Victory Rush wardroom.

[Vigilantes]

((//This was written as a clarification on how did a Vigilante managed to obtain a battlecruiser, but I think there will be more stories like this posted.)

Zettsu leaned over to the ashtray on his desk and put out the cigarette. His shift at the docking airlock was over and he could go to his cabin. He was getting up from his armchair while the transmission console flashed and he heard a woman's voice sending out a docking request. 'Victory Rush, this is Seraph, requesting the permission to dock. Who's at the desk today?'

'Greetings, Seraph. It's Zettsu here, I'm opening the airlock right now.' He pulled the lever and a moment later Seraph's Sunrider's pink engine went off inside the docking module.

'Hey there. Who's on from the main crew right now?' Seraph directed the question at Zettsu.

'Let's see... Bolshack's on the helm with Lionel, they apparently are discussing something very important and asked not to interrupt them. Jetstone is hanging around somewhere, but I have no idea where, and Abythen is in the wardroom. Oh, and myself, but I'm about to go to sleep.' He told about sleeping, but in fact was looking into reading the book Seraph had lent him.

'Yeah, OK. I will send someone to change you here. Meanwhile, why don't you get something to eat with me? Can you spare a moment?'

'Actually, why not. Say we meet in half an hour in the wardroom.'

'So we're set.' Seraph left the docking room and went to her cabin. It was a long journey and she had to freshen up.

---

Seraph walked into the wardroom. As Zettsu said, Abythen was here. Seraph actually didn't know if Abythen was male of female. He, or she, had long, blonde hair and feminine complexion that would indicate him being a woman. On the other hand, though, Abythen walked and behaved like a man. This is why the crew considered him male, but Seraph knew this was a risky topic. What she knew as well was that Abythen several times had singlehandedly taken out a Rheinland cruiser in his Touketsu bomber. He always put the agility over armor and never convinced himself to the Nova torpedoes.

'Abythen.' said Seraph, 'Zettsu asked for replacement at the docking airlock. It's time for your shift now.'

'Yes, ma'am.' He rose up from his chair.

Seraph waited until he's up and then took her seat at one of the wardroom tables. 'Come on, I'm not a 'ma'am' and this is not the army.' she turned around and smiled as Abythen was walking out of the cantine.

'Yes, ma... I mean, Seraph.' He smiled as well and made his way towards the docking room. At the door, he passed Zettsu, who was just entering the wardroom. He got his food and sat in front of Vigilantes captain.

'How was your trip? Were you as usual burning Navy's, and everyone else's for that matter, eyes with your hot pink lamps?' Zettsu started the conversation. He knew Seraph liked pink color and insisted on getting pink lights instead of white, as every other Vigilante.

'Yeah, it was interesting. Two smugglers running...' she stopped after seeing a big smile at Zettsu's face. Then she screamed after someone had covered her eyes with their hands. 'Guess who's that?'

She rose up from her seat and said. 'Lionel, you bastard! Stop sneaking up on me like this!' and kissed him in the cheek. 'Want to join us here with one of your totally impeccable and not made up stories?'

'That was the sole reason I'm here.' he smiled, picked up his food tray and sat along Seraph and Zettsu.

---

After everyone was done eating, they cleaned up the remains and got drinks. Seraph wasn't drinking or smoking, Zettsu had a cup of tea and Lionel pulled out his pipe and started his story.

'You know I was serving at the Navy. My relations with them were always a bit different though. When I went to the West Point Academy, Bolshack had already been admitted and was ranking as a captain. It was about the time I finished the Academy when the Victory Rush was built. Bolshack was made the commander of this ship. Due to the tensions with Rheinland, he was comissioned to guard that particular border. The Rush could be seen anywhere from Texas to Minnesota or the independent systems. Pretty much everyone in the Navy knew him and was aware of his achievements.

He considered me his friend, despite he was almost double my age, but he saw my enthusiasm to join the fleet and therefore told a few words to the recruitment comission. He proposed an offer. They would admit me with any ship I could afford from my own pocket and he would be responsible for my training.'

'Wait, When I first met you, you were piloting a battlecruiser. You... No!' Seraph yelled in sudden realisation. 'Did they seriously let you pilot this cow?'

'Yeah.' Lionel took a smoke from his pipe. 'Bolshack was an incredibly influential person and I had already proven myself as a pilot of a snub in the Academy. So with that, they agreed. I was under his command for my first year in the Navy and he was my superior for this period. Thankfully, during that time, the Rheinlanders had let go and weren't attacking the borders with such zeal, so we had a lot more time for training.

After that year, he said I was almost ready for working on my own. The thing is, despite his influence in the Navy, someone had to see for themselves how I was doing. An admiral, whose name I've already forgotten, came with us on a mission. From hindsight, I have to say, it probably looked very funny. He was the highest ranked officer and had flown the smallest ship out of all of us – an Upholder bomber.

The mission was successful, the admiral admitted he was impressed with my skill and promoted me to captain. I also was able to keep the battlecruiser, baptised as LNS-Kosciusko. After just a year, I was already a captain of the Navy. Some people had to work for years for this. But this proves that connections are a lot more important than personal skill. Quite frankly, if it weren't for Bolshack, I would still probably be an ordinary snub pilot.'

'Fast forward eight years later. Bolshack didn't change one bit. Still flying the carrier, still fighting Rheinlanders. I, on the other hand, changed a lot. By that time, I had already met the most wonderful girl of my life...' Lionel smiled and winked at Seraph. She smiled back, while Lionel took another smoke from the pipe and continued. '…and had owned one of the best ships in the Navy. I had made friends with many of the Navy officers. Some of them even accompanied me on Kosciusko serveral times.

Since this cruiser was funded from my own pocket, I could do anything with it. I was not limited by naval directives and whatnot. Seraph had hacked the TLAGSNET, the tool that allows us to catch the bad guys so effectively. The problem was, I could not select my own crew. The crew was up for the Navy to decide and such thing that is currently going on the Rush and was going even back then, where everyone knows everyone was just impossible.'

'But then, a personal tragedy for me happened. Bolshack was announced dead. He went on a reconnaissance mission with some of the Navy snubs. This was just insane. They got trapped by three Rheinland battleships in the Hudson system. When naval reinforcements got to them, there was just wrecks. They found two battleship wrecks and a lot of snub debris. I guess they assumed boarding on the Rush. After all, this was an advanced carrier that Rheinland would just love to put their hands on.

I was heartbroken. The Navy, after nine years of constant service, didn't seem that appealing anymore. I needed a break. A longer break. I went to the admiral that admitted me to the Navy for the first time. We managed to speak to each other many times during this eight-year period, so he understood my position and he knew Bolshack and I were friends.' Lionel once again took a longer smoke from his pipe and paused.

'I, still, am technically a Navy captain. However I think they accepted the fact that I won't be going back to the active service anymore. They know I'm a Vigilante now. They know were doing a service to them. And even though Kosciusko is still technically a naval ship, an LNS, they just close an eye on that.' Lionel took the last, long smoke off the pipe, threw the tobacco out and put the pipe into his pocket.

'This is the story. And I believe we should all head to sleep now, because it's really damn late and I got really carried away.'

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