"So boring…" The Commander laid back on his chair. "Akagi? Are there any commissions ready yet?"
Akagi, who was lying with her head on his lap enjoying that moment, looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, Commander-sama. The next commission is done in five hours."
The Commander moaned. "So much time… I don't know what to do."
Akagi hopped up with a smutty grin on her face. "We could have-"
"No! Not again. We already did it today and that was just because I couldn't run away fast enough."
"Yeah… that was fun."
"But only for you… someone should teach you the meaning of 'No means no'."
"Huh? Never heard of that one."
"No wonder."
"Anyways, I think it's time to marry me."
"Nah, that's not worth my gems." The Commander sighed. "Could you tell the other secretaries to come over to my office?"
"Fine, but I'll come back to that topic. Trust me!"
Short time later Akagi, Z2, Yukikaze, Belfast and Langley gathered in front of the Commander.
"I really need your help now. You see, at the moment there is no event. And we can't send any fleets anywhere, since we don't have enough oil for unnecessary actions. So, right now it is pretty boring at the base and I'm kinda concerned, that this is having a negative effect for the moral of our ship girls. I was hoping that you five could think of something that could keep them busy, while we can't go on mission."
Belfast answered right away. "Understood! I'll give you my word, we will find a solution to this problem in no time."
"Don't worry, Commander. As long as I, Yukikaze the Great, am assisting, we will surprise you with something amazing, you would have never thought of."
"Great, I'm looking forward to your idea. You may leave now."
"Just one question, Commander." Z2 interrupted. "Since when is Akagi part of the secretary group?"
The Commander looked troubled trying to find an answer that would pacify everyone. "Well… you know… She decided to be a secretary herself and I wasn't in the position to reject her demands in that moment." Z2 didn't really get, what he meant with 'not in the position to reject her', but the Commander was already pushing everyone out of his office as he said, "No time for more question. You have to find a solution. Bye!" He let out a big sigh, after he had closed the door behind him. With his back pressed against the door he slowly sank to the ground while saying to himself, "That was close. What a Commander would I be in their eyes if they knew, Akagi would have raped me if I hadn't given her this job as secretary-"
"We can still hear you, Commander…" Z2 said through the door. "Also, as commander you should always be in the position of rejecting demands..."
He immediately jumped up. "Forget, what I just said! Go away already!"
Some time had passed as the secretaries discussed some ideas in a conference room.
"No, Akagi. We won't do a Who-loves-the-Commander-the-most contest." Z2 was about to give up.
"Come on, Z2. You're such a killjoy."
"This is hopeless."
"Now is the moment Yukikaze the Great brings up her even greater master plan. Let's organize a tournament, in which the girls can fight in one-on-one duels against each other."
"Good idea." Belfast continued Yukikaze's thought. "This is a good distraction from our daily life. And in such a tournament they can train their skills even more."
"Right, and a little bit of competition between us never hurts." Langley agreed.
Yukikaze nodded with a self-content smile. "Like I said, an amazing idea."
"And the winner wins the love of Commander-sama!" Akagi added.
"Ahh… or maybe a just a whole day with him…" Belfast tried to find a compromise. "Anyways, is everyone fine with that?" No one had an objection against their plan.
…
"Sounds great!" The Commander liked her 'master plan' as well, but Yukikaze wasn't done telling him the whole idea.
"Oh, and you don't even know the best! The winner gets something that is so cheap, we don't even had to pay for it…"
"What can that be?! Don't say, Akashi actually gave discount for once in a lifetime."
"No, it's cheaper. The winner gets a whole day together with you!" The Commander's excitement kept within limits, when he heard about that prize.
"Ah… right… sounds great, I guess…"
"Yeah, very smart idea, right?" Langley tried to keep the mood up. "So, we thought of holding this tournament at the sea close to the beach, where everyone else can watch from the land, while the contestants are fighting on the water. We just need some stands for the spectators."
"This shouldn't be a problem…" The Commander still hadn't totally calmed down due to the winner's prize. There were many strong girls in his fleet with a very weird understatement of love. With Akagi there even was a good example in the room. At this point he was already hoping a 'normal' girl would win, or that something sudden might happen that would stop the tournament, like a siren attack.
Belfast noticed, that the Commander wasn't completely convinced. "No worries, Commander. We will make sure, everything is going to be alright. All you have to do is, sit down and enjoy."
And so it was decided to hold a tournament one week later at the beach.
A few days later in front of the canteen building…
"Javelin, how is your training going?" Laffey was half-asleep lying on a bench, while Javelin was sitting next to her.
"Ah… I-I wanted to start yesterday, but…" Javelin looked down. "But I haven't found anyone to train with yet."
"Mmm… that's not good."
"I know, you offered me to train with you, but I don't want to fight my friends. And I don't want to cause you any trouble, since I know you're too sleepy for fights, as long as it's not getting serious."
"Laffey… is hungry."
"Huh? You're good at changing the topic… Fine, let's go and get some food and drinks. I can't wait for some torpedo tempura, too." The two slowly got up and went towards the canteen. While they were walking, Javelin was talking to Laffey, and while she was doing that, she wasn't paying any attention at all to what she was aiming for. Until suddenly that happened, what had to happen. She crashed headlong into something in front of her. A few moments later Javelin holding her forehead found herself on the ground surrounded by Laffey and Prinz Eugen.
"Well, if that isn't Javelin of the Royal Navy faction."
Javelin jumped up. "Oh, hi Eugen. Sorry for bumping into you."
"Hmm? You didn't run into me…"
Then Javelin noticed a shaking Leipzig, that was still sitting on the ground. "I'm sorry, Leipzig. It just happens so often, that I bump into people. Ask my sister Jersey," Javelin said jokingly. But Leipzig didn't react. She just sat there on the ground with wide open eyes quietly saying to herself "N-not a-again".
"Huh?" Javelin was slightly confused about this reaction.
"I'm… s-sorry. Please don't hate me…" Leipzig said as she was still shaking extremely.
"Oh, were you trying to mark her or something? Because I already left a big mark on her, so I would say she belongs to me." Prinz Eugen interfered.
"That is… a weird relationship." Laffey stated.
"I know it sounds wrong, but I still love my little Leipzig." Eugen gave her a head pat. "She always keeps Roon away from me. That's why she is very important to me. But, I guess, if you want to have her, you will have to defeat me in an one-on-one match."
"Eh? I didn't-... that's oddly specific. Are you too trying to find someone to train for the upcoming tournament?"
"Oh, you saw through me…" Prinz Eugen giggled. "Fine, let's meet in the afternoon at the beach." She was smirking as she turned around and grabbed Leipzig by her arm dragging her down the hallway, while leaving Laffey and an astonished Javelin behind.
"Problem… solved." Laffey quietly summarized. "Let's get some food quickly… Fighting hungry isn't good."
"Y-you're right…"
The two girls got some food and sat down in the canteen.
"Uhh… I'm getting nervous. I don't want to embarrass myself in case I am too weak to seriously fight Eugen. Laffey-chan, do you think I could win against her? It is possible that I could come up against her in the tournament. And she might even not be the hardest rival."
"Eugen is strong and can take a lot of damage…" Laffey took a dramatic break, for Javelin more dramatic than it was intended to be by Laffey, who just wanted to sip on her Oxy-Cola. "But Javelin is so good at evading… You can win if you evade her shots and hit her with your torpedoes. Eugen is slow, so she can be hit easily by them."
"Wow, I think I've never heard you talking that many words in such a short time."
"Mmm… If it's for helping my friends. But… talking makes me sleepy."
"Thank you, Laffey-chan. These are some very good tips. Will you be my coach throughout the tournament?"
"Mmm… okay."
"You're the best! I won't disappoint you." The two girls finished their meal and went to the beach with a little stop at the list of contestants. Javelin really wanted to know, who else was participating.
"Don't forget that everyone could fight anyone of these contestants, no matter their faction, nor their ship classification:
Admiral Graf Spee
Ajax
Alabama
Cleveland
Enterprise
Hammann
Hiei
Ise
Javelin
Jean Bart
Kaga
Le Mars
Prinz Eugen
San Diego
Saratoga
Warspite
The matches of the first round will be announced by the organizers at the start of the event."
"Mmm… Hiei…" Laffey's chops went down immediately. She actually started to look mad. Even Javelin, who was reading through the list, noticed it. Then she remembered. If there was only one person Laffey really dislikes, it would be Hiei.
"Ahh-... Laffey-chan, let's go to the beach!" Javelin was desperately looking for an opportunity to distract Laffey from that thought. But Laffey did nothing but staring at this name with angry eyes.
"Laffey-chan?"
"Hiei…"
"Shall I buy you a drink?"
"Hiei…"
"Or maybe ice cream?"
"Ice cream?" Laffey glanced over to Javelin.
"Ah sorry, I don't actually have the money for this right now."
"Hiei!" Now she had a slightly disappointed undertone in her voice.
In the end Javelin could persuade Laffey to go to the beach. When they got there, Prinz Eugen and 'her' Leipzig were already waiting.
"Oh, I almost thought, you wouldn't show up anymore… Guess, you're braver than I thought."
"Guess, there is still stuff you ave to learn about me."
"Fine…" Eugen chuckled. "Now, shall we start."
"But first, let's agree that no one will hurt the other too much, okay?"
"Hmm? Are you afraid of getting beaten up by me too badly?" But in the same moment she added with a giggle, "Fine. That's probably beneficial to us both."
Javelin and Prinz Eugen flew over the surface of the water leaving Laffey and Leipzig behind. They stopped in a safe distance to the beach.
"Are you ready, Javelin?"
"Totally, let's start."
"Remember, what Laffey told me. Evade her shots. Fire back. Hit her with my torpedoes." In her thoughts Javelin ran through her strategy. In which direction was she going to evade? When should she use which skill?
Both had already gotten ready for the fight. Then it started. Prinz Eugen fired her main guns. At the same moment she launched her torpedoes. Javelin saw this huge wall of fire coming towards her. "Not good…" She closed her eyes, as she aimed her main gun at Eugen and started to run. She heard Eugen's shots hitting the water behind her. Time seemed to pass by very slowly. She looked down and jumped back. Where she just stood, Javelin saw water turbulence caused by torpedoes shooting through the water. But due to her sidestep Javelin ran into Eugen's gun fire. A shot hit her right in the shoulder. "Ack-... no, don't lose the focus."
"Huh? Is that all you have?" Eugen chuckled again.
The air cleared. Javelin saw that Eugen was nearly unharmed. Nevertheless she was swaying a lot for some reason. But the next barrage was already on its way.
Meanwhile Laffey and Leipzig were watching from the beach.
"Mmm… they are fighting a lot."
"Y-yeah… but Eugen won't have a chance."
"Why?"
"Well… I'm not sure, how much beer she drank today, but… she is completely drunk."
"Oh."
"I-I warned her, but she just didn't want to hear, what I was saying. She just said 'Shut up' and 'I know, what's best for me'."
In the heat of the fight and through all the gunfire smoke and swirled up water drops Javelin was able to escape from Eugen's field of view. "Where are you, Javelin? Show yourse-" Suddenly a torpedo hit Eugen from the side and exploded with a huge water spout.
"How was that? You didn't see that one coming, huh?" Javelin had a bright smile on her face. Eugen stumbled forward as she tried hard to find her balance.
"Ah… it's getting interesting." Javelin continued firing her main gun on Eugen, who again had a hard time keeping her balance. She took some critical hits. "This isn't enough! I need to do more! Shields, activate!" Three rotating shields appeared around Eugen. "Let's see, what's your response to that," She said with a grin.
Javelin gave it her best to hit Eugen with her main gun, but every shot ricocheted off Eugen's shields. "It's hopeless." She slowly got closer to Javelin, who was more and more desperately trying to shoot through her shields. "Hmm? I think, it's time to give up before I forget about our little agreement, okay?" As Eugen got closer and closer, Javelin's facial expression changed from desperate to a bright smirk.
"Watch this!" She said as her enemy was already too close to get away. Eugen just heard a slight clicking.
"Well done…" was all she could say before she was in the middle of a huge explosion set off by several torpedoes hitting her.
Then everything became quiet. The water surface calmed down and Javelin was very happy, that her plan worked pretty well, until she noticed, that her enemy has disappeared. She wasn't able to see her
"Eugen!" After some moments, that felt like minutes, she finally found her lying in the water. Javelin immediately flew to her to pick her up, but unfortunately she wasn't strong enough lift her. "Laffey! Hurry!"
The two spectators were still amazed by the big explosion, but when they heard Javelin's calls, Laffey and Leipzig sprinted to the former battle scene, where they found an unconscious Eugen floating in the water. With united forces the three girls were able to drag her back to the beach. It took a few moments until Eugen woke up.
"I'm so sorry, Eugen. Please forgive me!"
"Javelin? What was that? An oxygen torpedo?"
"Ehehe… I'm sorry. Everything happened so fast. I couldn't warn you…"
"I feel dizzy…"
"Eugen, I told you, drinking before a match isn't good."
"Leipzig, shut up." With a saddened look on her face Leipzig didn't say any word anymore and bowed her head.
"Drinking?! Are you drunk?" Javelin was slightly concerned.
"Do I look drunk? I just drank some beer. No need to worry at all…" Eugen tried to stand up. After the third try she was more or less able to find her balance, even though she was still very unsteady and swaying.
"Keep it slowly… and being drunk during a fight in the water is dangerous, you know."
"Should we take her to a doctor?" Laffey wondered. Javelin and Leipzig agreed with Laffey and dragged the reluctant Prinz Eugen to Vestal, who was able to care for her till the start of the tournament. Javelin decided to be trained enough to fight even stronger enemies, although she knew the circumstances made it easier for her to win over Prinz Eugen.
A few days later...
"It will be fine…" Laffey told her. As usual Laffey laid down on the bench in front of the canteen, while a trembling Javelin was sitting next to her.
"I hope so… To be honest I want to show my strength to the Commander. I haven't been on a mission for too long now, so long I can't even remember the last time, I was sent on a mission. I really want the Commander to notice me again, but…" Javelin sighed. "I couldn't encourage myself to actually talk to him about this."
Laffey needed a few moments to think about this. "If you want to show Commander that you're strong... Punch him..."
"Ehh?! I-I don't want to hurt him or anything!"
"But… this sounds like he's an idiot." Laffey gave Javelin a questioning look.
"W-well maybe. But if he gets mad at me, this won't solve anything. Also… I kinda like him, s-so… I don't want him to get hurt or anything!" Javelin couldn't prevent herself from blushing. "So, that's why I decided to participate in all this. That's why I don't want to lose."
"Mmmm… I see." Laffey took a sip from her Oxy-Cola, then she continued. "Why do you have an oxygen torpedo if you're not sent to missions anymore?"
Javelin grinned. "I guess, he kinda forgot about that. That's also a reason, why I haven't talked to him yet. I'm sure, he would take it and give it to someone else like Yukikaze, someone he likes."
"Mmmm… The Commander is an idiot." Now even Laffey couldn't hide her grin.
"Laffey-chan, you don't need many words to say the right things." Javelin laughed as she hugged the sleepy Laffey. "It's getting dark soon. We should head home to our dorms."
"Fine…" Laffey and Javelin parted ways and went to their rooms. Javelin tried to sleep, but she was very nervous.
"Tomorrow will be a big day. The fleet is going to watch me, my friends are going to watch me, even the Commander will be there. I'm so extremely jumpy. Kaga, Enterprise, Warspite, these names are so popular. So strong. And Prinz Eugen will be in excellent form too… I guess. Anyways, I don't feel like I could win against any of these if I'm not attentive enough. I need more sleep, more sleep, more sleep… huh?! It's already 2 a.m.?! Sleep, sleep, sleep!"
Azur Lane beach, 10 a.m.
"Uh… in the end I wasn't able to sleep at all…" Javelin could barely keep her eyes open. She had to try very hard to not fall asleep.
"Don't worry… Fighting wakes me up. You'll be fine." For once in their long friendship Laffey was not the sleepier one of them both.
Everyone was at the beach, the participants in front of all the other girls, who were sitting on stadium-like stands watching at the sea. In the middle of it the Commander was sitting on a chair, surrounded by five seats for the secretaries. Finally someone started to speak in a microphone.
"Welcome, fleet! Welcome, Commander!" Z2 started to speak. "We, the secretaries, decided to fight the boring everyday life of this base. For our amusement these 16 attendees will fight, until the last ship is standing. Today will be the first round starting with the following matches:
Hammann : Jean Bart
Enterprise : Hiei
Kaga : Le Mars
San Diego : Saratoga
Admiral Graf Spee : Ajax
Cleveland : Prinz Eugen
Ise : Javelin
Warspite : Alabama
So that means our first fighters will be Hammann and Jean Bart. But before we start, everyone gets half an hour to warm up. Have fun and good luck!"
"Ise…"