=Incoming Transmission=
[color=#33FF33]-Message Received- Begin Playback...
ID: Mattaki Seido.
Location: Undisclosed.
Subject: Rendezvous. Hey there old friend... It seems we have some catching up to do, Don't we? It'd be my pleasure if you'd come share a drink with me on Tokyo, My Treat. I have one hell of a story to share, and I'm sure you do as well. Consider this a last wish of an old Commander.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
"Computer crash again? I keep telling you, Kishiro-" an older mercenary started.
"No, Masaru, it's... Director Seido," Calvin explained, still surprised. "I can't believe he's actually alive. Wait a sec-"
"Is he still alive? Or is it-"
"Someone claiming to be him?"
"You two are creeping me out," a young Kusari woman interrupted. "What's going on?"
"Little Karakasa, complaining about other people startling her?" the veteran laughed. "Calvin and I are headed out to New Tokyo. I think you and Yoshiaki can handle things down here."
"Can do, dad."
------
A Nyx, not an entirely rare sight in Kusari. Two people climbed out, a little more unusual. One was a greying Kusari man with a wiry build and light armor barely visible under his jacket. The other was a young blond man, dressed similarly to an on-duty GMG Ace pilot, but in a black and red armored flightsuit instead of the normal white and blue.
Quite unusual.
They went to the appointed place, each making sure their weapons were ready in case something went wrong, and sat in a booth in the corner.
The weary ex-soldier, who was 28 years by age, and 35 by looks, walked into the doors of the bar, and nonchalantly casted glances around the room. He smirked at the sight of the two men in the corner, one unrecognizable to him, and the other all too-familiar. He casually told the bartender to pour out a round of drinks, and, with a grin growing across his gaunt and scarred face, made a smooth stride towards the booth. He cracked his knuckles behind his head as he walked, his body a bit stiff from the rough intra-planetary ride. He respectfully bowed his head at the second gentlemen, and looked right at the first, with a beaming grin plastered on his face.
"It's been a long while, Calvin. I see you're still as cautious as ever." The smirking grin turned into a warm smile, reminiscent of a long-lost friendship, and comrade. He extended his arm, his hand aching for a shake, as he casually looked over his entourage. It seemed that Calvin still had his hands full, as always.
"Care if I have a seat? I imagine we have quite a bit to talk about..." He passed a glance to the 'bodyguard' as he sat, and smiled, "Where are my manners. The name's Mattaki Seido. I don't think we've met before..."
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
"Masaru Yoshida, mercenary. Heavy interceptor specialist." the older mercenary answered.
Calvin looked at the drinks, and was rather surprised. It'd been a few months since he'd come to this bar, but they still remembered he always went with something non-alcoholic. He drank some of the green tea before he began. "Well, after you, er, "left"... I got sick of most of the new Serpents. All they wanted was to blow **** up. Get too many like that and it's your own squad that's blowing up. Sel seemed to feel the same, he left shortly after you vanished, and I didn't want those useless idiots dragging DXI through the mud. So I fired 'em and started again. Tracked down Masaru and his friend Yoshiaki and organized Orion. We've done a little work in the Taus and Rheinland... not much, but enough to keep us going." Another sip of tea, and he looked over at Seido.
"You look like you got keelhauled through the Detroit field. The hell happened?"
Seido took a heavy sip out of his glass before setting it down, and laying back against the soft synthetic cushion. He had the slightest grin across his face as he began to share the tale of his capture, imprisonment, and eventual escape.
"Well, looking back on it now, I'd say I had myself a little Adventure. I didn't think of it like that during the fact however. I got dragged about for at least two months, if I counted right, surviving on food just about Horse **** on the taste scale, contaminated water that's been recycled by a half-broken filter, and a bed make out of junk metal, if it wasn't already taken. Good 'Ol Slavers, always providing for ya. It only got better when I 'snapped' and decided I didn't give a damn anymore, and started back-talking and becoming a smart-*** to the overseers. Yeah, That didn't go too well..." He took another heavy gulp of liquor, before tracing the outline of the scythe-like scare streaking down his cheek.
"Who would've guessed that they couldn't take a joke, Eh? So to Hell with all of that, I stayed quiet and did what they told me for a good solid month, before, as if by the grace of the Gods, the ship was attacked by a group of Mercenaries. They must've been damn good ones at that, as before ya know it, They were on-board, searching registry for slave numbers. During the attack, a few other "Disgruntled Clients" and I decided to jump the guard posting watch, and along with a key to our rusting shackles, I found a wad of credits, and with them eventually found my way onto one of the Mercs' fighters, hitching a ride back to here, instead of going through that damn Rescue and Recuperation BS. I've been doing odd-jobs for a few weeks, and thought it'd be nice to catch up with an old wing-mate. So here we are!" He chuckled as he raised his glass for a mock toast, and downed the rest of it's contents.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
"You're lucky they didn't shoot you, after all the slavers we took out," Calvin remarked, thinking back to an incident in Sigma-19.
"Or, for that matter, that they didn't just jettison all the slaves when they were boarded," Masaru added over the edge of his glass. "I've seen it happen. Yoshiaki, myself, and a small boarding party tried to capture an old Slaver transport once, a little past Shinkaku. They ejected all the slaves... no pods. Just threw them right out into space."
A moment of uncomfortable silence followed.
"So, Seido, what are your plans from here?" Calvin asked, hoping to get off that subject. Though it did explain why Masaru was always so quiet in Tau-29...
"Plans?" Seido couldn't help but chuckle as he leaned back and thought for a moment.
"That's a good question. I need out of here. Staying Planet-side for so long is not healthy for a man like me. I'll probably get myself back into Mercenary work. I hear there's a new Centralized Database of sorts as well. I may have to see about that. Maybe even get a team together again. I'm never going to be an Ace pilot, but I at least have the skill to lead one. God forbid if I raise the curse that is DXI back once more, but a couple comrades can do a lot of good... I'm sure you know what I'm talking about." He smirked at his last line, his glass held up as a waiter came around to take it, setting another down in it's place. There was something in that grin that was vaguely familiar, of a man beyond his years, an Organized, Calculating man, who went down with his ship, Twice.
But there was something new in it. Something that had arisen from the torture and obstacles of his "Adventure." It was an attitude of hotshot pilot, eager to get out and just soar. And there was no one he'd rather do his soaring with, then with the man sitting across from him.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
"I can't say I'm surprised." The blonde man stared into his glass for a time, thinking. Seido was a reasonable pilot and a good leader... but what he'd been through was cause for concern. The slave trade is as active as ever, and he didn't want to risk Seido going berserk on some slaver in the middle of a job.
He smiled, and shook his head. He was even younger than Seido, only 24 and not looking a day older, but the business changes people. Seido
"Well, it'd be good to have you with us. I learned from our mistakes in DXI, kept to a small group so far. But I doubt you're going to screw anything up for us."
"Heh. I'll do my best not to." And with a grin on his face and a firm handshake, life had gotten just a tad more exciting again. He rummaged through his jacket pocket for change, and paid for the round of drinks, before standing and straightening his attire.
"Well then, I guess I'm off to pack up. Time to dust off the 'Ol Talon as well. I'll catch up with you mates Space-side. Stay Safe 'Till Then." As he walked off towards the door, he was whistling a tune, of whose lyrics he couldn't remember, but concerning the rebirth of a Phoenix in some sad fairytale. For some reason, that just popped into his mind, although, who knows why...
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
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