02-19-2018, 02:39 PM
February 19th, 825 - Bering
![[Image: XDNG6zM.png]](https://i.imgur.com/XDNG6zM.png)
A few hours ago, everyone felt great relief about having left the Bering system. Now, tension was back when the Apahanta returned. The jump from Puerto Rico to Bering was successful, and while taking advantage of the cloaking device, the battleship moved to the edge of the system, not too far away from Marshall Station however. With slow speed the ship manouvered through the asteroid fields, dodging mines and wrecks. Not the best place for a battleship to be, especially after the local punks finding clear words for the sudden violation of their home system's security.
With the Apahanta not appearing on any sensors while cloaked and it having reached a decent distance from the center of the system, the crew slightly calmed down, even with stealth alert still in. Commander Sherry Aguilar, Ezrael's right hand, entered the room, just to spot the Captain in the bathroom. He stood infront of a mirrow, his Apahanta suit only covering his lower body in that moment. Moving to the door frame between his room and the bathroom, she watched him fiddling around at his face and smirked slightly, having her arms folded infront of her. "What exactly are you doing there?" she asked him, never having seen him like this peacocky, although she always guessed he was spending at least one hour a day in the bathroom to look perfect.
He didn't turn around but looked at her reflection in the mirror, returning her smirk. "I'm meeting an admiral. I want to look perfect for her to make the best impression. Like, I don't want to look like I'm the shady captain of a rogue battleship. Don't know how we can profit from Harmony yet, but they can relate to our situation when it comes to working with limited resources."
"I'm certain you would put up the same efforts if the admiral was male," she commented, eyeing his bare back and his side. "In all seriousness, though, are you sure you want to go there on your own?"
"Yes. If they are what they pretend to be, they will stick to Liberty's diplomatic etiquette, meaning I'll be under their full protection for the time I am there, with the priviledges of a diplomatic ambassador. Even for me. If they do, I want to return the full respect to their etiquette. That means no teams to back me up, no sidearms, no tricks. Sombra mentioned the admiral appreciates formality. Apparently she called her Madam Admiral every time."
He turned around to her and her eyes instantly moved up to look at his face. "What are you going to put on? Your suit?"
"We don't have a gala uniform, so the normal suit will suffice. I'll put my leather jacket over it, though." He turned towards the mirror again, taking his deodorant to spray it over his upper body. "You know, I think I'm going to ask HOT GEAR to create a new set of suits for us, including gala uniforms. I want the zippers at the front again and pockets would be nice."
The cloud of visible deodorant hit his body and moved from there in all directions. As usual, it was a rather fruity scent from Curacao. "Maybe a business man outfit would be more fitting for things like this? After all you're selling weapons to them."
"Technology, yes. But you won't ever see me in a smoking or business suits. The worst invention of mankind. Like,
why would I want to look like a lawyer or a banker. Hello Madam Admiral, do you want to withdraw some cash or buy a vacuum cleaner?" Being done with what he did, he pulled up the sleeves of his overall and put it back on. Sherry made a step forward to zip his back up.
"A shame. I can imagine you would look quite good in a smoking. Like a movie star on the red carpet. Any idea why Guildmistress Loyola was in Bering, by the way?"
"Whatever it is, it means nothing good." With him being dressed, he turned around to her, smirking slightly at her. "I don't know whether she was trying to protect us or whether she was trying to fuck us over. However it is better to avoid her at all cost next time. I don't like to play her games."
"Still mad at her for the Corinth video?" She made a step back and to the side, seeing he wanted to move out of the bathroom.
"That's not it," he began as he approached his cabinet, opening it. "She is unpredictable. She is unreliable. When she does things, then never in a clean way. I don't want her around us. The less she knows about us and our activities, the better it is for us. Good, she helped us getting cool with the Core again, allowing us to keep the ship without repercussions. But she mentioned she is unemployed now. So I don't know what that means for us and the Core." Sighing, he took his black leather jacket out of the cabinet and put it on. For a moment, Sherry smirked at him slightly amused. "What?"
"Do you maybe want to go to the gym quickly and lift some weights to pump your muscles?"
"Are you fucking with me right now?" He gave her a toothless smile, combined with a bit of surprise.
"You do look like a shady captain of a rogue battleship, you know? With your long black hair, the red accents, the scar and the club leather jacket. I wouldn't be surprised if the admiral think you're hitting on her."
"But it does look good, right?" he asked her, making his steps towards her, just to place his hands on her sides. It made her blush slightly.
"It is certainly what women like. The handsome rogue battleship captain." Avoiding his eyes, she placed her hands on his wrists and pushed him a bit back. "So, you will take a quickshuttle over there, greet them, show them the PDA and the presentation and then make the offer?"
"Right. I'll keep my PDA on recording, so we'll have a copy of what will be said, just for the archives. They will choose some items, maybe make a counter-offer for more items, then I'll return to the ship, prepare a data package for them, give it to them, return and then they receive the key to open the package once we have left Bering safe and sound." Placing his hands again on her sides, he came one more step closer. "If something happens, I trust you to continue our work. This ship will be yours then. It will be your job to make sure our crew is safe and happy. Alright?"
The sudden tension was back, and instead of removing his hands from her body again, she held his wrists first and then let her hands slide up to his shoulders to have them rest at his chest. "I promise."
"Good. But let's hope I come back unharmed. Make sure the Apahanta stays cloaked. If something happens, retreat to Puerto Rico. Vieques is our safe haven, and the neutron star can help you get rid of snubs and bombers. Or jump to Baffin or Omega-49 or Omicron Kappa. Don't risk anything."
"Understood." Her hands were slowly sliding down and off his chest, once more removing his grip on her hips. The blush was fading away, even with him still being intimidatingly close. "Good luck, Captain."
"Good luck, Commander Aguilar."
With the Apahanta not appearing on any sensors while cloaked and it having reached a decent distance from the center of the system, the crew slightly calmed down, even with stealth alert still in. Commander Sherry Aguilar, Ezrael's right hand, entered the room, just to spot the Captain in the bathroom. He stood infront of a mirrow, his Apahanta suit only covering his lower body in that moment. Moving to the door frame between his room and the bathroom, she watched him fiddling around at his face and smirked slightly, having her arms folded infront of her. "What exactly are you doing there?" she asked him, never having seen him like this peacocky, although she always guessed he was spending at least one hour a day in the bathroom to look perfect.
He didn't turn around but looked at her reflection in the mirror, returning her smirk. "I'm meeting an admiral. I want to look perfect for her to make the best impression. Like, I don't want to look like I'm the shady captain of a rogue battleship. Don't know how we can profit from Harmony yet, but they can relate to our situation when it comes to working with limited resources."
"I'm certain you would put up the same efforts if the admiral was male," she commented, eyeing his bare back and his side. "In all seriousness, though, are you sure you want to go there on your own?"
"Yes. If they are what they pretend to be, they will stick to Liberty's diplomatic etiquette, meaning I'll be under their full protection for the time I am there, with the priviledges of a diplomatic ambassador. Even for me. If they do, I want to return the full respect to their etiquette. That means no teams to back me up, no sidearms, no tricks. Sombra mentioned the admiral appreciates formality. Apparently she called her Madam Admiral every time."
He turned around to her and her eyes instantly moved up to look at his face. "What are you going to put on? Your suit?"
"We don't have a gala uniform, so the normal suit will suffice. I'll put my leather jacket over it, though." He turned towards the mirror again, taking his deodorant to spray it over his upper body. "You know, I think I'm going to ask HOT GEAR to create a new set of suits for us, including gala uniforms. I want the zippers at the front again and pockets would be nice."
The cloud of visible deodorant hit his body and moved from there in all directions. As usual, it was a rather fruity scent from Curacao. "Maybe a business man outfit would be more fitting for things like this? After all you're selling weapons to them."
"Technology, yes. But you won't ever see me in a smoking or business suits. The worst invention of mankind. Like,
why would I want to look like a lawyer or a banker. Hello Madam Admiral, do you want to withdraw some cash or buy a vacuum cleaner?" Being done with what he did, he pulled up the sleeves of his overall and put it back on. Sherry made a step forward to zip his back up.
"A shame. I can imagine you would look quite good in a smoking. Like a movie star on the red carpet. Any idea why Guildmistress Loyola was in Bering, by the way?"
"Whatever it is, it means nothing good." With him being dressed, he turned around to her, smirking slightly at her. "I don't know whether she was trying to protect us or whether she was trying to fuck us over. However it is better to avoid her at all cost next time. I don't like to play her games."
"Still mad at her for the Corinth video?" She made a step back and to the side, seeing he wanted to move out of the bathroom.
"That's not it," he began as he approached his cabinet, opening it. "She is unpredictable. She is unreliable. When she does things, then never in a clean way. I don't want her around us. The less she knows about us and our activities, the better it is for us. Good, she helped us getting cool with the Core again, allowing us to keep the ship without repercussions. But she mentioned she is unemployed now. So I don't know what that means for us and the Core." Sighing, he took his black leather jacket out of the cabinet and put it on. For a moment, Sherry smirked at him slightly amused. "What?"
"Do you maybe want to go to the gym quickly and lift some weights to pump your muscles?"
"Are you fucking with me right now?" He gave her a toothless smile, combined with a bit of surprise.
"You do look like a shady captain of a rogue battleship, you know? With your long black hair, the red accents, the scar and the club leather jacket. I wouldn't be surprised if the admiral think you're hitting on her."
"But it does look good, right?" he asked her, making his steps towards her, just to place his hands on her sides. It made her blush slightly.
"It is certainly what women like. The handsome rogue battleship captain." Avoiding his eyes, she placed her hands on his wrists and pushed him a bit back. "So, you will take a quickshuttle over there, greet them, show them the PDA and the presentation and then make the offer?"
"Right. I'll keep my PDA on recording, so we'll have a copy of what will be said, just for the archives. They will choose some items, maybe make a counter-offer for more items, then I'll return to the ship, prepare a data package for them, give it to them, return and then they receive the key to open the package once we have left Bering safe and sound." Placing his hands again on her sides, he came one more step closer. "If something happens, I trust you to continue our work. This ship will be yours then. It will be your job to make sure our crew is safe and happy. Alright?"
The sudden tension was back, and instead of removing his hands from her body again, she held his wrists first and then let her hands slide up to his shoulders to have them rest at his chest. "I promise."
"Good. But let's hope I come back unharmed. Make sure the Apahanta stays cloaked. If something happens, retreat to Puerto Rico. Vieques is our safe haven, and the neutron star can help you get rid of snubs and bombers. Or jump to Baffin or Omega-49 or Omicron Kappa. Don't risk anything."
"Understood." Her hands were slowly sliding down and off his chest, once more removing his grip on her hips. The blush was fading away, even with him still being intimidatingly close. "Good luck, Captain."
"Good luck, Commander Aguilar."
![[Image: TBuqJ3R.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TBuqJ3R.png)
