SUPPORT - Kotone and Fortuna - C-Rank

The mess hall was a lot more lively these days, with voices and the clanking of silverware filling the wide-open building.

The Admiral could have taken her meals separately from those under her command, something recommended at the Academy wherever possible for the sake of discipline.

That ship had already sailed, so what the heck.

She did tend to eat at her own table, often with a book at her side, nervously but politely acknowledging the greetings of fleet women and base staff alike. That was about all the black-haired recluse could manage, but it was an important first step.

Until one day, Fortuna plopped down opposite her with a tray full of food, startling this mousy, seven-foot academic into nearly falling over.

“Admiral! Good afternoon, and well met! I trust this day finds you well.”

Despite being constructed less than two weeks ago, the fire-redhead with long, sharp pointy elven ears, had the affect of a gregarious noblewoman. Complete with a nice frilly white dress. Her manner of speech was just part of it; her attitude, like Sovereign, reflected one of the Empire’s pattern designs.

The ojou-sama.

“H-Hello, Fortuna. I’m tolerable, as ever. You seem to be in good spirits.”

The elf-designed destroyer girl bobbed up and down at the table. “Naturally! I just received a most wonderful letter from my family back in the Empire, after all.”

Kotone stared up from her mashed potatoes. “You… did?”

Fortuna nodded cheerfully, clapping. “As you may be aware, my family did not approve my decision to go into the Imperial Navy. Certainly not as a destroyer class! Yet I was determined, even if I was noble birth, to fight alongside our beloved commoners and show what I could do.”

I wasn’t even aware you had family in the first place… wait. That’s impossible.

One aspect of social situations Kotone had to develop to a fine point was her ability to detect when somebody was messing with her, and leading her on, and several of her ‘comrades’ at the Academy loved to do. Her Bullshit Radar was a powerful deep-scan instrument.

Yet she got no return off Fortuna, whose manner was like a girl telling the truth.

“However! As my blessed father put it, ‘blood is thicker than the deep blue sea’. They offered me not just forgiveness, but their support! After all, anyone in the Fortuna family is destined for greatness. My path is just one that takes me through this fleet as a way to get there.”

“I’m… glad to hear they were so accommodating,” Kotone said, bewildered, poking at her bits of fresh-cooked salmon.

Shipped in from naval warehouses, of course.

“As I understand it, you are of common birth, aren’t you?”

Kotone did her best not to tense up. She knew for social situations, she had to keep it light, keep it casual, and keep on her toes. “I’ve never made it a secret. I’m a Navy brat through and though, but my father wasn’t some Admiral or something.”

“I can only imagine that receiving this command was… quite a struggle. For a human without even noble title.”

It’s not much of a command, and I’m not much of a commander.

“You don’t see a lot of ‘flickers’ make it to flag rank,” Kotone admitted. “Honestly, that might be more of a barrier than the money situation. Or maybe they feed into each other.”

As usual, the more you had in life, the more you could make, which ensured advantage compounded. Especially if your lifespan was multiple centuries, and you already had a long, prosperous family with a long, prosperous tail to make sure you were well taken care of.

Shorter-lived races without those connections, especially in a place like the various autocratic states of the Empire…

Yep, it wasn’t a picnic.

“Yet you are here!” Fortuna nodded. “You are to be commended for your hard work and dedication. I just know you’re going to help me achieve my goals, Admiral, and bring my family even more honor and prestige than it had before.”

Kotone couldn’t help a smile.

“I can certainly do that.”