Austin watched as a man he hasn't seen in person until today, took the stage. He stared back at the man, giving him a rather confused, bewildered, and annoyed look. The Prime Minister only winked. To which point Austin sat up even more, despite the pain in his back.
"Less than a fortnight ago," began Mountbatten, "I was enroute from Liberty when my transport, the HMS Whitehall, was attacked by a Corsair raiding party."
He continued, after a short pause, "I won't elaborate, since many of you know the details, but if it weren't for a certain Ensign here today, you would now be bickering over who your next Prime Minister would be." There were a few surpressed chuckles at that.
Austin didn't chuckle, he only stared at the Prime Minister, his heart rate slowing down slightly. This, is strange..He thought.
"Promoted to the Rank of Lieutenant, Austin Goodman!"
Sitting up quickly, and panting heavily. Austin glanced around the room, grumbled and got out of the bed. "It's bloody hot." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes until he could see a little bit better. Glancing down at the clock on a nearby desk he shook his head. 3:00 AM, he thought, Oh lovely. He shook his head and walked down to the second floor of his home. Flipping on a light switch as he walked by it. He continued forwards to a closet and opened the door.
Stepping inside, he started to look for a recording, one that he had recorded a while back to show to his future son and/or daughter. He rummaged through random boxes until he found the recording. Stepping outside of the closet and closing the door behind him, he walked slowly over to the holo-screen and inserted the recording into an open slot. He took a step back, turned around slowly and walked over to the couch then sat down. Picking up the remote he pressed play.
' Wrote:
Bretonia Broadcasting Corporation
817 A.S. - Earlier today, the Prime Minister's office confirmed rumors of an attack on the HMS Whitehall, which was carrying Prime Minister Mountbatten back from a diplomatic conference in Liberty. The attack was believed to have been carried out by a pair of independent Corsair pirates who were not connected to any known major Corsair faction.
Despite taking heavy fire, the Whitehall was able to escape from the pirates with only minimal damage, and is presently undergoing repairs at a secure BAF facility. Prime Minister Mountbatten himself is unharmed. The escorting fighter, piloted by BAF Ensign Austin Goodman, was destroyed in the fighting, but the Ensign's escape pod was retrieved, and he is also unharmed. BAF and third party reports indicate that Ensign Goodman's brave resistance was what allowed the Prime Minister to escape the firefight and make it to saftey.
While it is believed that this was an attack of opportunity, rather than a planned assault on the Prime Minister, the BAF continues to investigate the details of the attack. BBC will follow this story as it develops.
He watched the recording once before looking down at the Carina's Cross ribbon laying on the table. For once, he smiled at the ribbon, but let it sit peacefully while he played the recording again, over and over multiple times. After an hour of watching the news report multiple times over. He stood up and headed to the first floor. In his right hand he carried the ribbon. He approached his dress uniform, the one he wore for ceremonies, and pinned the ribbon 1/8 inches above the left breast pocket, making it as straight as he could.
However, he didn't doubt that one of the higher ranking officers will point out the fact that his ribbon is crooked, they had a knack for finding the smallest tilt.