Bridge nervously rubbed his hands under the warm water flow, fixed rebellous hairs, and breathed deeply before leaving the bathroom. He didn't really need to wash his hand per se, he rather needed a minute alone to get his mind back together.
He walked in the light of the reception hall and looked at the scene. Elegant people all of the place, refined ladies, smart businessmen, wise Lords, strange artists, and more importantly a servant raising a plate of champagne flutes. He picked up one and wondered where was Tomoe at the moment. Heading naturally to the bar he quickly found her having a talk with Aleski, and firmly walked to them, trying not to stomp on too many expensive shoes around.
"- Ah Aleski, good to see you here ! " said Bridge, putting a hand on Tomoe's shoulder. "I see you just met Tomoe, are you introduced to each other already ?". He then released his hand from Tomoe to shake the one of his fellow wingman.
"Lieutenant Bridge, it's nice to see you here as well! Handshake or salute?" jokingly replied the Ensign as he extended his hand towards the Lieutenant to firmly shake his hand. His playfulness and relaxed attitude contrasted heavily with the ice-cold, more serious demeanor he exudes out in space.
Immediately after, the Ensign continues: "I believe I was just getting acquainted with Tomoe, Bridge. Introduce us, if you may?"
Valentine pushed past a group of Bretonian nobles, shoving a small journalist aside into a bush.
He hurried up to Djinn and slipped off his coat.
"Sorry Sorry Sorry, either you're late or I'm early!" he smiled handing her his coat,
He had always seen her as beautiful, but tonight she looked stunning. Tyler struggled to take his eyes off her. Djinn's black attire was flattering to her image, her delicate hair and soft, dark skin contrasting her career as a terrorist.
"Here" he handed her their stolen invitation, his fingers careful to mask the tiny spots of blood on the corner, "Lets get you inside"
Djinn gently took the coat from Valentine, practically wrapping it around her body as she slipped it over her shoulders, she then took the invitation and slipped it into an inner pocket of the coat. As the two of them stood there in front of the manor, a guard began to eye them suspiciously
Djinn looked around, as if she were paying the guard no mind and then began to giggle happily as she flung herself at Valentine, wrapping her arms around him and pulling herself close to him, her body against his as she rested her head against his chest.
"Oh my love! I'm so sorry I'm late, please don't be mad!" Her tone was one of feigned apology and nervousness. She was however carefully watching the guard with her peripheral vision.
"S...Should we get inside love? you're not mad, are you?!" She looked up at Valentine, her expression was like that of a child trying to suck up to a parent after doing something wrong.
The guard nearby sighed and shook his head, muttering something under his breathe as he walked away.
"You play a convincing role milady..." he chuckled lightly, his touch soft on the small of her back, "Let's go get a drink"
Valentine slipped his arm round her waist, dropping a small butterfly knife into her coat pocket. As they passed one of the secret service agents patrolling the grounds, he tipped his hat, smiling as he went.
As Djinn flashed the invitation, they passed the butlers and guards by the door.
The reception was grand, the room large enough to fit a regular house inside. There was a doorway on their right to the bar, and huge doors before them leading to the main hall.
Tyler threw his hat onto a neat pile of coats to their left and turned to Djinn.
"What do you wanna do first darlin'?" he asked sincerly, raising her hand to kiss it.
Bridge laughed, amused to see the pilot usually fully dedicated now having his fun and at ease as if they were at Derby's pub.
"- Allright then, it seems I just came right in time. Well, Tomoe, this is Ensign Deneth Aleski. Skilled pilot, loyal, warrant of the BAF rules, helpful, it is strange that one of the more promising element of a Bretonian army is actually of Rheinland descent. It's his only flaw I must say, since it makes his relationships with commander Goodmen a bit... awkward, to say the least. But anyway, Goodmen always have a grudge against something."
Turning now to Tomoe :
"- And here Aleski, this is Kashiwaba Tomoe, a zoner scientist. I'm sure you already met her, at least in massive ships hanging around Freeport 1. The zoners owe her a lot for her dedication to the NFZ enforcement, to the point that even our admiral wouldn't dare to arrest corsairs if they stand within the zone. Don't get it wrong though, Tomoe is mainly a scientist and know more about the galaxy than most of the people in this reception."
He then took a sit among them, and exhibited his empty flute to the bartender.
"- Now Aleski, I remember ... back in the day, when you just joined our forces, you were not really a talkative guy, so I can tell about you only about present you know. I undesrtand that when you are on duty, when you do that permission-to-engage-sir thing", said Bridge mimicking the serious face of Aleski, "but now that we are among friends and not officers, would you tell us more about you ?"
The bartender poored more champagne in the flute and while taking it back, he added :
She laughed softly, blushing when Tyler kissed her hand. She looked around the large room at the rest of the crowd and then shrugged slightly.
"Maybe we should mingle?...or maybe dance? or get a drink?" She titled her head to the side and giggled nervously, clearly having no idea where to even start.
"It's up to you...my love"
She laughed playfully and began to look around again.
Tyler smiled and pulled her close, his arm round her waist again,
"Come my fair lady, we have drinking to catch up on" he chuckled lightly, guiding her to the bar.
As he passed the main doors, a crowd was seen clearly in the main hall, fancy pants and expensive coats. This was fantasic, he was trying to find a needle in a haystack. And then he had to kill the needle, and show Djinn a good time.
As they neared the bar, a man of nobility made a bold move by crossing their path. He held out a hand and smiled a toothy grin.
"My name is Lord Muffleworth, a pleasure to meet you mister...?" the fat man babbled, shaking Tyler's hand
"My name is-" Tyler stopped and raised his hand, reading off a small card "Count Percival Merriweatherwaterloocox-Wellesley the Fourth of Welling" he paused after reading that, and concealed his laughter by coughing,
"Oh how rude of me" the fat man chortled, bowing to Djinn, "A pleasure to meet you Countess, is it?"
"Hmm. Well, I suppose it's the least I can do. Plus, I am in a story-telling mood right now."
The ensign gestures to the bartender, to get his attention.
"Lagerbier, from the Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau. Just a sample, I haven't had anything to drink in a while. You do have that here, right?"
The bartender, realizing he was dealing with a person who knew beer well, raised his eyebrows in slight surprise and calmly replied.
"Of course we do, sir. One of the finest pale lagers in Sirius."
Aleski observed as the bartender took out the cold glass bottle with a distinctively vintage-looking label on it, which read "Spaten Brau - Franziskaner Weissbier". As the man smoothly poured the lager into the small pilsner glass, Aleski's anticipation grew. For him, it was the only beer, or alcoholic beverage, worthy of consumption. He takes a small sip and many memories, some good and others less enjoyable, come to mind.
"Ahh, where to begin. You see, certain families in Rheinland have this tradition going, to send off all their men for military service. Well, the Aleski family was one of them. There is a rather noticeable number of officers that bear the Aleski name, or is at least related to it. As a matter of fact, my father is a Colonel in the Rheinland Land Forces, responsible for day-to-day operations on Planet New Berlin and whatnot. Anyways, as per tradition and also because of my good grades, I was sent to the Military College of Rheinland... it's an officer school, of sorts."
The ensign took another sip, only slightly bigger than the last one and continues.
"I entered the place at the age of 16, which was kind of a big deal. I did the two years of flight and combat training, military education, leadership school... the works, really. Upon graduation, I was sworn into the Rheinwehr... sorry, Rheinland Military... with the rank of Offiziertanwerter...rheinlandish for Officer Cadet. Basically, imagine a rank right between Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander, in the BAF. It's really like being a flag officer, but without the prestige, or your superiors taking you seriously."
Deneth grinned at his rather sarcastic remark and chuckled lightly.
"Normally, right after graduation, you get your first deployment orders. Mine was on the Battleship Karlsruhe, for a two-year tour. I was put second in command of that ship's fighter squadron, the 120th "Thor's Hammer". The ship was, for all intents and purposes, still brand new and was rather understaffed. At 18 years of age, the prospect of leading an entire squadron was dream-like. I was very excited."
Aleski hadn't noticed that the barkeeper refilled his pilsner glass. He promptly took another sip and carries on.
"But, like sunlight on New Berlin, all good things come to an end, somehow. When I got there, all I got to witness was general incompetence from virtually all the higher-ranking officers but more importantly, a general disregard for the pilots' lives. Even when the Kanzler increased the military budget, none of it had gotten to the fighters. More often than not, the pilots went out on suicide missions, even patrols were unnecessarily dangerous. Rheinland's unlawfuls don't really mess around, you see..."
"I tried bringing this up in reports, briefings, meetings, you name it. I would've done anything to come back to base with at least half of my men in their ships... alive. But nothing. Every time, someone, somewhere would suppress everything. I hand in a report to the Major detailing how poorly patrols went, that same Major would come back only a few hours later telling me I hadn't given him any report. I knew what was up."
The ensign picked up the glass of lager to take another sip, but midway through his movement, he paused, looking at Bridge straight in the eyes briefly. He snapped off and took another sip.
"Anyways, to make a long story short, this got me off my dream cloud rather quickly. Politely bringing up the topic to my superiors turned into showing signs of defiance, then outright insubordination. Obviously, they got fed up of my rebellious attitude and got me locked up in the Karlsruhe's detention bay. They released me rather quickly though, given my father's leverage in military affairs. But the message was clear enough for me. I deserted the next day, went to Dresden system and surrendered myself to the first Hessian patrol I spotted. Next thing I know, I'm wearing a Red Hessian Army uniform and I'm flying an Odin. Quite a spectacular fighter, by the way.
Aleski then looked up, with a light smile on his face. Then looked towards Tomoe.
"I didn't really think, when I did that, though. It was more of an impulse thing. And really, these people aren't what they claim to be. Simply diamond smugglers, pirates and just a handful of people who still believe in the Revolution, or whatever. Personally, I wasn't big on the whole 'corporate terrorism' thing either and escaped from that circus rather hastily. I may have spent a year with them, give or take. I left everything behind and made my way to Bretonia, to request asylum and perhaps recycle myself into something... good. The rest is history, my friends."
As if he had accomplished something he had worked on for weeks, Deneth let off a sigh of relief. He looked at both individuals, who were completely encapsulated by the Rheinlander's rather strange upbringing. He seemed entertained. He then put up a fake, stereotypically strict Rheinlander face.
"Now, if I don't hear either one of your life stories, I will be *quite* angry."
Austin had continued through the middle of the great hall and headed towards a nearby wall. He sighed lightly and leaned against the wall, placing his left leg against it and crossing his arms. Then he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
Opening his eyes he glanced around the room and studied the people. He felt out of place, despite there being other Armed Forces officers, and police constables around. He wasn't use to being invited to social gatherings of this caliber. Why he showed was a mystery for even him.
He took a sip of his water and continued peering out into the crowd. I've got a bad feeling about tonight. He thought. He shook his head, dismissing the thought from his mind. Then, he took another sip of his water finishing it off then setting the empty glass down on the table next to him. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Faintly smiling at the fact no one had yet to bug him.
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