Never thought I'd set foot in here. Man how things have changed.
Alexi's first look at the new Kalishnikov's was not quite what he expected. Fresh paint adorned the walls, the booths along the outer edges were newly upholstered in Coalition red and yellow, and a giant picture of Grand Admiral McIntosh himself was hung so that whenever you entered the place, it was the first thing you saw. The bar smelled like a combination of new and old. Polished wood floor mingled with the cloying odor of stale beer, a whiff of an old cigar was melded with the scent of new linens.
But as Alexi stood in the doorway, debating whether to go in, he noticed signs of the old Kalishnikov's. The cheap plastering of the blaster-holes in the walls, a tooth under the chair in the corner, and the confident yet apprehensive look of the bartender as he spied the Coalition High Command uniform Alexi wore.
I wish those boys that came before me didn't rattle the barkeep so much. Alexi walked over to the bar and stood next to the bar, leaning on the freshly sanded Jiangxi wood grain. "I'll have a Red and a vodka. The good stuff from Mykolaiv, yeah?".
"Yes sir! Right away", said the bartender, clearly unsure about this new Captain. Is this the way it's going to be in this uniform?, thought Alexi while waiting for his drinks. Looking around, he noticed something else about the new Kalishnikov's...it was very quiet. A couple of Marines were at one table, eyeing him and quietly conversing; a grease-stained mechanic in one booth with an untouched glass and several datapads in front of her; and the bartender, just making his way back with Alexi's drinks.
Before he could set down the beer, Alexi had downed the vodka and set the glass down on the bar. "Thanks comrade," he said to the stunned bartender, and took up his glass as he headed to the jukebox. A new selection of music had been added to the old, and Alexi punched in one of his favorite songs.
Walking to a booth, letting the music wash over him, he noticed the two Marines still watching him. Alexi set the glass down on the booth and turned straight at the Marines.
"Is there something I can help you boys with?"
One of the Marines snickered as the other grinned a bit. "No, nothing at all. Eaten any torpedoes today...Sir?" The two Marines hooted with laughter as Alexi watched, clearly not amused.
First time in here, and...some things just don't change.. Alexi shook his head and turned back to the table. Grabbing his glass, he drank down the beer in one go. As the bartender watched, knowing what was coming, Alexi turned and launched the heavy glass at the head of one of the Marines. The glass shattered against the back of the laughing man's head, and he collapsed before the other Marine had a chance to even move.
"Now, I'm sorry I had to do that", said Alexi to the now standing and visibly raging Marine, "but you and your friend there need to learn some manners." Alexi nodded to the mechanic, who by now had dropped her datapad and was watching the scene with a fearful look. "There's a lady present, and that's not how we behave is it?"
"You're going to pay for that fly-boy" said the Marine as he launched at Alexi like a raging bull. As the Marine charged half-way across the bar at him, Alexi stood his ground waiting for the onslaught. At the last second, just as the Marine thought to tackle Alexi, he moved out of the charging man's way with a casual step to the side.
The Marine crashed full-speed into the side of the reinforced booth's table. Alexi heard a "pop" as one of the Marine's ribs cracked against the steel table. Alexi moved around the Marine, who had put one hand on the table he'd just ran into and another on his side, and stood with his back to the doorway leading into the back-room.
"You got lucky fly-boy. Broken ribs aren't going to spare you!" The Marine launched again at Alexi, but the short distance combine with a recollection of what had just happened made the Marine pull up short. As the Marine balled his fists, Alexi put up his hands.
"Now look, I think we got off on the wrong foot..."
"And you're not going to have any feet once I'm done with you." Alexi watched the Marine as he threw all his weight into a punch aimed squarely at Alexi's jaw. Just before the Marine was about to connect, Alexi ducked straight down, and the Marine's fist made solid contact with the support brace Alexi had been standing against. The sound of splintering bone and a spray of blood caught Alexi's uniform as the Marine's mangled hand came back towards him.
A scream of pain and anger erupted out of the Marine, but it was cut off as Alexi put all his effort into a solid uppercut that landed just under the man's rib cage. The scream was cut off as a whoof of air came out of the Marine's lungs. Gasping for breath and doubled over from the hit, the Marine looked up in time to see Alexi's knee headed straight for his face. The bone-jarring hit sent a spray of blood from the Marine as he was sent sprawling onto his back, knocked out. A tooth bounced off of McIntosh's picture and landed on the floor, the only sound in the silent bar.
There goes my knee. I'll have to ice it down before patrol now. Alexi turned to the barkeeper, and with a shrug said "Sorry for the mess." He pointed to the unconscious Marines, "Put it on their tab."
As he limped out of Kalishnikov's, Alexi couldn't help but smile.