And all Her Majesty's men

[Wolfs Ghost]

Planet New London, Mandalorian Recruitment Centre, Sunday May 3rd.
1030 AM Eastern New London Time (ENLT)

Two people enter the Mandalorian offices, one was in crutches, the other perfectly fine.

"You sure about this? I can always talk with the Admiral to see if you want to get into the Armed Forces." Austin said, moving slowly with his sister to the counter.

"Yeah, made up my mind. Besides I'll be nearby most likely." She said smiling lightly. "Why exactly did you come with me?"

"Erm...I'm off-duty." He muttered leaning on his crutches. "I'll be over...somewhere out of your way." He said turning and wandering off to the lounge.

Lena nodded then turned back to the desk and found it empty, but saw an Application sitting there that wasn't there before. She pulled out a pen and began filling the Application out.

Once the Application was filled out she nodded and placed the application in the inbox on the counter, then returned the pen to her pocket. She turned around and headed out, stopping to get her brother. "Alright that's finished." She said.

"Oh good, let's get going. These people always do freak me out.." He smiled forcing himself out of the chair.

"Where do you want to go? Seeing how I'm forced to care for you right now."
"How about the Knight Bar and Grill?" Austin said quickly.
"The Officers club? You know I won't be able to enter." she smiled lightly.

"So after all these years. You're still alive? Lovely isn't it." Austin said wincing slightly.

"Can ask the same for you. What made you decide not to kill yourself?"
"Eh, I wanted to be a Knight..." He mumbled
"After our parents died. You...of all people, who thought this House was utter crap. Wanted to be a Knight?"
"Times change...I guess."
"Either that or it was luck." She smiled.

"Nothing is luck anymore for me." He mumbled and stopped.

She stopped a few feet away and looked at him. "Care to explain?"

He sighed, "Ever since I found out the Britannia was destroyed in New York by terrorists. I haven't been the same. It seems. I mean, when I first joined the Armed Forces they wanted me to escort people. I hate escorting people. The moment I heard of an escort party heading to New York, I knew I had to jump and act upon it." He paused for a moment. "On the way back, the Prime Minister told me that he served in the Armed Forces himself, he never finished that story....our tradelane was disrupted and long behold was a Corsair bomber. I engaged without thinking." He paused once more and sighed.

"It's like, something told me to shout over my communications. I shouted and before I knew it, I went in guns blazing. I saw a flash and flicker of the shields on the Prime Ministers ship. I told him that I would give my life just for him to make it out of there. His crew managed to get him to safety. Then I was forced into full frontal combat with the Corsair ship." He shook his head, and lowered his voice. "I never wanted to be a hero."

Lena smiled lightly. "Heroes are born everyday."

Austin shook his head again. "Heroes have destinies. I don't have any destiny. I'm just a farm boy from Cambridge, who lost his parents." He clinched his fists tighter on the handles of the crutches. "Now look at me. Captured once, rescued by my wingman, after getting shot in the arm. Out of service for a week. Become an a national hero over night by saving the Prime Minister, received the Carina Cross, which only one other person has in the entire Armed Forces. Beat up by a female ensign, after being asked what's the most dearest thing in the universe to me. Then surrendering, and being saved by the Prime Minister himself."

"Consider the debt paid." She said looking up at the sky.

"The debt isn't paid. It just means I owe him my life, and he owes me his. That's all it means." Austin grumbled.

"Then, if none of this is luck. What do you think it is?" Lena replied, her eyes watching the ships flying over head.

"I'm not sure...nothing seems clear to me at the moment." He sighed. "The very nature of things is screwed up." Lena looked at him. "Comeon now, stop acting like that. Mother would of said you do have a destiny if she heard what you just said."

"Then what is it." He snapped looking up at her. Lena only shrugged and began to walk away.

He sighed as he watched his sister walk off in the distance. He moved himself over to the wall and leaned on it. "Great....now it'll be another fourteen years before I ever see her again."

He looked up and saw one of the TV-Billboards flash and a reporter came on.

"It's been confirmed. Lieutenant Austin Goodmen, has been successfully exchanged for a Kusari commander captured not less then three weeks ago. The Armed Forces wish not to comment on the transaction. What we do know is that fighting broke out shortly after the exchange. It is unsure onto which side fired the first shot."

---