The steely corridors of The Isis clinked as his boots stepped on them. He was seeking the computers section, A few turns later down the near-deserted corridors, he found it.
Commander Robert D'Souza had been falling off-key lately. It had been a habit of his to check out every new recruit in the primary, a habit which could, and had, saved lives. But he had been busy lately, and had neglected to check the latest bevy of recruits.
He moved to the latest console, which was gleaming a dull green. The keywords typed in were "Recruit".
There were many,many results as expected. But he wanted only the latest ones. He scanned the names....Will Clayton...Fernando Soto...Katie McDonald. He opened up the Katie file and began to read....
Katie crawled into her bunk, exhausted from her shift.
She pulled the camo green blanket over herself, and tried to get to sleep on the old pillow, but all she could think about was the Commander she had met in the bar, Robert.
Katie sighed, and got out of her bunk, and pulled her PC back from the abyss that was standby mode, and began to search for data on this Commander.
Morning, or what passes for morning, found Robert sleepy and bleary-eyed. He had read far into the night and was very sleepy, and his arm ached terribly. He grabbed a bottle of beer and began to drink. The effects of it would soon numb his senses.
His mind went over what he had read yesterday. He wanted to talk to all the new members, to get their acquaintance and possibly form lasting friendships or professional bonds.
He had talked to Katie before, albeit briefly. He decided to tackle her first. He took out his datapad, and sent a message.
"Greetings, from Commander Robert. Please do come to talk with me at the Ensign's mess hall at 05.00 hours."
Somewhere in the corner of his mind however, He admitted that from what he had seen, he had found the young Ensign interesting.
The sun rose on Toledo, and Katie was stirred from her sleep by its green rays.
Her mind still groggy from the hours she had spent reading about the commander, she lazily rolled over onto her back, and looked over to the clock. It was 4:53AM.
Katie yawned, and was about to get back to sleep, when she noticed her datapad was flashing.
Deciding she would check it before she went back to sleep, she picked it up.
Her eyes widened after she realized what the message was about, and what the time was.
Jumping out of bed, she began to hurriedly make herself look somewhat presentable.
Having finally gotten to what she believed was a presentable state, Katie rushed out of her quarters, sealing the door behind her quickly, before sprinting down the corridor to the meeting, quickly checking her watch. 5:15AM
"Bloody hell! I'm late!" finally arriving at the meeting hall, she slipped in quietly, and tried to get to a free back row seat with no one noticing.
Robert D'Souza was already seated at a dim corner, toying with his datapad, he had expected the corporal to be late. The hour was very difficult, but he had chosen it because he knew that both their shifts started at 8.00 hours and he wanted to have a long talk
He spotted her as she dashed into the room and sat in the backrow, smiling, he moved to where she was seated, and surprised her by a "you are late"
Turning bright red, Katie looked up to see the few pilots who were present looking at her. (new line) "Umm. Sorry Sir... I.. Um.. Slept in?"
"Not a problem, I can't expect everyone to be like me and not sleep", he grinned again as he took a seat
Still glowing bright red, Katie took a seat, and stared at the floor, thoroughly embaressed.
Robert, still smiling, said, "Relax, this is not a business meeting, but a personal one. The purpose? I like to know about people, especially the newer recruits, so that I can work and fight alongside them well"
"Yes sir..." Katie said, and raised her head from the floor, her cheeks returning to a fleshy colour, instead of the beetroot red they were.
"Well, do tell me something about yourself."
"Well, Um.. I was a Molly. Until my fam'ly passed 'way, then ah floated aroun' for a while... Heard about the Order, and came up here."
"A molly? I am a corsair by birth, can you live with that?"
Katie clenched her fists for a moment. "Of course ah can..." Katie thought about how her father was killed by the corsairs, when he was bringing back food to the family, in his freighter.
"If that is any comfort to you, I have never killed a molly in battle"
"Tha's good..." Katie unclenched her fists.
"Why did you want to join the Order?"
"Nothin' left to dae with my life..." Katie sighed. "That, and it seemed like a guid cause."
"Does it still seem like a good cause to you?"
"Aye."
"You are not asking anything," Said Robert with a smile," I am not untouchable ya know"
Katie blushed a bit, and whispered to herself for a moment, before speaking. "Well... What about you then? Why did you join?"
"Nomads destroyed a shipment I was protecting, they destroyed me too. I was saved by a miracle, researched, and here I am"
"This has become, my life, and I am willing to give anything to it"
A little it distured by this, Katie asked: "Researched?"
"I flew into nomad territory, accessed the order databanks, risked mind control"
"I was very passionate about it back then"
"Well...that is for me. How do you rate yourself as a fighter?"
"Decent" Katie smiled. "I've been told I'm a crack shot with a Razor.
"I see, Where did you pick up your skills from?
"You don't survive on yer own oot in space at 17 with no fightin' skills."
Robert laughed, a ringing one. He was enjoying this conversation.
"How did you come about in the order primary?"
"I was in tha Advanced Trainin' Group, after Friesener spotted me."
"That old grumpy?"
"He isn't tha' bad..."
"Isn't he?"
"We don't get along, he is too strung up with himself"
"Any wingmates with whom you did training?" Said Robert after a pause
"Umm..."
"Jeremy Hunter... Christopher... Lovejoy..."
Robert nodded. "Competent pilots they are. And I have had a chance to cooperate closely with Lovejoy"
Katie chuckled. "As huv I! We danced together at the ball a few months ago..."
"Ah, I did nothing there except drink more beer", Robert says, a smile on his face yet again.
Katie... Giggled. For the first time in months.
They sat silently for some time after this. Robert studied her face...It seemed beautiful
Katie looked up at the Commanders face, and giggled a little bit, before suddenly realizing how handsome his face was, handsome enough to break through her deep-set hatred for Hispanian faces.
Robert's eyes roved over her face, and their eyes met.
Their eyes stayed locked for a moment, before Katie became embaressed again, and looked away.
Robert came out of the trance like situation he was in, as Katie blushed and looked away.
That felt dangerous...and amazingly delightful, thought he.
Katies heart was beating fast, and she started sweating a bit, and wasn't really paying attention to what was said.
They began talking again, about military matters, formations, battles, politics...everything, and time passed...
Robert was talking about a particular upset with the hunters...when he noticed Katie was sweating and looked unwell. Alarmed, he asked, "are you alright?", and leaned over and touched her forehead.
Katie shivered as Roberts palm touched her forehead, and felt funny all over for a second. "Yeah... I'm alright..."
"You sure you do not require medical attention?"
"Mmhm." Katies heart was beating even harder, he was still touching her forehead.
"She seems alright...something is bugging her", Robert thought to himself
He withdrew his hand, relieved.
Katie sighed, and cooled down a bit, now that Robert was not in such close proximity to her.
Robert was just about to say something when his datapad buzzed.
He took it out, there was a message, from Lovejoy. It read, "I am leaving the order pal, was good flying with you"
The datapad fell from his hands, and he unleashed a long stream of profanities in Hispanic.
Katie looked at him, confused. "Is... Something wrong?"
Robert's face was still angry, he looked at Katie, and said savagely, "Lovejoy left us!"
Katie seemed hurt a little, she had liked Lovejoy. "Oh..."
Robert sat down heavily and covered his face with his hands..."Damn him..." he whispered
Katie sighed, and stood from her chair. She walked over to Robert, and placed her hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them.
Robert grabbed her hands...and put them in between his own. "Thank you" was all he could manage. Slowly, he regained composure
Katie sat back down.
"Damn, this jeopardizes our plans", he whispered, half to himself.
"Plans?" Katie asked, intrigued.
Then his datapad vibrated again. He took it out shakily, expecting more bad news, nothing of the kind. It was from Augustin Joule, and it read, "Admiral Kelt has given us Corporals Will Clayton and Katie macdonald to continue our mission"
"More news?" asked Katie.
Robert just looked at Katie for a long time...and then he smiled, a small smile.
"Hold on", he said
Katie blinked, and smiled.
and looked through his datapad for the information that he needed, for many minutes he did that, when he was done, he typed in Katie's number and sent it.
Katies datapad buzzed, in her back pocket. Katie turned around to get it, and slowly read the message.
Katie grinned once she had finished reading, and unable to control herself, threw her arms around the Commander, yelling: "Thank you thank you thank you!"
The commander stood stiffly, as the happy corporal unleashed a hug on him. He stood for a moment, sharing the happiness, then gently pushed her away.
"Remember whose place you are taking, do not fail us, and me", he said slowly.
Adjusting her uniform, Katie regained composure, and realized most of the hall was looking at her.
Feeling a tad embaressed, Katie said. "Of course sir, I won't let you down sir.
Katie launched from the planet, passing through the ring as she went to meet her wingmates in orbit.
Robert D'Souza was already waiting in orbit, along with 4 other fighters, Katie completed the 'Zeta' recon squadron.
"We read you Corporal, Zeta wing, let us proceed", said Robert over secure communications.
"Aye, powering up primary systems.", was the response.
The 6 fighters turned and proceeded for their initial waypoint, the delta jumphole.
The flight was uneventful, and as the last fighter jumped, they began travelling again toward the Iota jumphole.
"Alright pilots, initial briefing. I have a recon probe in cargo of my ship, we will attempt to plant it somewhere where the nomads cannot detect it, for sometime hopefully"
"That is all", said Robert as the Iota jump hole became visible.
"Hold up"
Katie's words surprised the wing, and waited to hear what she meant by this.
"Brace your--what?"
"Lemme go first, I want tah make sure none of ye get hurt ya know?"
"Better some corporal than an officer!" Katie chuckles.
"Hold it Corporal. Higgins, come with me." Katie sighed.
Just before he initiated docking procedures, Robert said reassuringly, "I have done this before, do not worry "
"On yer tail!" Katie prepared to dock, 3rd in line.
"We will send you signal as soon as we are in Iota and clear, Hibito, bring up the rear, and keep us covered", said Robert, and with that, initiated the phase align sequence
After Robert and Higgins had jumped, Katie pushed into the hole.
The lights faded, and Robert, along with his wingmate, was in Iota. He knew what to do, shouting "Dodge, Higgins, dodge!", he pushed his throttle to the right as far as it could go
the first salvo from the platform missed, Higgins was hit by a few and his shields went down, but with hull intact, he joined Robert.
"Alright, all clear! be ready to dodge as soon as you enter Iota!", was the shout from the Commander. Katie's fighter screamed through the jumphole, dodging fire from the weapons platforms, as she continued to dodge, Higgins screamed as shots peirced his cockpit, and his ship exploded in a marvelous ball of red flame.
"Lost a wingman!", was the shout. Robert sighed...another comrade lost.
"Got 'im!" Katie yelled as she slowed down to pick up the pod, allowing several shots to slam into her hull, peircing the docking bay.
"Corporal! out of there and on my tail!"
"Alright wing! follow my lead and we will turn these platforms over and kick them in the rear!"
"Roger!" Katie fell into battle formation behind Robert, and prepared to open fire.
Robert passed under the nearest platform, and released nuclear mines, which exploded and stopped the fire for a brief moment. "That is the way!", he shouted. He then speeded his way out of range of the platform.
Katie grinned, and pushed her fighters engine to its limit, screeching past the platform, firing off the sunslayer she had jury-rigged to the side of the top wing, along with a nuclear mine.
Robert turned his ship around, and just grinned as the pilots joined him one after another.
"Good work pilots!", he said.
"Sir! Nomad ships inbound! We should get the HELL out of here!"
"Caray! On my six! Let's speed!"
Katie entered formation to the left of Robert, and began to fire up her engines when a missile impacted on the bottom most engine, rocking the ship violently
"Argh! I'm hit! But I'm alright!"
"Actually, scratch that, let's whoop these squid's arse!"
With that, Robert turned his ship around in a tight turn, and eyes and crosshairs locked on the nearest target, unleashed his shield busters, which burst the voil of the nomad, followed by the mini razor which vaporized it
Katie spun her ship as best she could with one engine down, and unleashed hell on the Nomads, grinning as her guns tore holes in the fighter, and it seemed to whine in pain as it exploded.
Robert, pleased from his last salvo, put in another turn and saw his wing hard at work, already 3 nomads were down, with no losses, Amelia was faring poorly though, and Robert rushed to her, "I will take it Amelia, try to survive", he said.
"Sir..." Katie yelled, a hint of fear in her voice. "Nomad BATTLESHIP inbound! We can't take them!"
Robert launched into a torrent of hispanic. "Pilots, retreat!", but he himself rushed towards the battleship.
Katie widened her eyes, and dumped all her extra fuel into the engines, speeding to catch up to Robert, and assist him.
"Corporal! Back off! I know what I am doing!", shouted Robert, who was all nerves.
"Negative! Ye cannae take him by yerself!" Katie let out a battlecry as the battleship entered weapons range, opening up with all it had.
Robert sighed, and with a flick of the hand, enabled the weapon known as "Marker-2", he quickly took aim, and fired. The projectile hit the battleship, and stayed there.
Katie was busy dodging turret-fire, and as she spun her ship, a battleship salvo slammed into her wing, tearing it clean off. Katie screamed in terror.
It's boosters would keep it abreast of the battleship, and this would hopefully reveal the whereabouts of the battleship for sometime before it was destroyed, satisfied, Robert turned around and ran, The computer had signalled shield failure.
"Corporal, outta here!", He screamed.
Katie was trying to engage her cruise engines, as more and more energy slammed into her ship, console panels were exploding around her cockpit, and guns were falling off all over her ship.
"Katie! Eject!", was the call as the Commander turned his ship around for the last time, his hull was at 50%, he quickly applied the last of his batteries and went for the smoking Nephthys
"No! I can do this!" Katie was almost crying as she said this, she knew she couldn't make it, but she couldn't deal with the guilt of leaving Higgins to die in the Nephthys.
"Eject, damn you!", and here Robert lost control and started blabbering in Hispanic.
Katie roared ferociously as she forced all the power the little fighter had into its engines, blowing them out and sending her on a haphazard course toward the jumphole, at around 200 m/s
Robert, still shouting in Hispanic, turned his ship around a final time, the computer was screaming at him, "Hull breach Imminent".
He used the last trick he had, he launched all his countermeasures at once, the large flare would hopefully create a distraction
Katies ship slammed into the jumphole sideways, leaking oxygen, causing fires to erupt around the ship as it flew through the hole.
The commander was now the last man left in Iota, he quickly prepared his giant flare and launched it, and, closing his eyes, went for the jump hole....
As Katies fighter exited the jumphole, all was quiet in Delta, and the sight of her ship caused a good few of the wing to gasp.
When he opened his eyes...his ship was smoking, and he had lost a wing, and his cockpit was close to destruction, and he saw...his wingmates.
Katie was shivering, not of cold, but of uncontrollable waves of emotion. She could have died there, and she knew it.
He tried speaking to them...but the computer simple said, "Communications failure". He was glad of it, time was needed to get over that experience.
He pointed his ship in general direction of the Freeport, and the crippled ship limped towards safety.
Katies ship was leaking oxygen, and the damaged computer had finally realized. "Oxygen levels critical" Chimed the female voice of the computer.
One of the wingmen noticed Katie's predicament, and shared oxygen with her as the ships made the long flight to the Freeport.
The freeport was amazed, seeing a line of battered, smoking and mutilated ships coming in.
As the ships arrived at the Freeport, Katie was the first to dock. she sat in her cockpit, waiting for the others.
Robert's ship slowly stumbled into the hanger, and, unable to support levitation, collapsed on the ground.
The cockpit opened slowly, and the Commander came out, seemingly unruffled, but his eyes...were wild.
Emotion slowly overcame Katie, and she broke down into tears in the cockpit, not even making an attempt to cover her eyes, she simply sat, slumped in her cockpit, crying.
Robert slowly limped over to each ship, and asked the pilot briefly if he was alright, last of all, he reached Katie's ship and saw her there, crying.
His eyes glazed over, and he knocked on the cockpit...then quickly went away. "Let the emotions flow", he thought. The Hangar official was nearby, he walked over to him, and pointing to Katie's ship, said "There is an escape pod in there, take it out and revive the pilot"
The official quickly nodded and signalled to an aide, who called in a medical team.
One of the wingmen came over to Katies ship, and quietly told her to meet eveyone in the bar.
An hour later, Robert was seated at a table in the bar. His leg had been tended to, and he had recovered somewhat from the fright. As he watched, his wingmates slowly filed in, and took seats beside him.
Katie slowly strode into the bar, her cheeks red from all the crying.
When all of them had took seats, Robert said slowly, and with difficulty, " The mission has failed. We have, however, achieved something else, which might be useful. I tagged the nomad battleship with one of our marker weapons, this could give us useful intel"
"Any Questions?" he looked at the despondent faces around him.
Katie sniffed, her nose had been running due to the crying, and she was trying to hide from everyone by sitting on a seat at the back
No one asked any questions, so Robert said, "End of Debriefing, we will wait here till our ships are repaired, all disperse except Corporal Katie McDonald". They all filed out, some of them shooting looks at her.
Katie looked up, still upset by the days events.
Robert started speaking in a slow voice, "Why did you disobey my orders to retreat?"
"I... I..." Katie simply looked at the commander, her auburn hair was a mess, and tears were welling in her eyes again.
He continued,"You really should have obeyed my order...we lost Higgins"....His eyes glazed over again.
"Tell me, was my life more important than Higgin's? You were taking care of 2 lives while you were on your fighter, your first priority was to save yourself, and the pod"
"I know! I just... Please... I didn't mean.." Katie buried her face in her hands and cried.
"listen...", he said in a softer voice.."Calm down"
Katie kept crying.
Robert leaned over, and raised her face gently with his hand, so that he was staring into her eyes.
Katie stopped crying, and stared into Roberts eyes.
He looked into her eyes for some time, once he was assured that she was ready to listen, he began speaking softly.
"I had taken my chances by trying to mark that nomad battleship, by all accounts, it was a stupid and suicidal decision. You could, and should have left me there to face the consequences..."
Katie whimpered at this, hating the idea of abandoning a comrade.
"Listen, it was a choice between me going to do something suicidal, and the sure chance of you saving yourself, and Higgins...Why did you choose to join me?"
Katie herself was unsure, and simply said "I don't know." "To be sure, I don't know either", He replied. Suddenly, breaking down, he buried his face in his hands.
Katie wasn't sure what to do, but improvised, wrapping her arms around him, embracing him as she began to cry again.
Robert looked at Katie...and stood up, shaking her off. Then suddenly, pulling her to her feet, he embraced her tightly, trying to forget the past.
Katie simply enjoyed the hug, and uttered a low "Mmmm..." Robert, finally unleashed his pent up emotions and began crying silently..
Katie rubbed her hand up and down his back, trying to comfort both him, and herself.
They stood like this for a long time. Finally Robert pulled back, and said, "Sometimes I wonder why this world is so crazy" and...smiled.
Katie simply nodded, and stood back a bit, relaxed by the hugging.
"The past is past now Katie, but I suppose we could become friends?"
Katie chirped up at this, and nodded.
"That is settled then. Once we get back to Minor, we will dig up some free time and go surfing on the snows of Toledo ok? "
"Sounds fun. You'll need to teach me though!" Katie laughed.
"Sure thing", said Robert, still smiling
Eventually, Robert and Katie did find a gap in their patrol schedules, and met up on a mountain on Toledo favoured by many Order pilots for ski-ing.
Katie climbed the final few steps to the top of the slope, and got her equipment on, before meeting Robert at the start of the slope.
"You ready for this Katie?" Robert asked, grinning as he watched the young Bretonian shiver from the cold.
"Sure! But it's mah first time, so ye'll have to take it slow." Katie said, grinning.
"Of course!" Robert yelled, before grabbing Katies arm, and plunging down onto the slope, dragging her alongside him as they sped down the slope.
"You... You..." Katie stopped short of cursing at Robert for scaring her, and simply began to enjoy herself. Her long auburn hair flowed easily in the wind, and the cold air refreshed her senses, and it was all she could do to stop screaming in delight as they continued to accelerate.
Robert weaved through trees as they neared the half-way mark on the slope, and looked over at Katie as she zoomed past him. Robert grinned, and squatted lower, speeding up to catch the young woman.
Robert leaped from a small ramp, flying over Katies head before landing in front of her, shocking her a bit.
"Enjoying yourself?" Asked Robert, as he pulled back, so that he was alongside her.
"Yeah! This is AMAZING!" Katie let out a whoop of delight as she clumsily dodged past a tree.
"Watch out!" Robert yelled, just as Katie clipped the side of a tree, and started tumbling head over heels down the slope.
Once Katie had come to a rest at the bottom of the slope, Robert helped her to her feet.
"Still think that was fun?" Robert asked, chuckling.
"Yeah, and the snow cushioned the impact, so I'm no hurt either!"
They both laughed for a moment, before walking back to the entrance.
The docking bay was cleared, and the Civilian Shuttle "Heron" landed without Incident. As soon as the doors opened, people started pushing each other in a desperate bid to get out first. Among them, a man with dark long hair walked out easily, 2 suitcases in hand. Albert Knowles scanned the lush green Erie landscape, dotted wth skyscrapers in the background. "Perfect", He thought to himself.
Standing on the pavement of the launch pad, he waited for his companion. She came out towards the last, Auburn hair spread out over her shoulders. Samantha MacTavish reached the ground with some difficulty and started looking for Albert.
Albert grinned and waved his hand for her to see. She quickly moved over to him, "Nice trip Aye?", She asked, grinning.
"About the most bumpy space ride I have ever had," He replied. "Let's go"
They walked away from the launch pad and into the terminal, and sat down.
"Well, we need ships" Alfred began.
"Aye, we do, and I guess legitimate sellers are a no-no", Replied Samantha.
"Right, We should try the rust-baskets"
"Wha?"
"Used ship sellers, might find something for our uses."
"Aye, sounds good. Before we leave, I would like you to see if my outfit works or not. I personally think my arse looks a bit too large in it!"
Albert laughed, " You look sexy as usual", He remarked.
Samantha blushed. "Thanks I guess", she replied shyly.
A little asking around the city got them to the rustbucket dealers. It was a noisy place full of hagglers, ragged people, the lowest strata of Sirian society. Albert quickly went through the ships, until he hit one he liked.
"Which ship is that?", He asked the dealer.
"Tha', Is a Crow Fighter, Perfect fer you and the Missus!", He said, his grin revealing crooked and yellow teeth.
Robert blushed a bit at the man's assumption. "We are not married, and how much does it cost?", He asked.
"Ah, me bad, It costs no less than 3 million credits, lowerin' the price fer your...friend", He said.
"That rustbucket is worth no more than 2, I can bet you that" said Robert with a twinkly in his eye, he knew that haggling could do wonders.
After a lot of negotiations, They bought the Crow fighter for 2.5 million credits with some good guns thrown in. But unfortunately, no worthwhile ship could be found for Samantha.
"I think I will try Manhattan, always wanted a Kingfisher", said Samantha finally as the day wore away.
"Right, get in the Crow and we will try Manhattan", Said Albert tiredly.
The trip to Manhattan was uneventful, Samantha sat with Albert in the cockpit, the Cargo hold was not fit for pigs, let alone humans. His nearness ringed alarm bells in her head, but she controlled her emotions until they got to Manhattan.
"Right! Here at last!", Drawled Albert after they had landed.
"Aye, I will try finding a Kingfisher for me uses", replied Samantha.
"Perhaps later, I am tired, and you are as well. Let's go to the restrooms for visitors nearby and rest before doing anything."
"Aye"
The restroom was hardly ideal, but for the tired person, it was paradise. Albert quickly booked 2 seperate rooms, got the keys and gave one to Samantha.
Before parting, they exchanged pleasantries.
"Good night Robert"
"Good night Katie"
Katies lungs heaved as she pushed them past the limit, passing objects nothing but a blur as she sped through a Manhattan slum, chasing down a man in a dark black coat.
Suddenly, she caught her ankle on a loose brick, and flew through the air into a brown puddle, water splashing all over her. She groaned, and rolled over. Checking herself over, she saw nothing broken, and jumped back to her feet. But the man was gone.
Robert sped around, looking at his tracker, Katie had gone on far ahead. "Follow me! He said to the rest of the team.
Katie leaned against a wall, taking huge, gulping breaths of air, filling her exhausted lungs burned her chest, but it was a good pain.
She cursed and pounded the wall with her fist with frustration as she had lost her target. The only man in weeks they had found with any meaningful knowledge of the Phantoms.
She was still panting as the rest of the team catched up, one look and Robert understood that the target was gone.
Katie picked a piece of refuse from her jacket, grimacing at the thought of all this dirty water in her clothes.
The Hispanian sighed, and looked at Augustin. "Caray, what now?".
Augustin replied, "We lost it, and have to start from the beginning."
Katie panted. "I almost... Had him"
"Almost does not work.", replied Robert before moving off to discuss future details with Augustin.
Katie clenched her fists. It wasn't her fault. She had tripped.
They talked for a few moments, and in the end, Augustin said aloud. "Meet at the Golden Trumpet.". Robert looked at Katie for a moment, and then with a grunted Si, started moving.
Katie started shouting at herself in her head. She had cost the team weeks of work, and now she had pissed off Robert. With a heavy sigh, she started following the others, trailing at the back.
The Golden Trumpet was a hotel of modest size, by Manhattan standards. Still, it was coupled with a bar and many luxuries unknown to the Order pilots.
Katie was sitting by herself, away from the others. They were laughing and joking with each other, but whenever she caught their eyes, they gave her a glare as cold as steel.
They were already seated at the bar and waiting for Robert to arrive. Finally he came, a bottle of beer in hand. "Could always use some beer to relax." He said smilingly.
Seeing Katie sitting in the corner, Robert said nothing and just gave her a slightly resigned look.
Seeing Robert looking at her, Katie immediately stared into her drink.
Augustin began the discussion "Well, due to this setback" here he looked at Katie, "We must begin again from scratch, try all your contacts and see if we can locate this guy again, which is unlikely."
Robert signaled to Katie to come over to listen to the plan.
Katie hesitated, but eventually resigned herself to moving closer to the others. Shuffling over, she positioned herself as far away from Robert as possible.
Robert nodded a bit when Katie came over, and said, "The phantoms part of us is low priority now with the Capture of Luxuria. We should reach safe points and attempt to contact Toledo for further orders."
And so the discussion went on. One by one, the other squad members told each other where they would be hiding, and then it came to her turn.
Meekly, Katie said, "Barrier Gate." And with that, swiftly turned away and left for the landing pad.
"Fine. Dispersed" Augustin said and they all moved out, except for Robert, who was still drinking.
He finished his glass, then slowly rose and moved to the launch pad, his senses a bit slurred.
Katie was just about finished with pre-launch checks, and was just about to take off when Robert got to the pads. Sighing, she pulled the release catch for the cockpit, and climbed in. Starting up her engine, she took off from Manhattan, and started to head to California.
Robert, in his drunken state, decided following Katie would be the best option. He himself was certainly not in a position to fight if needed. He started up his Crow and launched after her.
Checking her scanners, she noticed Roberts crow following her, and sighed. Trying to ignore him, she jumped to the California system.
Robert continued following her at a distance, until his computer said in that annoying female voice "Trade lane disrupted"
Katie hurriedly looked at her scanners, some Liberty Navy ships were here... "Can I help you?" She said, confused.
"No miss, we are looking for suspected Order spies."
Gulping, Katie replied, "Really? In Liberty? How arrogant of them..."
"Indeed. We are looking for a certain 'Augustin' character."
"The fool is suspected of associating with Order, which is high treason.
"What an idiot!" Katie forced a laugh.
"Well, I'll be on my way..." She said, and quickly docked with the trade lane, leaving the patrol behind.
Robert guffawed, and said. "I do not think we know what you are looking for Officer, good day", and quickly left. He caught up with Katie and tried to initiate secure communications.
Katie sighed, and opened a channel. "Go on then. yell at me."
"Dock on California Minor, I do not trust these comms.", He said brusquely.
Katie groaned, and docked, fully expecting a lengthy lecture on her failure.
Once docked, Robert signaled to Katie to come over, and without Preamble, said "Augustin is in trouble. I will inform him."
"I know." Katie stared at the ground. "Come on then. Let me have it."
Robert looked at her angrily, "What's your problem?"
Katie looked shocked. "I..."
"All this while, you have been trying to ignore me, why?"
"I... Don't..." Katie couldn't get any words out, it felt like something was blocking her voice.
"It's about that guy we missed right?"
Katie just nodded.
"It was a hard miss, and it's natural that I be angry. It does not mean you think it's the end of the world."
"But..." Katie was cut off as Robert spoke again.
He sighed, "You know I like you." He said slowly.
Katies face burned bright red, and she clammed up tight, looking like she wished the ground would swallow her up.
"So don't worry about it, and let me know what happened in that chase."
"I... I was chasing him down the street..." She began, recalling the events vividly. But... There was a loose brick... From the side of the road. I just caught my foot and went flying..."
Robert's expression changed from slightly perturbed to alarmed in a split second."So it was not your fault after all.... I am sorry."
"It's ok." Katie whispered.
Katie looked around the bleak ground of California Minor, taking in the wastelands beauty.
"We should... go inside.It's freezin'"
He nodded in answer, and followed her into the warmth of the Bar.
Katie slid into a seat in the corner of the bar, her dark green jacket still sticky and browned by the trip on Manhattan.
"What now?" asked Robert as he sat down.
"I don't know." Katie relaxed in her seat, leaning back, trying to fix her auburn hair.
"Well, let's grab some warm clothes and roam in the cold desert then.", he replied with a smile.
"Awrigh' Katie smiled. "I have a winter jacket in my ship."
"Alright, meet me outside when you are ready."
Katie walked outside to her ship, grinning to herself. Fetching her black coat with the fur collar, she met Robert outside the bar.
He stood there, grinning in a jacket designed for weather. Taking her hand, he started moving into the endless desert. The featureless void defined the region of Liberty, much different from the rocky slopes and dangerous valleys of Toledo.
Clenching Roberts hand, Katie looked around. "I love it out here."
A nod was the response. "It reminds me of Toledo, when the nebula shifts sometimes and the stars peek in."
Katie gasped. "So it does!"
They sat down on the ground, and while Katie looked at the stars, Robert looked at her with a gentle smile.
Katie had a look of wonderment on her face, much like children have when they see their Birthday gifts all wrapped up. "I love astrology..."
"So you do, so you do." After a pause, he said "You know you look beautiful like that?"
"Like what?" Katie said, giggling like a schoolgirl.
"When you look at things with wonder..", He smiled widely.
"Is that so?" Katie said in a rather matter-of-fact way.
"It is.", replied Robert simply. He took her face in his hands.
"Don't worry, everything will be alright.", He said soothingly, more to himself than to Katie.
Katie smiled complacently, allowing Robert to hold her face.
"Don't ever worry about me again like you did. I care for you and think nothing bad of you.", with that, he lightly kissed her cheek.
Katie nodded slowly, and simply went with it.He gently drew her closer, and kissed her on the lips tentatively. She shivered all over, and kissed him back more forcefully. Drawing her still closer, he put his arms around her and started kissing her truly. She responded by wrapped her arms around Roberts back, and pulled him toward her too, tightening their embrace. They kissed for sometime, until Robert disengaged, taking in deep breaths.
"You know I will always be there for you" He said.
"Well. That was unexpected." Katie said, and grinned.
"It was.", said Robert. He helped her up on her feet.
"Why thank you kind sir." Katie said, pretending to be from Planet Texas.
He laughed, and hugged her before taking her hand and going back to habitation.
"We should do that more often."
"We will dear.", he said gently.
"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm old here."
Katie chuckled, and playfully pushed Roberts shoulder. He laughed, and swooping down, picked her up by the legs and carried her a short distance.Katie yelped, and laughed loudly.
"Hiho Silver!"
"If you do that again, we fly together in the cockpit of my Crow!"
"Is that a fact?" Katie said, before sighing, a grin a mile wide painted across her face.
"I guess", said Robert before putting her down.
It was dark in Toledo's only restaurant, the lights were dimmed for the evening, and a few men and woman dotted the room, chatting about their days. Katie was sitting by the window, with the love of her life, Admiral D'souza. Cutting up a peice of fish, she ate it slowly whilst listening intently to Robert.
"It's been hard. The nomads assaulted in force yesterday, with an actual cruiser. We mobilized all wings as quick as we could, and rushed out. Was a proper battlegroup, it was really tense. I thought we had lost it when our Osiris fell, but the bombers managed to eat the Cruiser and we drove them away. Was a really difficult battle,and I am very tired for it..." he swayed slightly.
Katie nodded sympathetically, and placed her hands on Roberts, smiling at him as he struggled to stay awake.
He drew up a chair close to her, and leaned on her, holding as he viewed the landscape with narrowed eyes.
Katie moved her hands through Roberts hair slowly, stroking him as if he were a pet of hers. She closed her eyes and leaned on him, smiling contently.
He sighed, and spoke in a very low voice. "How have you been?" he said, still leaning.
Katie replied softly: "Good."
"What's the plan?"
"You know me, I don't do plans." Katie winked at Robert.
"Maybe I should rest" he tried to stand up, but promptly fell back in his chair again.
"Here, let me help you." Katie slowly stood up, and helped Robert to his feet.
He nodded, and accepted the support. They stumbled towards the direction of the general quarters.
Katie laughed a little: "It's like your completely wasted out of your mind."
"Battle is a kind of drug anyways" he whispered. opening his eyes a tad, he looked around. "Where are we?"
"Near the quarters, not much further."
"My quarter or yours?"
"Mine is closer, and your heavy."
He laughed a little, too tired to argue. Finally arriving at the steel doors, Katie quickly punched in her access code, and the door slid open. They stumbled in, and Katie promptly dropped Robert on the nearest support, which happened to be the bunk.
Katie took a deep breath, and rested her hands on the desk. "Your heavy you know that?"
He nodded, and leaned on the bunk. "I'm aware of that."
Katie flopped down onto her bunk, beside Robert.
"I guess I'll stick around until I got enough to go back"
"Nah it's ok for you to stay here tonight." Katie smiled.
He smiled back, but shook his head. "What'll your neighbours think when I emerge?"
"Who cares?" Katie lay back on her bunk, tired out.
He shifted a little, so he could see her. "You think we'll win?" he asked suddenly.
"Win what?" Katie looked up a little.
"The war."
"Pfft, a bunch of two-bit hunters against a well-organized military bunch like us?" Katie smiled. "No contest."
"What about the nomads?"
"Well now, thats a bit different." Katie sighed. "I guess whenever we get rid of the Hunters and can focus on the Noms, we could do it. We've done it before, right?"
"I suppose. What if we lose?" "Anything you would regret?"
"Regrets?" Katie thought for a moment. "Nah. Just dissapointment that we got a beatin' from some jellyfish."
"I'd regret a few things." he said, looking into her eyes.
Katie looked back, mesmerized. He leaned over to her, and gently gave her a kiss. Katie wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, kissing him back. He held her ever tighter, seeking comfort, and giving it. His ferocity grew, as he began kissing more powerfully.
Katie pulled him backward, so that he was lying ontop of her on the bunk as they kissed passionately.
He left her lips for a moment, only to move it along her neck and shoulders. Katie closed her eyes and grinned. He suddenly disengaged, voice ragged with passion.
"Are...you...sure?" he said.
"Oh god yes." Katie pulled him back in, living in the moment. "I.. Love you Robert." Katie kissed his neck hard, rubbing her hands up and down his back in a frenzy.
"Love you back" he said as he began taking his clothes off with a free hand.
Katie joined him, trying to unhook her belt buckle with one hand while still concentrating on kissing Robert. He'd lost his shirt, and Katie could feel the heat of his body through the thin fabric of her shirt.
Katie had finally undone her belt, and quickly untucked her shirt before pulling it up and over her head.
He looked up briefly. "Pretty" he murmured, attempting to get his pants off without causing too much fuss.
Katie did the same, and looked lovingly into Roberts eyes for a long time.
He lowered her to the bed, and the two bodies became one, as the two dissimilar people were finally united, and an Unlikely Union had happened.