting to walk away with the chicken and the dip. My lips compress and I charge out from behind the counter and tackle him from behind, causing the chicken to go skidding across the floor as I call out, “You’re not going to get the chicken that easily!”
He rolls onto his back and I scooch up higher to straddle him and keep him pinned down. As we’re like this the living room light flicks on, and we both look to see Elise standing there, rubbing one eye and yawning as she says, “Look if you two are going to have sex, just be quieter.”
My cheeks got so hot, Karl went bright red, and Elise looked down and said, “Oh, chicken.”
Before I could say anything, she picked up the container, turned out the light, and walked away with the prize. I looked at Karl and he looked at me, a second later I got off of him and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“It’s alright Samantha, truce tonight?” he asks as he stands up.
Hanging my head I sigh out, “Yeah… but next time the wings are mine!”
He laughs and puts a hand on my shoulder before saying, “Not if I get to them first.”
I felt myself smile just before he let go of my shoulder and returned to his room. Once he was gone, I went back to the kitchen to find a midnight snack, maybe there is hope for me yet?
XXXXXXXX
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Spinning and flopping backward onto my bed I let out a content sigh, Dominque has gone home for the six-week break, sadly so did Elise and Karl, and I was too unsure about going so I stayed here. While looking up at the ceiling and letting out a huge sigh, I honestly had no idea what I was going to do for the next six weeks! I’m pulled from my thoughts as I hear the cry of one of my friends, “SAAAAMMMMMIEEE!”Propping myself up with my arms, I see the familiar pink-haired woman walking into my room, typing away on her phone, I’m kind of envious of her, she’s got a big rack too. I feel myself grin as I look her in those red eyes she got from her mamma and I say, “Aloha Jane, what’s up?”She grins while putting her phone away into her top before spinning and falling backward on my bed, putting her head against mine and asking, “Are you, like, busy, at all during this break?”With a groan, I flop back down and sigh out, “No.”“Great, you’re going to, like, hang with me, my mom, and like, my aunt.” She says to me.Turning my head slightly I look at her and raise an eyebrow before asking, “Are you sure?”“Totes.” She says with an extremely chipper tone of voice.Making a big show of it, I say, “Fiiiine!”Jane laughs and sits up on my bed before saying to me, “Great! I’ll be by in the morning to, like, grab you and stuff!” She pauses to get off my bed and turns to face me before adding and leaving, “Toodles!” Once she was gone I roll off my bed and start to pack, who knows what Jane is going to have planned for the next six weeks. I mean don’t get me wrong, she’s turned out to be a really solid friend, even if she acts lazy and spends as much time as possible online, but she’s actually brilliant. I was shocked to find out that she is actually nearly three years younger than I am, but skipped several grades! Still, I wonder what her mom is like. With a shrug I just start to focus on getting my stuff packed for tomorrow morning, I mean I’ll find out what Bremerton is like then, right?XXXXAfter we’d gotten to the city, man it felt strange to be so far away from my hull, like a part of me was missing. I tugged on the straps to my backpack and looked around the train station before asking, “So, Jane, where are we going to meet up with you-“I didn’t finish that as I heard a woman call out, “Jane!” looking in the direction where the call came from I saw a woman with bubble gum pink hair that had blue streaks running through it, and holy cow! She looked young! But when I saw the red eyes, I knew instantly, that this was Jane’s mom. I got that confirmation when Jane hurried over to her and hugged her before waving me over. When I got over there the woman looked me up and down before asking, “So, you’re Samantha Bellamy, right?” I nodded and she smiled before asking, “Are you by chance related to Jack Bellamy?”Rubbing my left arm I say, “Yeah, he’s my dad, why?”She let go of Jane and pulled me into this tight suffocating hug as she said, “That means you’re Carol’s daughter! Oh, I have seen Carol in like, twenty years! Are they still at Beachhead?”Once I could breathe I grinned at her and said, “Yeah, yeah they are, how do you know them?”Jane’s mom let go of me and linked her arms through mine and Jane’s as she said, “I was there when your mom and dad got together, I kind of helped.”My brow knit together for a moment before my eyebrows shot up and I asked, “You’re Bremerton?”“Yup.” She confirms and starts to lead us to a car as she adds, “God those two were a lot of work to get together! They were both so into each other, but neither one was willing to make the first move, at least till that game of twister.”“Really, a game of twister?” I ask a little surprised, I mean mom had told me that they sat outback of the dorms and talked about things, before deciding to go ahead with a relationship.Bremerton nodded as she said, “Totally, Carol had asked that we make sure to get the two of them in the most awkward position possible, so me and Reno engineered the spins. Then once they fell on to each other, poor Jack seemed so worried he’s crossed a line with Carol that night.”“Huh.” I say a little surprised.“Anyway, you’re here with us for the holiday, is there anything you’d like to do on the mainland?” she asks just before letting go to open the car door.I grin and put my pack in the car as I say, “Shopping. Getting anything back home is such a pain.”Bremerton laughs and says, “Tell me about it! That was the worst part about Beachhead, everything was so expensive to get flown in.”XXXXWhen we got to their house, it was freaking huge! Once we were inside I looked around and didn’t see any pictures of a guy so I stopped and asked, “Bremerton, what happened to Jane’s dad?”Bremerton sighed and looked off to the side as she stood beside me and lifted up a picture of her and a little Jane before saying to me, “We spilt not long after Jane was born, actually, he couldn’t handle the stress of being a dad I guess.”“Oh.” I say and look down at my feet before adding, “Sorry.”Bremerton shrugged as she put the picture back down and said, “It was hard at first, but Balti’s been a great aunt and really helped out with raising Jane. So screw Tom and his new family.” She paused and smiled at me before taking me by the arm and leading me upstairs to a guest room and saying, “I’m glad you and Jane are friends, she’s great with people on social media, not too good at face to face. So tell me about yourself, you got a love for rabbits like your mom?”I can’t help but laugh a little as I say, “Mamma wanted me to really like bunnies, even had my room decorated with stuffed ones. Heck, my dad calls me ‘his little beach bunny’, but honestly? I like the green sea turtles, they are just so chill.”“I can understand that, sometimes we need to find our own way.” Bremerton said, pausing in front of a door and saying, “There is an on-suite for your use and if you want to chill before coming down for dinner, that’s cool. I’ll send Jane to come and find you around six, after that we are all going on the town for some fun!”“Thanks, Bremerton.” I say as she starts to walk away, leaving me to open the door and smile, the room liked a little like mine back home, done up in blues and greens that made me think of the ocean. Going in, I put my stuff down before I turn and fall backward onto the soft bed and sighed happily, this felt so nice! With one good stretch in my phone started to ring, rising an eyebrow I check it to see a video chat request from Elise. I hit accept and then my ears are greeted with the sounds of people talking in German, I know one of the voices, Karl, but I don’t know the other one. I can see Elise standing there, and she has a finger against her lips. The second voice asked, “Damit?”There was some silence before Karl responded, “Mutter, ich will nicht darüber reden!”I heard a second woman make a noise that told me she knew something was up just before she said, “Oh! Oh! Schau, er wird rot! Er mag jemanden!”Almost immediately I heard Karl all but yell, “Halt die Klappe, Bryn!”The first woman snapped, “Karl! Sprich nicht so mit deiner Schwester!”“Aber Mutter!” Karl called back.Before anything else was said Elise walked away from the conversation, doing her best not to laugh, once she had taken the phone to her room, which was killer! Black and reds, super stylish looking, I’ll be honest, I was jealous again. Once the door clicked shut, Elise started laughing before asking me, “So, did you enjoy that?”“I have no idea what it was about!” I say to her with a smile.“Oh, right, you don’t speak German.” Elise says as her features fall a little before she says, “Mother was asking Karl if he liked any of the girls he’s met at the academy, trying to get a feel if she needs to continue working to find him a lover or not. Karl for his part is protesting he doesn’t, but he was overly red.”I blink a couple of times and roll to my belly and ask, “Who do you think it is? I bet it’s Dominque.”Elise pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed as she said, “I hate that bitch. She’s so irritating, always trying to make small talk with me or trying to get close to me.”I can’t help but snicker as I say, “You should try living with her, she called me a sea cow the other day, just because I’ve got bigger boobs.”“Please tell me you did something about that.” Else says to me as she places her phone down and starts getting out a change of clothes.I’m quiet for a moment before I admit while tapping the ends of my index fingers together, “I kind of took a challenge from instructor Scharnhorst and I may have been the reason Dominque failed that exercise.”“You landed that shot?” Elise calls back with surprise written all over her face, an oversized tee-shirt held against her chest.“Yeah. Instructor Scharnhorst bet I couldn’t make the shot, but she got me a beer after when I did.” I admit looking off to the side.Elise pulls off her top and slips on the huge shirt before pulling her arms and taking off her bra before she says to me, “That’s impressive, I’m not sure I could’ve made that shot. I mean we are talking about a shot that was roughly thirty kilometers away and on an Iris cruiser.”“Well, I did it.” I admit with a touch of pride before saying, “Between hydroacoustics to find them then radar to lock on, I had a good shot, I just had to figure out she was going in reverse before taking the shot, and even then I only hit with one round. Anyway, who do you think Karl has the hots for then?”Elise shrugged before taking off her skirt and getting on her bed as she said, “I don’t know, but I’ll pester him this break and see if I can find out.”I grin at her and tell her, “Thanks, you’re the best!”She laughs and says, “I know. Anyway, good night Sam, it’s getting late here.”I nod as I say to her, “Night Elise, sleep well.”She smiles and says, “Thank you, and you as well.”As soon as the call ended, I heard from downstairs, “Samantha, dinner’s ready!”XXXXAfter dinner I flopped backward on the bed and rubbed my belly, oh it’d been so long since I had a burger that big! And oh, the onion rings, yam fries, and regular fires on the side were so good with that spicy mayo! I hear a knock on my door and I sit up a little and call out, “Come on in!”The door opens and I see Bremerton standing there, her hair is down and loose, she smiles at me and slips inside, closing the door behind her and saying, “How are things going for you, Sam? I heard from Jane that you’re having some issues at school.”I shrug and flop back down as I say, “I’m having some trouble with my roommate, she’s just awful.”Bremerton sits down on the bed beside me and asks, “Do you want to talk about it?” I give her a sideways look and she smiles and adds, “Sometimes talking with someone helps, especially if they aren’t family.”Rubbing my belly again I sigh out, “Since the day I met her, she’s been just horrible to me. But I’ve got her figured out and I’ve figured out how to handle her, for the most part.”Bremerton leans back and uses her arms to support herself as she asks, “Handling her so well, that you needed to crash on someone else’s place for a few days?” I groan and hide my face under my hands as I think about Karl seeing me naked, me straddling Karl over chicken wings, and Elise telling me that if I was going to have sex with her brother to just keep it down. Bremerton gives a little laugh as she says, “Sounds like I hit the nail on the head.”Running my hands down my face I turn and look at her as I sigh out, “Not really, I was just thinking about how those couple of days turned into something super awkward.”Her head tilted to the side and she asked, “How so?”I take a deep breath and sigh out, “The brother of one of my friends, a guy I happen to be crushing on, saw me naked in the shower. And to make matters worse, I was borrowing a pair of panties from Jane, who happens to be a little smaller than I am, that were super tight and he could see ‘everything’. And then when I was scarfing down the leftover chicken wings, and he started to make off with them, I tackled him, pinned him under me, and Elise walked in on the two of us like that and she told me that if we were going to have sex, to at least keep it down!”Bremerton nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment before asking me something I hadn’t really thought too hard about, “Is he the first boy you’ve seen outside of your father?” This got me to nod and she smiled and asked me, “So, what is it about him that you find so interesting?” I blink a couple of times, I really hadn’t thought about this. I mean Karl is cute, but I’ve never really had the chance to talk with him. When I don’t answer right away, Bremerton says to me, “You might want to give it a cooling-off period, or get to know him first before doing a boarding action.”My cheeks get really hot and I look off to the side as I say, “Th… thanks. I’ll think about it.” Taking a moment to calm myself down I ask, “You’re really easy to talk to Bremerton, how did you get so good at this?”Bremerton reaches over and pats my shoulder as she says, “Well, being there for the other girls came naturally to me, but with Vestal’s help I got my degrees in psychology then I just kept running my online help desk, and eventually turned it into a business.” She pauses and laughs before adding, “Don’t worry, I won’t send you a bill for this.” She pauses and gets off the bed and once she gets to the door, she turns and says to me, “And Sam, if you even need someone to talk to, I’m happy to listen. Oh! And say hi to your folks from me, let them know I miss them, would you?”I nod as I say to her, “Will do, and good night Bremerton.” And with that, she left the room and I rolled to my belly to surf social media for the rest of the evening before I turned in for the night.XXXXXXXXIt’d been a fantastic thanksgiving and holiday, but getting back to school after the break was nice too. With my backpack on and being covered in a heavy winter kit that I had picked up in New Jersey with Jane on a shopping trip. As I was crossing the quad, I spotted a familiar pair of little red horns and I called out, from under a scarf, “Elise!”I watch as she turned, her yellow eyes lighting up when she saw me making my way over. It wasn’t lost on me to see that she was in such light winter clothing, though the bright pink ear muffs were kind of funny, I mean pink is the one color I never thought I’d see Elise in. Her smile grew broader as I got close and she asked, “Did you have a good holiday?”With a quick hug I fall in step with her as I say, “Yeah, I met Jane’s mom and aunt, who apparently knew my mom and dad before they got together. How did things go in Germany?”Elise shrugs and adjusts her scarf as we keep walking, “It was alright, I wasn’t able to get any more information out of Karl though, though our elder sister Bryn was having fun taunting him about that.” She pauses and snaps the fingers on her right hand as she adds, “That reminds me, Bryn was asking about any friends I had made here and I showed her your picture. She thinks you are very pretty and asked if you had ever done any modeling?”I blink a couple of times before bending over and laughing as I say, “Totally, for sports illustrated, you know they came out to a little navy base out in the middle of nowhere just to scout me.”Elise bumps her hips with me as she says, “That’s what I figured, anyway, Bryn is going to be in the Union this spring for a fashion show in New York and wanted to know if she could talk to you about swimwear, especially after I talked to her about how you have a hard time with good swimwear out where you’re from.”I shrug and say, “It’s not that I have a hard time with it, the hard part is getting it. I either have to pay five times as much to get it sent to the base, or take a thousand-mile trip to Hawaii to pick something up.”Elise nodded and then asked me another question, “Bryn also wanted to know if you know of any really nice places in the pacific that are off the beaten track so to speak. Bryn hates going to all the usual places for photoshoots.”Tilting my head to the side I ask, “Just what does your sister do anyway?”“She’s trying to launch a fashion business, she’s got lingerie down, same with high-end street fashion, but beachwear has been a pain.” She says to me with a shrug before adding, “And she was thinking after I told her that you more or less grew up on a beach, that you could help with that.”Bobbing my head from side to side I ask, “Do you think I could get a cut of the profits?”Elise laughed and said to me with another hip bump, “That would have to happen between you and Bryn.”I take a deep breath of the cold air and sigh out, “Fiiiiine.”Elise laughs and places an arm around my shoulders as she says, “I missed you this holiday.”I place an arm around her shoulders and say, “I missed you too.”It’s nice to have friends.XXXXXXXX
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I reach out and touch the curl of the wave I was riding as I cut through the tube, god I missed doing this! Not that school had been hard, but not being able to do any real surfing the entire year so far had been rough, thank god for spring break! I had taken mama’s advice and went to Kitty Hawk in North Carolina since I only had two weeks and I had to sail there, so glad the trip was only sixtyish nautical miles so I had that covered in like half a day. Once I was clear of the tube, I looked to the shore, laying on the beach in the sun was Elise in this nearly non-existent bikini, her elder sister, Brynhildr as I had learned her name, had rented a beach house here to scout for possible locations for a photoshoot in the area. I lost my concentration for a moment when I spotted Karl playing volleyball, the way the sun bounced off that lean muscular frame… My attention went back to what I was doing when I felt my balance wobble a little.When that wave came to an end, I sat down on my board and tugged at my wet suit and I heard some of the stitching pop, hanging my head I sighed before looking for where the hole was. Lifting my right arm and looking under there I saw the patchwork I had done there had come undone and now I was showing a ton of side boob.Ugh, I really need to get a new suit. Laying down I paddle to the beach, damn I guess I’m done for the day unless I can find some new thread and get this sewn up again.
Once I got back on the beach I carried my board up the beach ad plunked it in the sand beside Elise and flopped down on the towel and let out a groan. Elise slid her sunglasses down and rolled onto her back as she said, “I saw you out there, you looked like you were having fun, so what’s wrong?”Twisting slightly and showing her the hole, in the process of showing the hole I heard more popping of threads, looking down I saw a hole opening up on my chest. Moving my hands quickly to my chest I groaned out, “Great, now I don’t have a choice, I need to go shopping and find a new wetsuit.”Elise arched her left eyebrow and asked, “Do you want me to go with you?”Sighing and doing my best to keep my suit together I say to her, “Maybe later, do you think you can take my board back? I’m going to need both hands to stop me from flashing the entire beach.”“Ja, I can do that. I’ll find you later then.” She says as she rolls back to her belly to enjoy the sun a little longer before adding, “Can you unhook me? I’d like to go without a tan line on my back.”With a shrug, I lean over and unhook her top, while trying to keep myself from falling out of my failing suit before heading back to the beach house. During my quick pace there I kept hearing popping sounds from the threads that I had been using to keep this thing together. With an inward sigh I mumble out, “Farewell my suit, you’ve lasted me so long. But please, please wait till I get inside first!”Twisting the handle on the door and pushing it open, the stitching on my left side let go and I felt a breeze against my left hip. Closing the door behind me, I drop my hands from trying to keep it together and start walking towards my room when I hear footsteps coming towards me. What I saw come around the corner had my mouth drop open. I saw someone that looked almost exactly like me! Well, if I had long blond hair and wasn’t as tanned, her head tilted to the side and she pointed at me and stepped closer as she said, “Wer zum Teufel bist du und warum siehst du aus wie ich?”My head tilted to the other side and I pointed at her, asking, “Who are you, and why do you look like me?”She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose as she mutters with a heavy German accent, “Eagle Union.”I raise an eyebrow and say, “Not with that accent, your not.”She released the bridge of her nose and rolled her blue eyes while flicking some of her long blond hair and sniped, “You must be an idiot, of course, I am not from the Eagle Union.”My hands went to my hips and I snorted as I demanded, “Then just who do you think you are to barge into the house I’m renting with my friends?”Her blue eyes narrowed at me for a moment, before one hand went to her bust and she tilted her head up to look down at me as she said, “Who am I? I am checking to see where the extra funds are being spent on behalf of my mother. I am Astrid Winters, daughter to and the inheritor of the legacy of my mother, Bismarck, flagship of the Iron Blood fleet. Now, who are you?”I blink a couple of times and took a step back slightly before saying to her, “Yeah, well, I am Samantha Bellamy, daughter to North Carolina of the Eagle union fleet and kansen of the large cruiser Hawaii.”“So you are the one.” She said with a low tone of voice as her eyes narrowed at me.“The one what?” I asked as I gave her a sideways look.Before I could get an answer I saw her eyes light up, just as the door opened behind me and I heard Karl ask, “Sam? Astrid?”This Astrid flashed me a devious smile before pushing past me and shoulder checking me in the process, I turned and followed her as she walked up to Karl, and linked her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him as she asked, in English likely for my benefit, “How are you, my beloved?”I felt tears starting to build up in my eyes, and I turned away from what was going on behind me, I started to run to my room as I heard Karl call out behind me, “Sam, wait!”XXXXSometime later I heard a knock at my door and I did my best to keep my voice level while I kept shoving stuff into my pack as I said, “What?”The door cracked open behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Elise standing there, with bits of my old suit that had come off on my dash up here. Her head tilts to the side as she asks, “Sam?”I sigh and sit on the bed as I ask her, “Why didn’t you tell me he had a girl back home,” I pause to take a breath to try and be calm, but my voice doesn’t listen to that and I go really high pitch as I continue, “that looked just like me!”Elise came over and sat beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders as she said, “Because he doesn’t.”I leaned my head against her shoulder and sighed out, “Then why would she call him ‘beloved’?”“Astrid gets what Astrid wants. She’s been trying for years to get Karl, but this past winter break was extra hard as he rejected her advances at every turn.” Elise says as she rubs my shoulder.My brow knits together as I think about how I keep getting rejected too I ask, “You don’t think, he likes guys do you?”Elise doesn’t answer right away and I feel my insides drop, after a moment she says, “I don’t think so unless he’s left things out on purpose to throw me off.”“Like?” I ask.She sighs and says to me, “I will say this much, boys are disgusting. Anyways, shall we go shopping for a new wetsuit for you?”I bob my head up and down on her shoulder as I say, “Fine, anything to keep me away from Astrid.” I pause and ask, “Why isn’t she at school with the rest of us?”Elise gets off the bed and sighs, “Because of who she is. She is getting the best education possible back home, with the best possible instructors.” Elise pauses and presses her lips together as she says, “I hate the fact that her hull is more powerful than mine, even with smaller guns.”Hopping off the bed I go over to my pack and pull out some clean socks and ask, “How so?”Elise puts a hand on the doorknob as she says, “Her hull is a smaller version of her mother’s, identical to Odin’s hull.” She pauses to scoff, “Battlecruiser my ass.”“Yeah?” I ask while slipping on the short socks.“Yes, such is the privilege she enjoys by being Bismarck’s daughter.” Elise says with a sour note in her voice as she left the room.I followed her downstairs and just as I got to the door, I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder to see Astrid sitting beside Karl on the couch, when she noticed me looking, she slid a hand onto his lap and started to nuzzle his neck. I snorted and left quickly slamming the door behind me as I said, “Let's go and find me a new swimsuit.”XXXXXXXXAfter we got to what was considered the best surf shop in town, I stood in front of a mirror with a bunch of wet suits, trying to figure out which one I liked best. To be honest, I didn’t like either that much, I mean I had cut the arms off of my old one and cut the legs down to go to mid-thigh, these ones I had now were full body, only my head, hands, and feet would be exposed. I mean sure, for the water here, this would likely be fine, but back home the water was so warm. A knock on the change room door came just as Elise asked, “How’s it going in there?”“I hate both options.” I sighed back.“Do you need a wetsuit though? Couldn’t you use a bikini?” she asked as she tossed some outfits over the top of the door.“I don’t know I’d be worried about falling,” I paused while picking up this really cute top and add, “Oh! This one is cute!”“Which one?” she asks.“The blue one with the white Hawaiian lilies on it.” I call back while dropping the wetsuit on the floor and putting on the top. I struggle a little with getting it on and ask, “Can you grab one in a bigger size? This one is like a cup size too small and the girls won’t stay in it!”After a couple of minutes Elise called back over the door, “Sorry, that seems to be the largest one.”Groaning inwardly, it was the nicest looking top I’d seen this trip and if I want to keep surfing, I can either look really bad or I can deal with a top that is a little small. I can go looking for something better when I have more time, I guess. With a heavy sigh, I take the top off and put it in the basket before I find the matching bottoms, slipping them on, they at least fit right. Nodding to myself in the mirror before getting dressed and leaving the change room, Elise looks at me and asks, “What wrong?”I shrug and respond, “It’s not what I really want, but I don’t really have a choice, so I’ll get this now and keep looking for something like what I want. I’d rather surf in something I don’t love than wait to find something I love and not surf.”She nods and places an arm around my shoulder before asking, “Should we go and grab some dinner and maybe take in a movie? I’ll also get in touch with Bryn and see if she has anything kicking around for swimwear that she’s trying to market.”I grin as I say, “I’m down for some good down-home cooking. Besides, it keeps me away from Astrid.” I pause and give her a sideways look as I ask, “Why do you put up with her?”Elise frowns and lets go of me to run her hand through her long dark hair as she sighs out, “My mother is Bismarck’s left hand, Eugen is her right hand. Because Bismarck is the flagship and Astrid is her daughter, it puts Astrid in a position to take over the fleet, meaning I have to deal with her for the rest of my life. So in short, I don’t have a choice.”“That sucks.” I contend as I pay for my new swimsuit before we leave and take in the movie.XXXXWhen we got home that night, I went up to my room, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to stay in the house with Astrid here, I just found her really frustrating. That being said, when I got upstairs, I heard a door close, looking up I saw Astrid leaving Karl’s room, she was in a camisole and shorts, and her hair was tied back. When she noticed me, she smirked and wiped the corners of her mouth before making a noise like she had eaten some good food and shoulder-checking me before going into the room she had claimed. I tilted my head to the side as I thought about the implications of this latest encounter with her, did she just?I didn’t finish that thought as the door behind me opened and I heard Karl say, “Astrid, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to call you Sam.”I spun around and slapped him in the chest as I said, “What the hell!”“Sam?” he asked me, his eyes going wide.“Yes, Sam!” I say with my hands going to my hips as I continue at him, “Just what the heck did you do? Or rather who the heck did you do?”“Sam!” he says back coming to a stop and smiling at me.My lips compress and I snort before turning back around and stomping off to my room as I say, “You know what, forget it, I don’t want to know.”I felt Karl grab my left wrist as he pleaded with me, “Sam, wait.”I spun back around, my right hand moving on its own to slap Karl, hard, just as the tears started to build up and I yelled at him, “You’ve had six months Karl! Six months to say something since you saw me in the shower, seven months since we first bumped into each other! And now, your girlfriend from Germany is here, and she what? Did something for you and you call her my name?” I spin back around and go to my bedroom door, open it and holler at him before slamming it shut, “Figure it out, Karl!” With that done I flop down on the bed, pulling my pillow close to my face as I take out my phone and text Lou back home, ‘Boys are stupid.’She gets back to me almost right away, asking, ‘What happened?’‘The guy I like apparently has a girlfriend that looks almost exactly like me, and after they were alone for a while, he called her by my name.’ I type back, feeling the first of the tears rolling free.It takes a few minutes before she asks, ‘Did you two ever do anything? Did you ever ask him if he was seeing anyone?’My brow knit together and I sighed before texting, ‘No, to both things. But he has seen me naked, due to some bad luck on my part.’‘Has he said he is actually with this other girl?’ she asks me.I quickly type out an answer before going back and deleting it, thinking about how Elise didn’t even know he was seeing anyone. My eyebrows go up as I type out, ‘No, not even his sisters know.’‘Then maybe they are not seeing each other and are just fuck buddies?’ she types back.‘I’m not sure that helps, Lou.’ I type back feeling sick to my stomach.However what she sent back made me smile a little, ‘It does, it means you still have a chance.’‘I don’t want to be the girl that breaks people up… I’m already dealing with one of those, Dominque.’ I send back as I roll to my back.‘Ask him directly, if he is, then back off, but if he isn’t, then go for it.’ She says.‘Fiiiine.’ I send back before tossing my phone to my bed and getting out of the room and knocking on his door.He opens it and says, “Not now Astrid.”My lips compress and I hold my short hair out and snap, “Sam, I’m Sam.” I don’t give him a chance to respond as I put up a finger to his lips and ask, “Are you and Astrid, like a couple?”I don’t let him answer with words, just shake his head from side to side, seeing that makes me feel so good inside, so I take my finger away from his lips before spinning on my feet and marching back to my room, stopping at the doorway to say to him, “Then don’t have sex with her.”Just as I close the door behind me, he protests, “I didn’t!”Flopping down on my bed I take my phone back out and text Lou, ‘He says they aren’t a couple.’Lou sends me back an image that says ‘get it, girl!’‘Thanks, Lou.” I type before quickly adding, ‘Don’t tell my mom!’XXXXXXXX
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Once Astrid left for home, I couldn’t be happier to have her gone and I think Elise was happy to see her go two. The only uncomfortable thing coming up was the finals, man how I wasn’t looking forward to that! Yet at the same time, I was looking forward to them being over, as it marked the end of the year and I could go home and surf my summer away. Putting my head down on the desk in the library with books, papers, and pencils piled around me, I shut my eyes and try to get through this study session, I don’t wanna do math right now.
A moment after I shut my eyes I feel something bounce off of my forehead, and I sit bolt upright and rub my head, looking around I see Elise sitting across from me, a frown on her face and she ran a hand through her black hair as she says, “You were starting to snore.”
“I don’t snore!” I protest.
“You do, Sammy.” Said Jane from beside me, her pink hair tied back in a singular ponytail, thick glasses on her face and she was bouncing a pencil against her right cheek and she added, “All the instructors are going to be watching this, it’s worth nearly half our final grade this year.”
“The math test?” I ask in alarm.
Yumi looks down and starts to stroke her pink and yellow tail, she’s doing her best not to laugh, but it’s Elise who pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs out, “No, the actual exam.”
Rolling my blue eyes as I fold my arms under my bust and lean back I admit, “I know that, I just wish we knew what the test was going to be. But if it’s not a math test, why is this so important.”
Jane turned her attention to the physics book she had out and asked me, “Coriolis effect?”
I shrug and say, “Some old guy?”
Jane sighed and closed her book before using it to bonk me on the head as she says, “No, it’s the series of equations for long-range shooting, you know the very thing we do?”
“But that’s what the radar and targeting computers on our rigging are for.” I say as I rub the top of my head.
“And when the radar and range finders are down?” Elise asks.
“Then I run like hell.” I say proudly.
“What about for aircraft?” Yumi mumbles softly.
“A wall of flak, medium, and small caliber AA.” I say confidently.
“Long-range torpedoes?” Jane asks.
I shrug and say, “I find them on radar before they launch and use hydro to avoid getting hit.”
“You’re going to get sunk.” Elise says dryly.
“No, I won’t.” I protest.
“Yes, you will.” She counters with a slight smirk.
I collect my books and stick out my tongue as I tease out, “No, I won’t. And I’ll bet you one of my boards that I don’t sink.”
Elise gives me a sideways look, I can see her mind working behind those yellow eyes of hers before she says, “And if you don’t sink, I’ll let you raid my closet.”
I extend a hand to her and say, “Deal.”
She shakes it and I say, “Now I’m going to go and get some sleep, I don’t want to face Schanrhorst exhausted tomorrow.”
As I start to leave, I hear my friends say “Night Sam.” I turn quickly and give them all a wave before heading off to my dorm for the night.
XXXXXXXX
The next day I was standing at the docks and ran both index fingers under the cut of the swim kit that went over my butt, just to make sure it wasn’t riding up. God, I hate this swimsuit, the darn thing always rides up and causes a lot of flossing. Looking around I watched as the class was being pulled off into our usual breakdown of hull classes, and I stood with Eliese, not super unusual, I mean we’re the only two large cruisers so we usually got the same instruction. Though what was surprising is I didn’t see Scharnhorst or Gneisenau anywhere, then again I didn’t see any of the other instructors, either. Leaning over I whisper to Elise, “What’s going on?” Elise shrugged and then I saw her stiffen, like a lot, and I asked, “What?”
She leaned over and whispered in my ear, “This is bigger than just an exam.”
Looking to where she was looking I saw a kansen standing on the docks, a data pad in her hand than hung down by her right hip, with her left hand she reached up and rubbed this red strip of hair that she had that stood out in contrast to her silver hair. She had rust red eyes that were locked onto Elise, her build was well endowed and her grey uniform did little to cover anything. Her eyes flicked to me for a second and they went wide, just for a split second as she said with a thick German accent, “Interesting.”
Behind this German kansen, I spot long blond hair, tan skin, blue eyes, and a stern look on her face. Gulping inwardly as she steps around the German one, her blue eyes locking onto me and she says with a southern accent, “You’re Hawaii, right?”
It had taken some getting used to; being called out by my hull’s name, but it’s something I’d gotten used to this year as it was how the instructors referred to us. Bringing myself to attention I respond to her, “Yes, Instructor.”
“Looks like you have potential, I’m Tennessee, and I’ll be the one to evaluate you in your battle against Siegfried.” She says with a bit of forcefulness to her voice as she stopped right in front of me, leaned in, and whispered, “I’m not entirely sold on the idea of large cruisers, so you’ve got a lot to prove.”
I blink a couple of times as I try to process what she just said. The German one stops in front of Elise and looks at her sideways and asks, “You know why I am year, ja?”
Elise nods slowly as she says, “I do, Prinz Eugen.”
“Gut. That means you understand how important your performance today will be, and who will be paying attention to it.” She says, still rubbing that red strip of hair, her rust-red eyes looking at me again, I can almost feel like she is evaluating me simply on how I’m standing after a moment she asked Elise “How well do you know your opponent?”
Oh crap! I’m going to get sunk.
No! I’ve got a board on the line, I can’t let that happen.
“I know Hawaii well enough, Eugen.” Elise responded, almost mechanically.
Eugen’s brow wrinkled slightly. She looked at her data pad, her gloved left hand sliding over the images, swiping along until she came to a specific image. “An Alaska class? So just a lower quality Scharnhorst, though I’m not sure that’s possible. They even have larger guns and somehow still manage to come out worse."
“Hey! Instructor Scharnhorst has been impressed with what I can do!” I blurt out, Elise sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
Eugen turned her rust-red eyes to me again and I saw the edges of her lips curl up slightly as she leaned forward and said, “That’s like saying a kitten is impressed by a cat. They both nothing compared to a lion.”
I was about to retort when I felt someone take hold of my swimsuit and pull me back as she said, “That’s enough, Hawaii, you’ll get your turn in the exercise area, now get out on the water.”
Hanging my head and sighing I respond, “Yes, instructor Tennessee.”
She lets go of me and says, “Good girl.”
XXXXXXXX
An hour into the exam time, I hadn’t spotted Elise yet and I knew she hadn’t spotted me yet. I didn’t really want to fight my friend, but I knew this was important. Looking around I feel my brow wrinkle, I really can’t see where she’d be hiding. Checking the chronometer I had in my rigging, I knew I was running out of time, only an hour left for this engagement, what am I going to do?
Closing my eyes I recall my first lesson with Scharnhorst and snap the fingers on my right hand before I get down on my keens on the water’s surface, cup my ears and listen for the sound of cavitation. My eyes shoot wide open as I pick it up, just outside my radar detection range to the southeast and getting progressively closer. I knew what this means, it means Elise has likely already done the same to spot me and is closing to get the first shot.
I remember Elise telling me that she’s only slightly faster than I am at a full run, if I’m smart I’d try to run and prolong this engagement, my guns can fire faster than hers and our range is about the same. And I think that’s exactly what she’ll be expecting me to do. Pushing off with my right foot I start to skim towards where she’s coming from.
After about five minutes I position my hands like dishes behind my ears and let out a deep breath as I actively start paying attention to my radar systems, the first pulse going out, now I just need the return signal.
It came faster than I had thought it would, but I found her, hard-charging towards me, switching to my long-range targeting, I angle slightly and load in high explosive, she’s not giving me enough side to use AP yet. The words of Scharnhorst rigging in my ears, “The one that takes the first shot has the advantage."
Putting a bit of lead into my shot, I let the first salvo go, turn around and start to kite away at an angle that’ll let me bounce some shells yet also let me get most of my guns on target.
Letting the image from the range finder play in my mind’s eye I watch as Elise with the grace of a ballerina, hops off of the water, spinning in the air and landing back on the water, just over enough for my shells to splash down into the water. With a quick flourish of her right hand, her three gun turrets unleashed a salvo of six fifteen-inch shells.
I had little time to react, shifting my weight to my left, lifting my right foot off of the water, I turned hard, just as my turrets reloaded with AP rounds this time. I was thankful that my turret rotation speed was able to keep up with my turn. Giving a little lead again I fire my rear turret, hold, change the target point, fire my second forward turret, hold and change target point and fire my foremost turret. I then shift to my right foot and change direction again.
In the middle of my turn, I feel the impact of one of her shells against my rear turret, risking taking my attention off of Elise for a moment I pay attention to the alert coming from my rear turret. I frown as I notice it’s been knocked out, but not destroyed, at least by the rules of the test anyway; I should have it back online in about a minute.
Turning my attention back to Elise I see her grimace as she sees the staggering salvos; she has no choice but to take at least one set. To my surprise she turns to port slightly and catches two of my shells, each striking both of her forward turrets on the side. Sadly I see one of the shells bounce off, but one seems to bite in and her most forward turret points off to the side, barrels pointing skyward. Okay, good, I’ve knocked out one of her guns for the match!
A moment later she swings out a little and fires both of her remaining turrets and I don’t have anywhere to go, I know I’m going to take at least one hit from this. Bringing my hull pieces up to try and shield my body I see her shots slam down on the water on either side of me, and I feel my drives shut down for a moment, an alert telling me that my drives had been disabled due to near hits by large caliber high explosive near the props.
Once my ears stopped rigging I felt small impacts against my rigging, lowering my hull plates I see Elise is still closing and her secondary armament is starting to go off, the damage is minor, but I know it’s going to add up.
Putting HE rounds into my rear turret I aim at the water near her feet and let it fly, while I fire AP from my bow turrets at where I know her upper belt would be. Elise shifts her weight and hops out of the water to avoid getting immobilized, but the hop leaves her upper belt at the perfect angle for the AP rounds to bite deep.
The rounds connect and she falls to the water on her back that must’ve been a good hit! It takes her a moment to get to her feet again and as she does so, my drives come back online and I can start moving again. Shifting my weight to my right, I move in for a kill shot just as I spot them in the water, and my stomach drops. I know why she didn’t dodge the AP now, a full torpedo spread in front of me, how could I forget she has those!
I only have a few seconds before they connect and I see her smile, she’s confident she’s got this. With my main batteries reloaded I let fly one last salvo as I feel the dummy torpedoes connect and my rigging shuts down. Elise’s smile fades as she sees the shells and she has nowhere to go, all nine shells slam home. Her entire rigging seems to go offline; I think I hit something important.
Over the radio, I hear Tennessee say, “Winner, Siegfried, though a good showing Hawaii.”
Elise grins at me and places her hands around her mouth to yell, “I want the blue and white one!”
“Nope!” I yell back at her before adding, “I want that black slinky dress!”
“You didn’t win! As per the deal, I get one of your boards.” she yells back at me.
I shake my head as I say, “I didn’t sink! The deal was if I sunk you got a board. If I didn’t I get to raid your closet!”
Elise’s mouth hung open for a minute before she sighed, “We need Jane to tell us for sure what I agreed to.”
“Finnne!” I yell back and fall back down to the water’s surface to just float and take pride in the fact that I didn’t sink.
XXXXXXXX
After the finals were over, I was putting my stuff on my hull, when I sense someone on it. Heading to the weather deck I see Elise, Jane, and Yumi standing there. Elise is looking off to the side and I can see that she has a garment bag in hand, when I get within arm's reach she lifts it and hands it over to me as she says, “A bet is a bet.”
Holding the bag, I know that Elise loves this dress since it was made by her sister Bryn, I smile at Elise and hand it back to her as I say, “You can keep it, I want one, but well we both know it’s not my size.”
Elise takes the bag back and hugs it to her chest before pulling me into a bone-crushing and suffocating hug and she whispers low enough so that only I can hear it, “You are my best friend, Sam, call or write to me this summer, alright?”
Reaching around to pat her on the back I whisper back, “Only if you do the same.”
When Elise lets me out of the hug I reach over and wave Jane in, and pull Yumi in as well as I say, “I’m so glad to have met each of you gals this year and I look forward to next year too.” I pause and look at Elise as I add, “And I wanna room with you next year.”
Elise laughs as she says, “We shall see.”
Jane wiggles out from the group hug and sets her phone on the railing on my deck then hurries over to us and says, “Smile!” The next thing
I know there is a flash and Jane goes over to turn her phone around and shows us a picture of all of us together. Yumi making little victory signs with her fingers, her blond and pink hair and fox features on full display, Jane with her bubble gum pink hair standing about even with me, and Elise, who is easily a whole head taller than me, even not counting her little red horns. “Don’t worry, I’m going to text it to all of you!” Jane adds as she starts typing away on her phone before adding, “First-year squad!”
I pull the three of them in again and say, “I’m going to miss you guys.”
Elise laughs as she says, “When not thinking about surfing.”
“Or green sea turtles.” Adds Yumi.
“Or pineapples.” Teases Jane.
“Yeah, yeah.” I sigh out and give my friends one last squeeze before we start going our separate ways for the next couple of months.
XXXXXXXX