Planet Bordeaux
Enclave HQ
The two suns up above in the clear blue sky blessed the lands in Bordeaux, warming up the planet to a comfortable + 18.6 Celcius. The sunshine laid upon Clair's ship, pointing out all of the scratches, holes and deformed panels that ornated the Lynx. After all, it survived both the excruciating test of time and the unrewarding Gallic war. Said Lynx also had a small golden badge painted on one of the wings to symbolise something along the lines of being a "veteran" of the war.
The landing space was full of quite nice scenery, really. Vibrantly coloured trees, paths, you name it. It was a sight like no other in the whole of Sirius, at least he thought so anyway. It was certainly not something he was used to considering the man almost never visited any planet... except Leeds of course and well, it was nothing short of hell. Clair had little to no clue what he was going to do here or if he will stay here at all for any period of time. The only thing that he knew for sure is that he'll enjoy his time on the planet.
Augustin was sitting in the cockpit of his just landed snub craft, trying to calm down and regain his composure after meeting someone awfully special in space. It had been years since Clair had been on a planet and as such, once he was out of the spacecraft, he had to get used to the much different gravity of the planet Bordeaux, however, having the training he has, it only took a few moments before he was completely ready to go. Many thoughts were running through his mind currently and it was all due to one person. Ambre Lachance. An old friend of his that he lost contact for years and only regained it a handful of hours ago. Truly fateful.
As time went on Clair let out a rather loud sigh and started nonchalantly pacing around the launchpads, waiting for her to arrive any second now.
Just as the Lynx landed, another blip appeared on its close proximity radar. The ship flew past the distant sun above Augustin's ship, casting a temporary shadow as it slowly descended onto the nearby landing pad. It was Havoc Mk.II model - a Sirian ship. It was clearly much heavier and clunkier when it came to landing, owing thanks to the weight of the ordinance strapped to it. It was armed to the teeth and enough to tear a hole in any armour, having multiple bomb dispensers and a Supernova cannon similar to that of the Veuglaire that Ambre was renowned for using. Engines roared as it finally oriented itself to the tractor beam on the landing pad, setting the spacecraft on the ground and locking it in place.
Especially on Bordeaux, such a vessel was a very suspicious sighting, even more so when it was armed with enough firepower to level a settlement. Air traffic control seemed to have allowed this ship to go through, owing to its Lynx escort. It's unlikely it'll be unlocked from its docking clamp anytime soon without investigation, however.
After taking the helmet off, the pilot opened the cockpit's window and started descending from the ship. Augustin could see Ambre climbing down the deployed ladder, her shoulder-length blonde hair waving with the gentle breeze. It seems there was security nearby, most likely coming to inspect the ship and who the pilot was.
Augustin dismissively looked at the security closing in on their position, or rather, Ambre's position. He didn't think much of it due to her being... her and as such, in a rather fast manner, he walked over to Ambre giving her a silent smile and a half-wave. Clair at first wanted to embrace her in a hug but as of right now and the given circumstances, it would've been the wrong place at the wrong time. Positioning himself just to the left side of Ambre and standing in a very formal soldier-like stance, as if he was imitating an actual escort of sorts.
Of course, he didn't expect anything bad to happen so he let Ambre do the talking. Whilst obviously not particularly participating in the conversation, Clair made sure to still be very much on top of the conversation so that if anything miraculously went wrong, he could help her out.
In hindsight, he probably should have talked to the guards prior that such a bizarre guest would come to the planet but it completely escaped his overstressed mind upon landing. C'est la vie, as they say. Nothing could have been done now to prevent it anyway and as such, he decided to let the events play out. It almost seemed like he was entertained, perhaps even interested in how she would deal with a stressful situation nowadays. A small grin appeared on his face as he quietly hummed a slow melodic tune to himself.
By the time Augustin made his way to Ambre, so did the guards. The three of them were armed with assault rifles, and while they weren't being threatening, they were clearly ready to jump at a moment's notice.
"Identify yourself." one of the guards cut straight to the chase. In all fairness, who wouldn't be concerned with an unknown heavily armed ship landing on their port - it's not like Bordeaux was open to all visitors.
"Ambre Lachance. Former Capitaine of the Marine Royale Gauloise." the woman replied, her thick Gallic accent evident as always. As soon as they've heard the woman speak, the men seemed to have lowered their guard and relaxed a little bit. At least she wasn't a foreigner.
"I recently managed to retrieve this ship from the Sirians and make my way to Bordeaux. I've found Augustin here to escort me, just in case." Ambre continued, gesturing towards Clair. She was lying through her teeth and hoped that they wouldn't catch on, clearly nervous in her voice. If they were to recognise her, or if there were reports of her already being active in Omega-49, things would only escalate from there.
A tension-filled moment passed as the guards verified what information they had on her and the ship, before turning their attention back to the pilot.
"This ship will remain on lockdown for inspection until further notice. You'll need to get permission from command to continue space-borne operations. Move along."
Ambre sighed in relief as the guards diverted attention away from her and started closing in on the Havoc. She looked at Augustin, who was there listening to the conversation. It was clear to him that she was still really nervous, but she was fighting against showing her state.
"So.. it's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked.
Clair didn't really expect the guards to be this heavily armed and as such, he was quite surprised by the weaponry they carried. He was even caught off guard a little by just how blunt the guards acted, though given this situation, he kind of understood it. Augustin would be as alert as possible too if he saw a Havoc just land in his back garden randomly. His grin didn't fade away as she kept talking to the guards, it was rather obvious he was enjoying this moment. However, the pilot was still glad that nothing came out of it as the guards went away.
Augustin remained silent for a moment, he was taking in the events that just occurred. He did not expect them to be so armed but, well, he was just glad it was over with. He easily noticed just how nervous she was however he decided not to pursue it. Instead, he thought of something more important. Augustin smiled and came up to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her in for a tight hug. Ambre was rather short compared to Clair, he practically towered over her.
"It really has, yeah." He muttered out his response.
Suddenly being pulled into a hug was really unexpected for Ambre, but she couldn't complain - it was rare to see someone she once knew years ago again. She reciprocated the hug, wrapping her arms around him for a few seconds before slowly letting go and stepping back.
"It's nice to see you again. At least someone I know survived the war." she said with a pessimistic tone. It's been years since she actually saw a face she recognised, at least of someone whom she didn't hate with a passion. She looked around the environment - a small, fledgling city surrounded by beautiful nature in the distance, a complete contrast to the cold mountains of Gran Canaria. It wasn't even necessary to wear heavy clothing which was a pleasant discovery for Ambre.
"Where should we go?"
Noticing her pessimistic tone, Augustin decided to lighten the mood by going to a restaurant. It has been a long time since he had some fine-dining. Clair looked at Ambre and pointed to what seemed like a not-so-distant restaurant. He took her by the arm gently without much thought put into it and walked towards it.
From the outside, it looks snug, cheerful and well maintained. Large and small stones and marble pillars make up most of the building's outer structure. On top of the entrance, a reasonably sized sign illuminated by light blue letters spelling out 'Bordeaux's Finest.' Several large windows with closed curtains and a golden trim surrounding them graced the otherwise blank walls of the restaurant.
Upon entering the restaurant, both Ambre and Augustin were greeted by peaceful classical Gallic music that was coursing through the establishment as well as squared, marble beams supporting the upper floor and the rows of small neutral lights attached to them. The walls are decorated with mounted animal heads, hides and small animals. Fitting for such a lively planet. After looking around for a small bit, he led her upstairs to the most isolated table that he was able to find. The chairs were made out of exquisite diamond pattern stitched leather as well as polished oak wood. The table itself too was made out of the same wood, however, an engraved crown was at the middle of it.
"Here we are." Augustin kindly smiled and took his seat.
Ambre was surprised with how eager Augustin was, still cautious of the man as this was the first time she was back in what seemed to be the normal Kingdom again. Nevertheless, she let herself be led to the restaurant, and the atmosphere blew her back entirely. Memories of even before the war flooded in - this was the first time she had actually returned to something similar to home.
The woman took a seat on the opposite end following Augustin's initiative, taking in the surroundings. Decorations symbolising the Crown were an odd sight to her at this point, having been living in an environment that despised it for years before.
It didn't take long before they were approached by a waitress, handing a menu to both of them and advising she'll be back shortly. Ambre opened it up and had a look, but couldn't really decide just yet.
"So what exactly happened to you, after the war?" she asked, her gaze shifting from the menu to the man in front of her.
The man in front of her placed his menu down and looked at her with a rather serious glare. "Got betrayed, got shot at by people I knew." He sighed and paused for a second to regain his composure once more, "The war didn't end for me yet." His serious look suddenly changed back to his previous relaxed and content expression.
Augustin picked up the menu and looked over the finest of meals that the restaurant offered. "Choose whatever you want and however much you want. I will pay for it." He smiled before looking at the menu once more, flipping the pages to find the most exquisite aged wine he could acquire. Other thoughts were intruding his mind, mostly along the lines of whether she was okay or not.
He put his hand up ever so slightly, catching the attention of a waitress, "I'll have a bottle of the best wine you can offer and also a medium-rare steak, merci." The waitress nodded, wrote the order in her notepad and quickly turned to his companion.
Clair turned his attention back onto Ambre, "What about you?" he hesitantly asked.
She fumbled with her hands slightly as she took the menu to look again, having completely forgotten to decide on a meal. Without taking too much time, she found a random meal that she liked the sound of on the menu that wasn't too expensive. She was considerate enough to choose something that didn't break the man's bank.
"I'll have the Navarin D'Agneau, merci." she said to the waitress, who promptly noted it down. The waitress asked if there's anything else they wanted, to which they both shook their heads, and walked away to give their order to the chefs.
"At least you're fine, then. Not like a lot of others in the Battle for New London, from what I've heard."