Here's some modern FEELS!
....................................
She hated them.
She hated them so much!
All the lies they told. The people they hurt, their pain lining their pockets. The suffering of her country was unimaginable.
It had to end. It must end.
The ideals must triumph! Her ideals must triumph!
Brezhnev will feel the sting of her guns! Feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many unfortunates! And the world will watch in wonder as the Storozhevoy leads the second People's Revolution in the Soviet Union!
Mutiny: The Hunt for Storozhevoy
SOVIET NAVAL BASE RIGA
9 NOVEMBER 1975
Storozhevoy, the name meant Vigilant in Russian and the ship who bore it was every bit as watchful as the name suggested. Her keen eyes, borne out of technology meant to hunt down and kill enemy submarines, were marked with tragedy. She had seen the sufferings, heard the cries of the people forced to make out a meager existence for themselves that was no different now than it was 58 years ago. It was time to put an end to all of it. It was time to act!
The Krivak-class frigate was less than 2 years old and many had noticed her defiant attitude, a product of her youth. Many had shrugged it off. "She's young, it's a common theme." "She doesn't know better yet but she'll learn. "She'll grow up." The last one really angered Storozhevoy. Say it as though she was just a youth who would mature, mellow with age. But the frigate had decided half a lifetime ago that she would stay true to her ideals. The true ideals of communism. Not this mockery that currently existed in government. And like with any mockery it had to first be exposed and then put to rest. Back in the dark reaches of Hell where it belonged! So was her mission. A mission she would carry out tonight!
2 MONTHS EARLIER
Bditelnyy and Storozhevoy were docked side by side in Riga. The port was located on the Neva River, a winding, twisting waterway that went another 40 miles to the sea. Bditelnyy was proud to be Russian. Proud of everything Russian. Every square inch of her hull was a secret known only to her own country. The Americans had no knowledge on what she could do and couldn't do and Bditelnyy took great pleasure at knowing their spy satellites shivered in fear at seeing her on their scopes whenever she put to sea. The unknown was a powerful deterrent. (Eat your reactors out American submarines!)
Her younger sister by contrast was more quiet, a bit shy at times and rarely, if ever spoke out of turn. But there were days when she would get this look in her eye, as though she was half listening, half contemplating something. Some kind of plan perhaps? Bditelnyy assumed it was a prank. Storozhevoy could be insufferable when her sense of humor was aroused. Bditelnyy made a mental note never to let her sister near the new battlecruiser Kirov without supervision. Those two together would cause enough ruckus to force the end of her peace forever! Nevermind having half the fleet gunning for her head and she liked that attached to her body thank you very much.
But as of late, Storozhevoy's sense of humor was strangely lacking and she seemed to be taking on a more serious personality. On one had, Bditelnyy was overjoyed. Perhaps her sister was finally seeing the seriousness of her duties and not just treating them like they were some kind of fun joke used as part of one of her elaborate pranks. She stifled a shudder as she recalled a certain "incident" in Baltiysk a month ago. But another part of her was concerned. It wasn't like her sister to be so quiet, so calculating, so observant. Mind you, Storozhevoy had always been observant, she just tended to be so in more subtle ways. Now however it was like observing was all she knew how to do. Bditelnyy's name meant "watchful" in Russian and that wasn't just a sarcastic description. She was always watching over and out for her siblings. Sometimes doting on them, sometimes having to scold them, sometimes chasing them around the harbor like a vengeful mother if they pulled one of their silly tricks. But like Storozhevoy she had a good sense of both what appeared to be going on and what actually might going on. She could see through the veil and right now Storozhevoy's uncharacteristically thick veil disturbed her, more than what she might be hiding behind it.
One night, Storozhevoy turned to her sister and asked "Do you love me?"
Surprised at the abruptness and the nature of the question, Bditelnyy immediately replied "Of course I do! What mu'dak put it into your head that you have to ask such a question!"
Giggling at her sister's swearing, Storozhevoy ducked her head. "Well I-I just wanted to know. I mean, what if something happened to me. Something you didn't approve of."
"Malyutka," Bditelnyy sighed, using her pet name for her younger sibling. "Nothing is going to happen to you."
"But what if it did!" Bditelnyy had never seen her sister so distressed before. Whatever it was that was bothering Storozhevoy, the mighty Sentry, had been doing so for some time. "What if I was taken? Hijacked to the West? Or what if some separatists took me over and tried to stage a rebellion?!"
"Peace, Storo, peace. Mir." Bditelnyy put a calming hand on her shoulder as she knelt down, pushing her sister's curly blonde locks out of her face and wiping a smidgen of dirt off her nose. "I love you no matter what. Never fear otherwise."
Storozhevoy's youthful face brightened somewhat. "You promise?" She sniffled.
Bditelnyy couldn't help but smile. "Big sister promise." She replied, putting a hand over her heart.
"Thank you big sister!" Storozhevoy embraced her, catching Bditelnyy somewhat off guard but she recovered quickly, holding her sister tight in her arms.
It was in the early morning hours of 10th November 1975 that Storozhevoy had cleared the river for open waters. The confining space no longer existed and she was free to sail where she pleased. Her course followed the sun's path across the Western Sky, the first part of her mission complete. International waters were not far off and with no sign that the Soviet brass or the KGB were anywhere near her, the Sentry prepared to become the Revolutionary.
Bditelnyy woke alone in her bedroom aboard ship. The last thing she remembered was tucking in Storozhevoy for the night. Her younger sister had been insistent upon being tucked in that night. The fireworks display had frightened her and briefly Bditelnyy wondered how she'd fare in naval exercises before shaking her head. Several other ships in the fleet had similar issues but never showed any hesitation in combat scenarios. So Bditelnyy stayed at her sister's bedside, singing her lullabies and rubbing her back until she fell asleep. Bditelnyy didn't recall returning to her own ship though she was so exhausted (the drinks she consumed earlier didn't help as the current pinpricks in her skull would attest to) that it wouldn't be a surprise if she "forgot" that she returned to her own bed. Unless someone carried her here. But who? Only shipgirls could see other shipgirls so... Storozhevoy hadn't touched a drop of alcohol. She must've brought Bditelnyy back to her own quarters. It was Bditelnyy's greatest wish that her younger sister never discover it's wonders or its horrors. She herself had experienced both on numerous occasions, more than she was care to admit really. She knew her drinking caused her sister distress and for Storozhevoy's sake she did try and curb it whenever the younger frigate was around but last night she just couldn't help herself! All that food, fine wine, the pomp! She just had to partake! Rubbing her temples, Bditelnyy determined she should go apologize to her younger sister for any embarrassment she might've caused while in her inebriated state. (She really should see a councilor about that) But when Bditelnyy looked out the window, she was forced to do a double take. The place where her sister's hull had been the night before was now nothing but half frozen river. Where had her sister gone? They were due for exercises in the Gulf. Had her sister left early? She assumed not. It wasn't like her to just up and leave without telling anyone. But then again, her sister had been acting odd lately, including that one night...
It was like an epiphany. One that stopped Bditelnyy in her tracks. The memory of that night, once so ignominious that it had no place in the forefront of the frigate's mind, now came back in full force.
"What if something happened to me? Like I was hijacked and tried to stage a rebellion?"
"Little one, nothing is going to happen to you."
"Moy Bog." Bditelnyy breathed.
The frigate was like her sister in many ways. She had the same keen ears and eyes meant to track down and kill enemy submarines. But while her sister was Vigilance, the sentry standing guard over the city. She was the Watcher who ensured that everything ran smoothly and who detected any troublemakers trying to gain a foothold. That part of her awakened full force and Bditelnyy was suddenly able to see, discern, and realize the awful heart-breaking truth. Storozhevoy was a rebel and like the famous rebellion that gave rise to their glorious Union 58 years ago, she was to shake the Motherland to its core, making it weak and vulnerable to an attack from the outside never mind from within. The keels for rebellion had already been laid, the kegs of ordinance loaded. All someone had to do now was light the fuse. Someone like Storozhevoy. "And then... Oh Storo what have you done?!" And Bditelnyy cried in anguish. Her sister was going on a suicide mission, one that would never succeed. But Storozhevoy was not the type to give in easily. She would be sunk before she surrendered. And Bditelnyy, in her anguish, had realized the truth. As soon as her sister slipped her moorings, she was lost to her, forever.
She was close, so close now. Storozhevoy had never tasted victory before but already its sweet forerunners were already working their way into her taste buds. She had never felt anything so tantalizing before. Nothing could stop her now. Nothing except... The dreaded sound of the Yak-28 Fighters drew ever closer. Her radar had been turned on. The thick fog surrounding her had heightened the threat of a collision and now her comrades were homing in on that signal, like moths to the flame. Well now, she didn't intend to go down without a fight. She'd come to far now to turn back. No pardons, no offers of surrender were persuade her to strike her colors. The taste of victory was replaced with the lusting for battle. "Come at me. If you dare!"
History would forever remember the name Storozhevoy.
The fight was brutal yet short-lived. Storozhevoy was outgunned and outmatched. Her limited weaponry could not take out all of the Soviet's arsenal even if she had fired a shot at them. A blow to her stern is what ended it. Her colors still flying, Storozhevoy admitted defeat. Her short revolution was over.
She had been defeated! Her crew had betrayed her! Betrayed her! She'd been so close. So close to victory! She could've changed everything! Everyone in Motherland would've benefited. The cries of the poor, the ill, the sick would cease to be replaced with the joyful cries of the vibrant, the youthful, the loved. Everyone would have a place. A voice. An equal share. As Marx had intended. Ships and humans alike would live in equal harmony. Ships, her sister... Bditelnyy would never forgive her. In her sister's eyes, in the fleet's eyes she was a traitor. She could see the glares being given to her by her escorts as they formed up around her, the tow ship tossing her a cable. With her steering disabled and her crew under house arrest she hadn't much choice but to take the line. Accept that she had failed. But still a ragged hole in her heart remained. "Oh sister, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!"
Bditelnyy wasn't sure what to expect when the hastily assembled task force arrived in Giga with Storozhevoy in tow. Her sister was beat up but not as badly as Bditelnyy had feared. Her stern would need work though. Marines and relief sailors and managed to repair steering enough that she could glide into drydock under her own power. Her crew were offloaded, the seamen under escort while the officers were handcuffed and guided off the ship in blindfolds with a gun to their heads. And as for the ship herself... Bditelnyy didn't see Storozhevoy anywhere outside, assuming her sister had taken refuge somewhere deep within her hull. She always had a shy nature and despised any kind of attention, especially negative attention. Movement caught the older frigate's eye and she turned. Ah, there! Storozhevoy was on deck, standing as far out on the bow as she could without actually being off the ship. Her left leg was hastily wrapped with bandages but beyond that she appeared to be unharmed, physically anyways. Bditelnyy could only wonder what was going through her sister's head when she decided to stage this foolish mission of hers.
Putting that aside for now, Bditelnyy left her hull, crossing the open stretch of water between them with little effort, something that should've been impossible for a ship. But Bditelnyy was not a ship. She was a sister driven by fear. Motivated by love. And taken by her sister's suicidal but courageous action. It was Storozhevoy's very same fervor that had fueled her attempt at revolution which had given rise to their glorious Union in the first place and Bditelnyy had to give credit where it was due. Though she was more concerned for Storozhevoy's well being to be angry about what she had done. Had tried to do.
"Storozhevoy!"
Storozhevoy glumly looked up as she heard someone call her name, only to be rushed full force by another frigate. "Oof?!" was the only intelligent thing she could say before she was pressed against her own deck with Bditelnyy hugging her for all she was worth.
"Bditelnyy?" Storozhevoy was surprised. She was certain her loyal sister would've scolded her to the tsar and back. Her sister smelled like she'd been drinking half the night. And what was that wetness she felt forming at the base of her neck. Were those tears? Was Bditelnyy crying?! "Sister, are you alright?"
"You could've died." was Bditelnyy's pained whisper against her hull.
"You aren't mad?" Storozhevoy was so sure...
"No, I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad you're safe." Bditelnyy pulled back and helped Storozhevoy to her feet before promptly embracing her again and this time Storozhevoy hugged her back.
"You mean you still love me?" She asked meekly.
"Of course I do. I promised I would." Bditelnyy kissed her forehead, stifling the urge to giggle as her sister blushed adorably. "You're my sister and I'll love you forever, matter what."
Storozhevoy offered that cute little smile of hers that warmed Bditelnyy's heart. Soon the younger frigate was snuggling her, her head resting in the nape of Bditelnyy's neck. She didn't say anything, she didn't need to. Neither ship needed to as they held one another.
We belong together, Bditelnyy. Sister. No matter what, I will always love you too.
.full.1640812.jpg)
