The Marine Ch. 05

"Want to pull out and cum on me?" she wondered.

"Had enough?" She nodded. I didn't blame her. So I pulled out, jerked for thirty seconds, came then carried her to the bathroom. She had a bathtub, running a hot bath so we could sit back and relax. It was her turn to fall asleep on me, able to get her out, dried and in bed without waking her.

We relaxed until NYE, spending our days lazing about, making love when the mood took us, heading out for dinner and lunch each day as neither of us wanted to cook. Hannah made plans to meet up with her friends and their partners for the night, aware I'd be heading back south on the 3^rd, so it was going to be one last blowout, as I wouldn't be back north again until after graduation, if I managed to do that.

What I didn't expect was the fact we ended up at a house party rather than in the city centre. I preferred it, to be honest. Yes, there was food available, and more booze than we could possibly drink, but the music was completely deafening, and I must have enjoyed a long conversation with everyone there at one stage or another. I regaled them with plenty of stories from training, confused them when using terminology that was just second nature to me now, but earned plenty of laughs as many of the stories were funny as even Royal Marines could act like utter morons from time to time. Even I'd made the sort of stupid mistakes during basic training that had me outside doing push ups in the heavy rain.

"Where will you be when you're commissioned?" I was asked.

"If I join the commando unit I hope, 40 Commando, they're barracked down at Norton Manor Camp, just outside Taunton, Somerset. Commando light infantry unit. But it depends on where there are vacancies, so I could end up anywhere." I groaned. "If I'm unlucky, fucking Arbroath!"

"What ranking will you have when commissioned?"

"Second Lieutenant. I'll have a team of 30 commandos in my charge."

"No shit!"

I grinned. "No shit."

"How long until progression?"

"It's expected that I'll make the rank of captain after 26 months, long as I don't fuck up."

"How long do you have to serve?"

"The minimum commitment is for 3 years, 6 months. That's both Royal Marines and Royal Navy. I obviously don't intend to leave after putting all this effort. I'll remain until... well, I won't make any predictions about the future."

There was silence for a few seconds as sums were done and people realised the reality of the situation. "So... Hannah and yourself?"

I took her hand as she leaned against my shoulder. "We're enjoying our time together, and we'll worry about the future when it arrives."

"We're happy together now. That's all that matters," she added.

Seeing through the night to the new year, Hannah eventually announced we'd leave, ordering a taxi to take us home. It had been a long night, and Hannah had let her hair down, enjoying a few cocktails with her friends, though she was rarely not by my side. Little surprise that we were in bed within five minutes of opening the door to her apartment, Hannah snuggling into me as we dropped off.

The next day was the last visit to the grandparents as I assumed I wouldn't return now until after I'd finished training. We enjoyed a spot of lunch before we said our goodbyes. Grandma was a little teary, Grandad must have shaken my hand for five solid minutes. Returning to her apartment, Hannah cooked a meal for us to enjoy, relaxing together back on the couch, spending most of the time making out, before we showered and adjourned to bed.

We made love for hours. Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed in those last few hours except myself, her and the bed we were on. After we'd had enough, she cuddled into my side, her fingers trailing up and down my chest, we found ourselves finally with nothing to talk about. Or, at least we did, but neither of us wanted to broach the subject. She eventually fell asleep and I thought about things a little longer before drifting off.

Driving me to Manchester Piccadilly the next morning, she walked with me to the ticket barriers. A last cuddle, a last kiss. Cupping her cheek, the tears were not a surprise this time. "Hannah..."

"I know..."

"Let me say it... Hannah, if someone comes along, if a good guy comes along and would like to treat you how you deserve, who will be around constantly, who will love you like you deserve, accept it. Don't wait for me. We both know..." I sighed. "I'd love for this to work, but we have to be realistic. Your life is here. Our family is here. Everything you know and love is here."

"Not you," she whispered.

I cuddled her to me again. "I feel the same way, but I've had to make this decision before. It will hurt like hell. It still hurts like hell leaving her behind. But it will be for the best. I want to say trust me but... The only thing I don't want you to do is hate me."

"Never," she whispered, "Love you too damned much for that."

Lifting her chin, I kissed her one last time before I picked up my backpack, smiled at her, before I turned and walked through the barriers. I glanced back one final time before climbing the stairs to the platform. As always, slept nearly all the way back to Lympstone Commando, and by the time I'd walked into my room, I'd filed everything away in my mind again. It was back to the daily grind.

Having passed the Commando Course, the next four months to graduation was easy. Okay, maybe it wasn't easy. It was still physically demanding and mentally exhausting, but we'd spent a year training and preparing. We were well past making the sort of silly mistakes we would have made six months ago. We'd done everything a regular recruit would have done, but taken on additional training and responsibility. Technically, we were already Royal Marines Commandos, as we'd earned that green beret, now we were working our way towards becoming Royal Marines Officers.

The physical work continued, though that was more our personal responsibility now, and we were often involved in working with Troops that were passing through. It was amusing watching these fresh-faced youngsters arriving, remembering I'd been like that only twelve months earlier. Thankfully, the time off over the holiday season hadn't caused me too many issues. I'd still exercised, not to the same intensity, but it only took a day or two to get back into the groove. Dan and Dave were in the same boat, admitting they'd enjoyed good food and a few beers, but they admitted to difficulty switching off.

Being sent to the United States to train alongside the United States Marine Corps was certainly something I'd been looking forward to. While I'd done some reading about them, I was fairly sure most people got what they knew about the Marine Corps from movies. Everything was paid for and organised by both sides of the Atlantic, Dan and Dave joining me as we crossed the Atlantic.

We were immediately made to feel welcome and part of the Marine Corps. They knew the hell we'd been through to get where we were, and the three of us were eager to learn as much as we could from our American colleagues. We studied, took part in drills, exercise and simulated attack and defensive operations. There were plenty of similarities in how we operated, but I knew the three of us agreed the three-week trip to the United States was of nothing but a great benefit to us. Despite only being there three weeks, we knew we'd established relationships which would last a life time.

Taking a tour of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst had been an ambition of mine. If I hadn't been so single minded in joining the Royal Marines, I would have loved the opportunity to learn and train at Sandhurst. Or, if not there, one of the other military academies around the United Kingdom. Basically, the ambition had always been to be an officer. Nothing against being an enlisted man, but the idea of leading men, whether in peace or war, something about it had always appealed.

We spent more time at Dartmouth as the studying was ramped up even further, more exams, more lessons, more lectures. Many would probably believe it was information overload at times, but it simply added to everything we'd already learned.

The fifth and last phase of our training was perhaps the one where we did spend more time in lectures and lessons compared to being out in the field. This was perhaps the time we did truly feel like Royal Marine Officers as we dealt with the administration side of a running a commando unit, in addition to all the planning involved, whether day to day exercises what at base onto how we would operate in a theatre of war. It ran from mundane topics such as report writing to military law, always important, and I knew Dan had an interest in joining the Military Police, with other areas such as all the paperwork involved to run a unit effectively. We learned that the Royal Marines sure loved their paperwork.

This last phase was also when we learned to train recruits ourselves. We'd sat in previously, simply for observation purposes, but now we were instructing marching drills and exercises being undertaken by the raw recruits that had only recently arrived.

We enjoyed another trip, this time across the English Channel to the Normandy coastline, while as part of the final phase, we undertook four major exercises that concluded our training. We were flown to the west coast of Scotland for more amphibious training, though we were now in charge of a boat full of commandos, needing to lead them through a series of drills. The Counter Insurgency drill was the most realistic we'd undertaken, and once complete, the most realistic we would do except for actually participating in war. Gunfire. Shellfire. The pounding of guns. Helicopters in the sky. An enemy that would give no quarter. Dan, Dave and I... we fucking thrived. Our promise to each other, that we would see it through to the end, we would not give in, we'd only go if we were marched out, remained as strong as ever.

Then 'Exercise Final Nail'. Ten days of war games. That's the only way to describe it. We were still officer cadets, but we were placed in charge of trained marines and expected to lead, motivate, inspire, and use everything we'd learned over the past fifteen months, from the most basic skills to the most advanced military doctrines, to ensure that we... didn't fuck up royally.

Amphibious beach assaults. Attacking an airfield. Conducting a riverside operation and base infiltration. A further amphibious assault culminating in a company-led assault on hill-top enemy positions. Over ten days, these took place across the width and breadth of the United Kingdom. Throughout the whole ten days, we had full trained Royal Marines commandos to assist us, and they were absolute fucking legends.

Passing Final Nail, the last couple of weeks were... slightly anti-climactic in my mind. We were still learning and training, but 'Final Nail' had been the last major exercise we had undertaken. We were now, for all intents and purposes, officers. That meant acting like and performing the role. So conducting sword drill was interesting, to say the least, though conducting Drill practice was an enjoyable experience. But the last couple of weeks was more about reports, administration, and readying for ourselves for pass out.

The last night before the pass out parade, it was late at night and we were gathered in my room, sitting back in silence. Finally, Dan broke into laughter. "I can't believe we fuckin' made it." He paused before adding, "Okay, I can believe it considering what we're doing tomorrow, but fuck me, what a ride!"

"Only just started, mate," I said, "We pass out, get our commissions, and then it's the next step. I want to say 'no more training' but that's bullshit. But the onus is on us. We'll still have support, of course we will, but sixteen months of training means the expectations are fucking enormous."

"At least we get a break between passing out and taking our first troop command. It's been a long, hard grind," Dave stated.

Dan nodded. "True. Feels like I've barely seen my girlfriend since last January."

"Well, you haven't really," I suggested, "Think of all the weekends we hoped to get away but never had the chance. Just getting to fucking Exmouth was a pain in the arse. There has always been something to do, something that could be done now instead of later, something that cropped up that mean we couldn't sit down and take a breather."

"It'll get easier though, right. Frankly, I'm now used to rising at 0500 and not stopping until my head hits the pillow," Dave stated, "But once we're at our allocated base, in charge of our troops, it's all about ensuring the command structure, you don't fuck up, they don't fuck up, and that we just keep doing what we've been trained to do. The only thing I do think about is that we've done all this training with the world technically peaceful. Sure, there's some shit going down elsewhere, but Europe is rather peaceful, now that Serbia has been dealt with. So it makes me wonder what's next?"

"Oh for fucks sake, Dave, you don't ask that question!" Dan exclaimed.

The pass out parade was a ceremony full of tradition and pageantry. I'd also never felt as full of pride as did as I marched out on the field in the lead of a troop as we prepared to pass out. We formed ranked as the band struck up the music for the slow march, the song being 'March of the Preobrazhensky Life-Guard Regiment'.

A crowd was obviously watching the parade though eyes looked nowhere except straight ahead, before I conducted the Drill. Having a troop of men immediately respond to my commands? It's hard to describe the feeling. Makes you feel ten foot tall. For once, the weather was absolutely perfect. Bright sunshine. Not too warm. Not too cold. The men under my command were resplendent in their dress uniform. They were trained, ready to serve Queen and country. I would have put one of them against ten of any other branch.

The CO made a speech. Local dignitaries were present. It was everything you'd expect from that sort of ceremony. As the CO made his way along the line, shaking hands with each recruit, enjoying a short conversation with each, I did chance a quick glance at the assembled crowd, looking for familiar faces. I only looked for five seconds, but I'm fairly sure I recognised a couple of faces, before returning my eyes forward.

"Mister Smith," the CO stated. Inside, I was grinning. I was no longer Officer Cadet Smith. I was Second Lieutenant Smith, but in the Royal Marines and Navy, a lieutenant was not referred to by rank. That only began upon reaching the rank of captain, though any subordinate would still call me 'sir'.

I saluted and stood easy. "Sir, yes, sir."

"I've heard and read nothing but exemplary reports during your time here in Lympstone. You were top of the class during basic training, and have proven yourself a capable, adaptable, motivated and absolutely determined officer."

I'll admit, my chest puffed out a little bit. "Thank you, sir."

"Corporal, the badge."

I knew exactly what it was. The King's Badge. The symbol that I was first among equals. I remained stock still as he attached it to my left sleeve, upper shoulder. He then took a step back and saluted. I automatically returned it. "Congratulations, Mister Smith."

"Thank you, sir," I stated.

Once the inspection was complete, there was another speech, then it was all over. Recruits and officers were now officially Royal Marines Commandos. Ordering my troop to fall out, I couldn't help glance my left arm as Dan and Dave headed over, ready to shake my hand. "Fuckin' well fuckin' deserved pal," Dan exclaimed.

"I don't fucking believe it myself," I retorted, "I thought I was doing okay..."

Dave snorted. "Fuckin' okay, he says! I remember all your scores, Nate. You were killin' it from the earliest days here, mate. Considering all your history, you were fuckin' born for this, mate."

The crowd was now mingling, trying to find their family. Then I heard a call of my name, turning to see people I hadn't seen in... far too long. Marching towards them, I came to a halt and stood at attention, unable to stop the smile. I turned to my father and saluted. "Hey, Dad," I said.

Then I hugged him. He hugged me back tightly, barely able to get a word out for at least a minute. When we finally pulled back, the smile on his face was brighter than the sun currently shining down on us. "Well fucking done, son. Well fucking done!" Then he grabbed my arms. "Fucking hell, have you got concrete in there or something?"

I curled my fists. "Well, I wouldn't want to be hit by these babies."

Turning to Mum, she hugged me for at least five minutes without a word. I hugged her in return, closed my eyes and just enjoyed the sensation. "We couldn't miss this," Dad explained, "Not a chance. Your grandfather pulled some strings to get us over here, helped us out. We could have afforded it, but he was insistent. 'You're seeing your son graduate, end of. I won't take no for an answer'. You know what your grandfather is like."

Mum let me go enough to hold me by the shoulders, looking me up and down. "Where's my little boy gone?" she whispered, "Now he's... big!"

Katie cried as soon as I hugged her, easily able to pick her up as I felt her legs wrap around me. I chuckled as she sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. I knew how much she'd missed me. She'd sent me plenty of emails which I'd read whenever I had a free minute or two. I'd kept her up to date with what I was doing, but she knew keeping in contact had been difficult at times. "Things okay back home?"

"University," she said, "Studying."

"Good. You've got more brains than most people I know."

Placing her down, I kissed her cheek then her forehead. Dad then cleared his throat. "Katie, why don't you join our Mum and I over here. Maybe we can have a word with a few people, find out what they really think about your brother."

Chuckling as they walked away, I turned towards Amy. Tears were already falling freely, though her eyes couldn't stop looking me up and down. I'd been warned that after sixteen months of keeping myself cool, calm and collected under the most immense pressure any human could face, it exploded once I met her eyes.

Then I kissed her. God, did I kiss her. Heard a couple of nice comments as I simply held her to my body and savoured the taste of her mouth, the feeling of her tongue, her body as my hands ran up and down her back. When I finally pulled back, she couldn't help chuckle. "Well, hello to you too," she whispered.

"How long are you here for?"

"Six weeks. Already been here a week. I understand you know where you're going?"

I nodded. "Going to join 40 Commando."

"Grandad's old battalion?" I nodded. "He'll be thrilled to bits."

"Haven't told him yet. Already received my orders. I'm to report to Norton Manor Camp in two weeks."

"Are you and Hannah..."

I shook my head. "I received a text a month or two ago. She's got a fella. With me graduating and entering the service, it was too much for her to cope with. She was going to come down but... I think seeing me would have been too much, too soon."

"Have you got a girl otherwise?"

"Not at the moment."

"So you're singe and available?"

"Are you, Amy?"

"I made sure I travelled her single, Nate. I get you for two weeks."

"Amy..."

She stood on tiptoes and kissed my cheek. "It's fine, Nate. I know the score. Your life is here now. My life is back in Australia. But there's no reason why we can't just enjoy these two weeks together."

I wasn't going to argue the point, taking her arm and joining my parents and sister. As I'd packed all my things in preparation for departing, one way or another, as my original intention was to head north regardless, Dad had driven Mum and Katie south from Manchester, while Amy had hired a car specifically to take me back with her, suggesting that she'd book a hotel for the first couple of nights for one specific purpose.