Chapter 2
Konpei Island, February 1st, UC0080
Internal Hanger 4, 1800 Hours
Ensign Rick Evans
The flight back was rather uneventful, other than that little apparent outburst of mine. As least, from what Tasha made me aware of, who knows if I made an even bigger ass out of myself then what she let me on to.

Either way, I found it rather uneasy footing once I stepped off the transport, duffle bag slung on my back, helping her get off as she went behind me. I took a good hard look at the surroundings, various mechanics starting to float over to the Humble to get it refueled, all of this being surrounded by the caved in walls. I couldn't even make it past the first step, the thought sweeping over me that this was what the rest of the company died for, this little rock. In person, though, to be back here was a bit overwhelming. To think that just a few hangers over...

"So...we're back." I turned over looked to her; she hung her head a bit low, not seeming to be as interested in taking in the view as I was. I couldn't blame her, really.

"Yes. Solomon." She looked over to me, shaking her head.

"No. Konpei Island. Konpeitoh. Anything but Solomon. That was then." I nodded in reply, almost feeling embarrassed that I had referred to it as such. To call it that would be a slap in a face to everyone that didn't make it. Solomon was Zeon's, and Zeon's only. This was Konpei, now. Regardless, it looked just about the same as it had only two months ago. I turned back to her, she looked ill at ease.

"...and this is all we won out of the war." I had a bit of a small frown, but knew all too well that she was right. The appeasements that the Federation made in order to get the Zekes to sign the damn treaty were almost a complete slap in to the face, for all of us. They let them keep a good portion of the Earth, they let them keep Grenada, they let them keep A Baoa Qu...we just got a fucking rock that too many people died to receive.

"Well, to be honest...it isn't all that bad, as far as a strategic position goes..." I found myself just wanting to swallow my own words and try to believe them. McFarlin, Davis, the rest of them...they all died just to rename a rock. Tasha ended up with all of her scars. Me...hell, I don't even know. I just walked out alive and very damned lucky. She realized I was trying to be sympathetic, and so brushed her hair away to the side; the brown locks of her bob cut giving way as she started running her hand down her scar in front of me, as if to make a point that she didn't give a damn.

"...if there was still a fucking war going on." I couldn't argue that point. I turned away, trying to find something to say that I wouldn't offend her with. She still was rather uneasy with happened, with our allies and to herself. I suppose I would be too, if I had been the one with metal fragments ending up in my head, chest, and leg.

"...true. I don't know, really." She looked over to me as if she was going to laugh in my face, for not going through what she had, but kept it at that little bit of a smile and pulled back her hand, returning it to her side.

"You do know, Rick. I wish Perzun had been a whole new war in itself. I could have made it lasted years, for what they did..." I swallowed a gulp, she had told me a lot of things of what happened before we had met, things that I could have never have believed could happen to a girl like her, but...after British and the invasion, nothing seemed to have been out of the ordinary anymore. Hell, I could even believe in the whole newtype race they were talking about now, the new breed of warriors...at the rate that we had been exterminating ourselves already; we wouldn't have a need for them.

"And you know how I feel in regards to that, Tasha." She looked to me, almost as if she had realized she was being too sharp at the tongue and immediately a frown washed over her face, as if she had opened up some wounds of mine. She really didn't, but if she had, I really could have cared less at this point. Still, it was nice to see that she cared.

"...I'm sorry, Rick. I..." I cut her off, putting a hand on her shoulder, just smiling at her. She took the hint and smiled back just a wee bit, hanging her head low again.

"It's fine. But let's stop pitying ourselves while we can. We got to make it to the Captain's office ASAP." She nodded and started to lead the way, her duffle bag starting to bounce to and fro as she kept walking. She never missed a single step, not stopping to look at anything along the way, or to talk to anyone that passed by the two of us. She only had the one destination in mind, and I knew that she didn't want to stop, unless she wanted to let the memories bother her again.

Konpei Island, February 1st, UC0080
Captain William Rodecker's Office, 1830 Hours
Ensign Rick Evans
I think we were both hesitant to knock at the door once we reached his office, the gold nameplate on the left side of the door appearing to be worth more than both of our GMs combined. I took a look at her, and she did the same to me, both of us having a little bit of an awkward look to our faces. We just sat out in front of his office for a few moments or so before I finally got the courage up to knock, Tasha standing back a bit behind me as I did. It seemed to have gone unanswered for several seconds, before I heard a muffled voice from the other side.

"Come in." Tasha was already at my side again, looking at me with a rather uneasy look to her face, almost as if she feared meeting the man more so then the actual fighting. I nodded, and I opened the door, letting her in.

I closed it behind me as I came in, taking my place next to her on the right, as we faced his desk. His chair was turned away from us; a steady stream of smoke filled the air in front of it. On the desk there was a model of the GM and all sorts of documents that I couldn't see, and even I could see them I'd be pretty sure they'd have to kill me for looking at them. All sorts of decor laid about, a few boxes next to the desk, a giant map of the Earth Sphere behind it, which I assumed he was looking at. After a few more moments, and a rather audible scuffing noise as Tasha rubbing her left boot with her right, he finally turned to face us, both of us having held our saluting position for what seemed like hours. The man was rather built, but looked a bit aged; prematurely even...however still looked as if he still had a lot of fight in him. He resettled his cap as he looked at the two of us up and down, taking a puff off of his cigar. He set it down on his ashtray, and nodded at the two of us.

"At ease." We both fell to a more comfortable position, as he continued to look us over; apparently more at Tasha then he was me.

"So, you two are Lieutenant JG Natasha Rivers and Ensign Rick Evans, yes?" We both answered in unison, without any sort of thought about it whatsoever.

"Sir, yes, sir!" He nodded, starting to rub his chin with his left hand, the cigar dangling out of his right as he picked it up again.

"I see...Evans, the 'Green Death', eh?" I continued to stare at him, continuing with answering him.

"Sir, yes, sir!" He nodded again, taking a drag off the cigar again. I was starting to wish I had a cigarette at the moment.

"...what in hell possessed you to take that title, son?" I felt a little bit taken back, usually not having to explain that part. My actions spoke more than enough.

"Sir, it refers to the color of my mobile suit. It is the last color the enemy sees before their death, sir." He took another drag, and looked as if he was almost about to burst out laughing. Instead he kept it to a smile, and nodded.

"Please son, just call me Rodecker. I like your enthusiasm." I nodded as well, waiting for him to continue. He looked over to Tasha before he did.

"And you, Rivers. Do you have any sort of title you bestowed upon yourself such as this man?" She looked to him, almost as if she was afraid to speak.

"No, sir. No title." He nodded yet again, and looked at me once more, most likely noticing the beads of sweat falling down my face. We'd fought hard to get this recommendation.

"Well then...you two, by chance? Light them if you have them." We both nodded at that, nearly simultaneously reaching for our packs and lighting up. He laughed as we did.

"Oh, the doctor says that it's completely against regulation, to smoke in my own office. But it's mine, and I'll do as I damn well please." He let out another drag, taking notice of Tasha, who was a bit more uneased then I was. The cigarette and his now rather joking tone had calmed me.

"So, I hope that you two are aware of why you are here." We both nodded, answering.

"To serve in God's Hammer, sir." He nodded upon our answer, looking down at one of the sheets before him on the desk.

"Yes, yes...to protect, and to judge justly. That is our creed, and our motto, and our honor. You two will serve under me, and live that creed, and that motto, and with that honor. Is that much understood?" We both answered in unison again, and he offered the ashtray to us, Tasha had already burned through quite a bit of hers. He continued as she ashed.

"As I'm sure the both of you are aware as well, the current situation that the Earth Federation now faces. The war is over, but we still have those who chose to continue their efforts to undermine the authority of the Federation, despite the war's end, despite the peace accords. We cannot and will not allow this to continue, lest we find ourselves swept into yet another senseless war." I nodded, ashing my cigarette as well.

"The reason that I personally approved both of your transfers is due to the fact that I believe that you two are of the highest caliber in regards to accomplishing that objective. Your service to the Federation has been greatly appreciated in the last year, and because of your accomplishments during the war...I believe that you two will be valued assets in these operations that we are about to undertake." I started taking a drag, taking in all he had to say. As I exhaled he continued again.

"At least, you can show the rookies something." I think me and Tasha both recoiled at the statement. She spoke before I did.

"Rookies, sir?" He nodded, taking a drag from his cigar.

"Unfortunately, I was unable to attract many of the higher quality MS pilots that the Federation has at their disposal, that and the fact that a good majority of them are now dead, as you two should be well aware of. So, I had to make do with some of the second wave of MS pilots to fill in the holes in my division. They should learn quickly, however, as long as they have experienced pilots such as yourselves leading them." We both nodded, listening intently. Hearing that I'd be having some less than stellar wing mates in this new division did nothing to settle my nerves, if something was to happen.

"And for what we thought originally, we were not expecting as heavy as a resistance as we have, recently. The original aim was just to take out the occasional pirates that we've been seeing more of lately. However..." I took a drag, Tasha lighting up another one, both of us just staring at him. The word "However" stuck out in my head instantly. Did he mean...

"...it does appear that the new pilots in our division will be receiving combat experience, quite soon." I just held my cigarette in front of me, knowing damn well what he meant. It wasn't over...I spoke up, Tasha being the relatively quiet one in a situation such as this.

"You mean that we have a situation." He nodded, smiling.

"Yes, that much is correct, Evans. Commander Harding did not want to activate God's Hammer this soon, originally he wanted to activate in a month in order to provide better on hand training for the new pilots, and crews...but we have come across information that requires immediate action." I could see that Tasha was balling up her fist, and the look on her face conveyed that she was very excited to hear this coming out of his mouth.

"What exactly is the situation, sir?" He looked to her, almost looking taken back by her enthusiasm.

"We...have recently found out from an informant that there is a small fleet still operating in Side 5, the Shoal Zone area. Restricted airspace. We are not exactly sure of the numbers of ships, or any MS compliments they have...but it is estimated that they have at least three ships in the area. Unfortunately, as you know...we have not been able to implement gunsats in the area as of yet, so we are not sure of their numbers or location. However, it is known that they are intending on hostile action. Exactly what caliber of operations they are attempting, is also unknown...so basically, the situation is that we have some Zeon loyalists that are intending to do some damage to our operations in some degree...we have to put a cork in that bottle." I felt a bit uneasy, taking in all he had to say, the cigarette in my hand just continuing to burn unattended. Tasha looked very well ready to head right out the door and to her suit.

"Great news. Do you think they still have a MS compliment left?" He looked over to her again, somewhere caught in-between smiling and looking as if he was wondering what he had ended up getting from the depot.

"I do not know, however...all three confirmed ships are of the Musai class. I believe you are aware of what that would entail." She nodded; looking about the happiest I had seen her since after Perzun. As far as I knew, she wasn't the type that would be comfortable just making the rounds on patrol, she had something burning inside, something she couldn't settle in any other way. Piloting was her way out, combat more precisely.

"Yes...quite well, sir." He looked over to me, nodding after listening to her. He seemed to have picked up on my silence.

"And you, son? I'm aware you decided to stay on as a career officer, just like Rivers here. How do you feel about this?" I nodded at him. I couldn't lie, I did love that rush...not nessicarily the combat, not anywhere near the level that Tasha did. But still...in another life I would have been fine with flying a Medea again. Not now, though.

"I intend on fulfilling my duties and responsibilities to the fullest extent I am able, sir." He nodded, pointing at my cigarette, again seeming if he had picked up on my nervousness.

"Relax, son. You're a damned ace. I'm sure you know what to expect." I did, but still...for a fleeting moment, back in my head, I still wondered what life back home would have been like. That happened often and I always weighed it in on my decisions, however...that weight was miniscule in comparison to the one that I felt in the heart. I had to continue. I finally took another drag, smiling.

"In that event, sir...I fully intend to kill them all." He looked at me, stubbing out his cigar. He looked rather pleased.

"Excellent, son, that was what I wanted to hear. But, to be honest, however...we still have to be modest in our actions, here. We don't want to a cause another war; we want to end these sorts of things before they begin. So our main objective here is to force surrender on their part. If they refuse to surrender, then it is on your prerogative as my pilots to deal with the situation as you see fit. We must give them that chance to see the error of their ways, however." We both nodded, realizing that would likely be the protocol. A Federation act of violence on some innocent Zekes due to a misunderstanding definitely would be cause for someone on the other side to want to take up arms again.

"And so, that is all we know at the moment, and all that can be said as far as we will be handling this currently. As far as the operation..." He stood up, starting to walk to one of the boxes to the left of his desk.

"...and as far as where you two will take a part in it, we will be departing tomorrow morning, at five hundred hours, on the EFSF Indignation. Rivers, you will be in command of the 03rd MS Team..." He continued as he ruffled through the box, pulling out what looked like a pair of boots.

"...your wingmen will be Ensign Nathan Sellers, and Ensign Michael Reed." We both looked at each other, shocked. Tasha had been my wing mate since we'd been flying.

"Sir, you mean..." He looked at her, continuing to pull out more clothing out of the box, all green in color.

"Evans, you'll be assigned to the 01st MS Team, with Commander Allen Brunner and Lieutenant JG Alexander Nash. I'm aware of your history together, but I need to plug the holes in my division first." We both nodded again, realizing this was truth. At either rate, we both answered in unison again.

"Sir, yes, sir!" He smiled as he walked over, handling a bundle of clothing to Tasha first, and then me.

"Excellent. Also, here are your new uniform sets. I hope that you'll like them." He continued smiling, reaching out his hand to shake ours. We obliged.

"And with that business attended to...later tonight, at two thousand hours we are having a departure party. Maybe it will get the two of you to relax a bit more. I hope that you attend." I nodded, Tasha going to stub out her cigarette.

"I definitely will." Tasha nodded with me, and Rodecker nodded one last time.

"That is all, then. Dismissed." We saluted, heading out the door to our new home.

EFSF Salamis Indignation, February 1st, UC0080
Officer's Quarters, Room 4, 1900 Hours
Ensign Rick Evans
I found myself very much liking the new uniform, much better than the blue one I'd had for the past year. Green just suits me. That, and these were very nice dress boots, as well. Solid, shiny black, not a single scuff on them. I spent a little bit of time admiring myself in front of the mirror, until Tasha stepped out of the bathroom, clad in the new uniform herself. Green seemed to suit her better as well, much better than that pink uniform. She looked stunning, and damn good in that miniskirt.

"Oh my, Tasha...you look great." She looked over to me, shaking her head as she pulled down the white leggings into her boots.

"No, I don't..." I frowned, ever since she'd gotten those scars she'd been rather self conscious, even though there was no reason to. She wouldn't take a compliment, even if the alternative was a bullet to the head.

"Seriously, you do." She took another look up at me as she continued fussing with the leggings, as if I was a mad man.

"It's just the uniform, then." I let out a sigh, we'd been through this before and it'd be best to end it before it started.

"Well, it's you, not just the uniform, but whatever." She continued to look up at me, stopping in the middle of messing with her leggings.

"...thank you." It was quick, and blunt, but that'd been the girl I'd known for the past three months. Actually, I was surprised she even replied to the last thing to come out of my mouth, usually she didn't even grant me that much when it came to these matters. I smiled, sitting on the bed next to her.

"You're welcome. Hurry up, I don't want to miss my free drinks." She looked over to me as she continued messing around with her boots; shoving the leggings into them, letting out an angry grunt, taking them out and doing it all over again.

"I am, you don't know how much a bitch these things are to make them look right." I just sighed again, watching her continue struggling.

"I guess." I laid down, looking up at the solitary light that seemed to be burning rather dim, and then I heard an "Oh god" come out of her mouth. I sat up and looked at her again; she was focused on her left thigh.

"Oh, fucking hell..." I frowned, no idea what she was so concerned about.

"What's wrong?" She looked at me, obviously upset.

"Can you see this? Can you see it?" She started pointing at it, running her finger up and down her leg, but I still couldn't see what she was talking about.

"What?" She looked a little relieved, at least for my ignorance. She still kept her focus down on her leg.

"My scar...it's so big, and I can see it right through these..." I frowned again, god damn why did she care so much.

"I can't even tell. I doubt anyone else would either." She turned at me and gave me this death glare, I jumped a bit back just from the venom of it.

"Are you fucking blind? It's right there! Don't lie to me!" I just stood there in silence, not wanting to antagonize her after that. But as soon as it came her venom was gone, and she finally took her eyes off of her leg and back at me, a little tear welling up in left eye.

"...I'm sorry, Rick. I, I just...oh..." I shook my head, pulling her by the arm to my side, putting my arm around her.

"Its fine Tasha, it doesn't matter...it doesn't matter at all." She cuddled up to me, falling under my arm, still looking down at her leg again.

"No...I'm hideous..." I put my head down; it never did any good trying to argue with her.

"You aren't...I really wish you'd listen to me, sometimes." She threw my arm off her and grabbed me by the shoulders, looking me in the eyes. She did it for a reason, that gash on her forehead was always noticeable. I could see she had a few tears running down her cheeks.

"How can you say that, Rick? How can you say that to me when I have a face like this?" Oh, dear Tasha, and her little emotional outbursts. I just smiled at her as she continued to let the tears fall down her face, wiping them away for her, brushing her hair away, running my hand against her scar. She watched on, looking like she was defeated.

"Because you're beautiful, Tasha. It really doesn't matter at all to me." She grabbed my arm, looking like she was about to just burst out completely in tears. It was something I'd come to deal with from time to time, she was a strong girl, amazingly strong willed...but she had her moments. I couldn't say she was wrong in doing so.

"Oh..." She fell down into my chest, wrapping her arms around me, starting to sob. I could feel my uniform getting wet, but I didn't care. I put my arms around her, well content on just letting her cry it out. I really didn't need the drinks. I'd rather her be happy.

EFSF Salamis Indignation, February 1st, UC0080
Lounge, 2000 Hours
Ensign Rick Evans
Tasha cried herself out after a few minutes or so. It always depressed me to be taking care of my commander like that, but she was always a bit of an emotional wreck off duty. It wasn't my duty to my superiors that made me look after her, either...as a pilot you always had that bond that made you look after your own. Something that you didn't share with anyone else. As a civilian I didn't understand it, what the word "close" meant, but now realized that it meant taking care of your fellows just like a brother, or in her case, a sister. And she hurt alot. I did too, though...many a night of us just sitting there in each other's arms before the war ended, before A Baoa Qu, wondering if either of us were going to live through it. Luckily, we did.

The recreation room on this particular Salamis seemed pretty spacious, in comparison to what I'd seen before. Then again, you weren't really concerned with a comfortable place to drink when you had Zakus destroying them by the dozens.

We sat down at a table together, and immediately I overheard one of the techs at a nearby table saying "Jesus christ...what the hell kind of meat grinder did they put that chick in?" to his buddy as they looked at us sitting down. I looked over to Tasha and it looked like she had overheard it too, starting to lay her head down on the table. I shot them a rather angry look but when I stood up to walk towards them, they both realized it and took off. I sat down again, reaching for my cigarette pack again, putting one in my mouth before Tasha interrupted me.

"...eh." I looked over to her, lighting up as I shook my head.

"They're just a couple assholes. Don't worry about them." She nodded, still not looking like she was convinced. She looked up to me though, pointing to the bar.

"Could you go get me a vodka tonic, Rick?" I let out a drag as I nodded to her, taking a look around. There wasn't anybody who really looked like they were worth talking to, yet.

"Yes, I could. I'll be right back then." As I started walking up, the bartender immediately noticed me and stared as I pulled up a seat.

"You look like you could use a drink, there." I nodded, looking back at her; she was more or less just sitting with her head down on the table.

"Eh. She could alot more, though. I need a vodka tonic for her. As for myself...please tell me, do you have White Label?" He nodded along until I mentioned the bourbon, and then gave a shocked look.

"White Label? How can you stand that shit?" I just laughed, shaking my head.

"What are you, forty, fifty? And you can't handle some bourbon?" He looked a bit offended, starting to pour the vodka tonic.

"Shit is still just shit, kid. But if you really want it..." I nodded, taking the drink from him.

"I do. White Label and cola. Short." He just gave me a disgusted look as he poured it out, and handed it to me.

"Drinks are on the house tonight, kid. Hope your hangover is worth it tomorrow." I nodded, carrying both the drinks back to our table.

"It is." Once I got back, I set out the vodka for her, waiting a moment to sip on mine before I sat down. Oh, damn it's always tasty. Once I got myself settled, I noticed there was a girl with glasses and a black bob cut staring at me, wearing the red beret; her nametag read Jaeger. From what the instructions from the uniform said, it stated that the beret was for MS pilot's wear only, sort of a badge of honor for us guys. I rose my hand up to wave her over, but she didn't reply, and just stood up and went to the bar herself. I shook my head at the rejection, and just kept sipping on my bourbon. Tasha looked over to me, her drink almost already gone.

"Shit, Tasha. You're done with that already?" She nodded, a little smile on her face.

"I'll need another." I frowned, sipping at my bourbon.

"Fucking hell...and I thought I was an alcoholic. I'll be back again." I rose up again and started making my way to the bar again, until I saw someone that made my stop in my tracks. She wasn't looking at me, but I could have recognized her just by that weird haircut of hers. Blonde, in-between long hair and a bob. When she looked my way she stopped in her tracks as well.

"...Evonne?" She ran up to me, her nametag reading Malady as she threw her arms around me, obviously a bit drunk. Of course, it had to be her.

"Rick...fucking Evans! I thought you were dead!" I smiled, putting an arm around her back. She'd been my escort pilot, when I was still flying the Medea. When the call came that there was need for MS pilots, we both put in for the transfer requests, and got accepted. And then...that was the last I saw of her, until now, her nearing spilling my drink.

"I...I'm quite well, Evonne. How are you?" She pointed her finger in my chest, looking like she was already too drunk to even look at me directly, but that was the Malady I knew. She smiled towards nothing in particular.

"I'm good. Hah, you son of a bitch...you made it through A Baoa Qu." I nodded, already wanting to down another shot or two before going into that topic.

"Looks like you did, too. How'd you end up here?" She finally managed to look me straight on, in-between stumbling to the left and then to the right.

"I...I had to keep pulling the trigger, you know? I gotta shoot some pirates or something." She made the handgun motion, right in my face, making the machine gun 'rat-a-tat-a-tat' noise, laughing at my response of making a step back.

"Hah. You know what I mean. You wouldn't be here either if you didn't." It wasn't something I'd like to discuss, but I nodded in regards to that as well.

"I do. Well, it's good to see you're flying my wing again. What team you in?" She nodded, pointing at her jacket sleeve, I could see she was meaning to point at the patch that read "04th MS" on it, but she completely missed and was pointing underneath it.

"04th. I'ma team leader now." I kind of recoiled in shock. They put her in charge of an MS team? They definitely had some holes to fill in the division if they made her team leader. She was a good pilot; there was no doubt about that, but...

"Hah, hah! You must be company leader now or something, right?" I shook my head, she just kept laughing.

"What? You at least gotta be a team commander. You're the leader guy!" Leader guy...wish I could say that in regards to myself. She started sipping the beer in her hand.

"No, I'm still just an Ensign." She nearly spit it back out on me, shocked. I guess we felt mutual.

"The fuck? You're an Ensign still? What?" I nodded again, looking back at Tasha; she was just still sitting with her head down on top of her arms, looking like she was staring off in the distance.

"Yes. I bailed from a GM at A Baoa Qu...the higher ups were not too happy about that." Evonne just shook her head, downing the rest of the beer she had in hand, crushing the can and setting it down so she could grab a new one, out of the three or four that she had already lined up. That was why I'd be hesitant to put her in command of a team, myself.

"Heh. Oh well, almost all the GMs we went out with got destroyed. We all shoulda got medals just for surviving that shit." I kind of agreed with the sentiment. Then again, I realized I was getting distracted with my current mission, the simpler one: get more drinks.

"Yes...hey, want to come and sit down with my wing mate Tasha? She could use the company." I pointed back towards her, Evonne barely following my directions, finally figuring out that I was pointing at the girl sitting by herself.

"Sure. I brought Brooke here but she's being a bitch, hah." I nodded, not knowing who she was talking about. At any rate, Evonne gathered up her beers and started heading over towards our table. With that accomplished, I continued on my way to the bar.

When I got there, that girl from earlier was still sitting there, Jaeger. I started to sit down next to her, but as soon as I did she gave me a distressed look and immediately got up to leave as I settled down. I shook my head, wondering what the problem was, but I figured that it didn't matter. I hit up the bartender again.

"Hey, hey! I need another White and Cola and another Vodka Tonic!" He looked back to me with a glass in his hand, looking rather annoyed.

"Alright. Why don't you get another tonic for that girl you're with? I watched her down that." I thought about it, and nodded.

"Actually, get me a tray. Two of each along with these ones." I put up the empties on the table, and he gave me a very annoyed look.

"Heh. I'm gonna make a killing off of you two when you're regulars here." He was right, but it was well worth the price.

"I guess. What's your name, anyway?" He looked at me as he poured the White and Colas, giving a nod of recognition."

"Harrell. Bobby Harrell. You're Evans?" I nodded as well, kind of wanting to think that my reputation was that well known, but knew that he just looked at my nametag.

"Yes. Rick Evans." He put the White and Colas down on the tray as he started up on the Vodka tonics, shaking his head.

"Whatever works. As long as you don't get me killed, I don't care what your name is." I felt a bit stung by the tone of his voice, but I could understand why he didn't want to get to know his customers other then the business basis.

"Sure. Just pour me the drinks when I save your ass, then." He nodded, looking like he wanted to laugh but held it in. As he put the drinks down he shot me another annoyed glance.

"We'll just see how long you last out there." I nodded, taking a glance back, Tasha and Evonne seemed to be hitting it off quite well, Evonne letting Tasha have one of her beers. At least, it was nice to have good company. I figured it was time to let the man be.

"Well, thank you." I snapped my fingers as I started to walk off, as a last minute insult...the guy had been an asshole. Despite that, the trip back to the table went pretty well, and it was looking like Tasha was in much better spirits now. Evonne had that effect.

"Thank god, I needed those...why so many?" I smiled, double fisting two of the white and colas.

"So we can get drunk." She smiled back, taking one of the vodka tonics as I sipped off both of my bourbons. Evonne looked at me with a rather content expression on her face.

"That's what we do, right?" I nodded to her, Tasha laughing for a moment before she sipped on her mixed drink.

"So you two flew together before you flew with me, Rick?" I nodded again, looking at the both of them.

"Evonne was my escort a good part of the time when I was a Medea pilot. She shot down more than a few Dopps that were on my tail." Evonne was counting on her fingers, obviously a bit too inebriated to do so. Eventually she settled with four, holding her hand up with her thumb down to show Tasha.

"That's right...four. As a Tin Cod pilot. Two as a GM pilot...and I'ma get alot more when we find these fuckers." She smiled again, slumping down in her seat, beer in hand. She looked pretty happy, and then looked over to me, a puzzled look on her face.

"How many you'd shoot down, Rick?" I looked at her; I didn't even need to think about it to answer.

"I shot down seven. Four Zakus, three Rick Doms. Tasha got nine." She gave me a look of complete shock, and then the same one to Tasha.

"Seven! You're shitting me." I shook my head, sipping on my bourbon again.

"That's about right." She shook her head in response, looking like she was in-between absolute shock and being impressed.

"Why the hell'd you need me to escort your shit?" I smiled, laughing a bit...but reached for my pack of cigarettes. That was a whole story in itself.

"You really can't shoot down a Dopp with a giant cargo plane like a Medea, now can you?" She nodded, while I lit up.

"I guess. But...holy shit. You're good." I gave her a smirk as I blew out my first drag. Tasha looked at the both of us, kind of lost in-between the conversation.

"That's why they call me the Green Death. I hold my own. But..." I pointed to Tasha, taking the time to take another sip off my bourbon.

"...Tasha's a much better MS pilot then I could ever hope to be. And she never stepped into a cockpit before she got in the GM. She's amazing behind the sticks." Tasha smiled with the compliment, already having downed her second drink and was almost finished with her third. Evonne nodded, pulling out her own cigarette.

"I think...I'ma like this. Looks like you two can't get over it. Hah, hah...I can't. I gotta keep a Zeke in my sights...it isn't right when I don't." It was the reason we were here, of course. I took a drag, trying to think about exactly the reasons why but found myself not wanting to think about the past. It just remained one thing - I had to shoot down anything that had the logo of the Principality. Who gives a damn that the war's over.

"Yes." She nodded, blowing the smoke from her first drag straight into my face on accident. She tried waving it away, but it looked like she was trying to slap me instead, nowhere near accomplishing that mission.

"We'll get them. They're everywhere, Rick. We'll kill'em all!" She hiccupped, near falling over in her seat. I figured it she was just a bit too drunk to really carry on a serious talk in regards to that topic.

"Yeah, yeah...we'll kill them all, Evonne." I kept sipping on the bourbon, finishing with the second, in-between my pauses to continue smoking my cigarette. As I looked over to grab my second drink lined up I could see that Tasha was already done with all of hers.

"Damn, Tasha." She nodded, pointing at the bar. She already looked a bit sauced.

"You...stay here, you. I'm going to get more." She stood up, taking a second to get her balance straight, and then took the tray with her, smiling as she looked back to me. I smiled back, this was good for her. She never really had the time to just sit and relax, with the stress of the last month or so. It hadn't been a good month, at all. I'd carry her back to the room if I had to. At any rate, it looked like we'd found a good enough home, for now.

While she was away me and Evonne kept drinking, me finishing my third drink. As I did, I felt someone grab my shoulder; I looked back and saw a man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties holding it, short blonde hair under his beret. His nametag read Nash.

"So...you're the Rick Evans guy, right?" I nodded, and he took a seat next to me, raising his eyebrow a bit.

"Yes...you're Alexander Nash?" He nodded, looking like he was cynical of his new wingman. I went to put out my hand, but he didn't respond to it, so I retracted, feeling quite unwelcome.

"Yeah, I am. The Green Death, eh...heard you helped out some Zeke at Perzun." I was taken aback, so was Evonne. How did he know...

"My team worked with a defector to take out some turrets. Adam Burr. He didn't make it." He shook his head, lighting a cigarette.

"Same thing. The Zeke's are nothing but pieces of shit, I'm amazed that you and your little girl over there even agreed to do that." He pointed to Tasha, who was now on her way back from the bar.

"I didn't have a choice in the matter, neither did she. The higher ups thought he was a reliable informant. He did have accurate numbers on the turrets on the N sector." He shook his head again, taking a drag.

"You could have just shot him down yourself." I shook my own head, taking a drag myself. Evonne now looked pretty uncomfortable, herself.

"...I would have, if I didn't go through what happened that day. He saved alot of lives." Nash just laughed, blowing smoke in my face, an obvious taunt.

"And got a lot more killed when his bombs didn't go off as planned? You should have known better than that." Tasha sat back down next to me, getting into the conversation herself.

"Well, I'd have killed him, if I wouldn't have gotten a court martial." He laughed again, blowing his exhaust back into both of our faces.

"You're kidding yourselves. You're too soft, both of you...and I get to fly with you, shithead." He pointed at me, looking angry.

"You just don't go and shoot me down, now. The moment I think you are, I got a beam with your name on it." He got up, looking at me with a glare. Tasha was biting her lip, but I put my hand on her shoulder. I could handle it myself.

"Well then, Nash...just don't end up behind me with a gun in my back. I'll win that fight." He shook his head, starting to walk off. As he made a few steps away, he turned his head back to me, blowing out more smoke.

"I'll be looking to our first mission, then." He continued to walk off, Tasha looking at me with a concerned look.

"...who was that?" I finished up my fourth drink; I guess she could tell I was feeling a bit provoked.

"My new wingman. And he looks like he has a problem with me already." She nodded, taking a cigarette out of her pack, lighting it.

"So they already know about that..." Evonne looked at the both of us, like she was looking at two crazy people.

"You two helped out a Zeke?" I nodded to her, Tasha nervously taking a drag behind me.

"He was a defector, apparently. He set up some explosives on some beam turrets on the N sector on Perzun, we went down with him to take them all out. They shot us the hell up...half the bombs didn't go off. We managed to take the rock, but it was a lot harder than it should have been." She nodded, still looking a bit disturbed by the information she'd just heard, drinking another beer.

"Well, damn Rick...I don't know. That's...fucked up." I nodded, I hadn't agreed with it either. Tasha sure as hell didn't. And it looked someone was already holding it against us.

"As I said, though, to that guy. Me and Tasha didn't have any choice in the matter. We had to cover the guy so he could set off his explosives. Wasn't our fault that they didn't work like planned." She nodded.

"Well, I can't blame you then. Our command's...pretty fucking stupid, sometimes." We'd all seen that in the past, and were taken as basic fact by this point. How else could you say that flying straight towards an asteroid with a complete beam net around it with a Zeke telling you his explosives are sure to work is a good plan. In the meantime, I looked over to Tasha, who shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it. Here." She put a couple more White and colas in front of me, smiling.

"Oh, well then..." I looked to the tray; she had another three vodka tonics laid out in front of her.

"You really going to finish all of those?" She nodded, smiling again, taking one in her free hand.

"Fucking hell, I am!" I smiled, so did Evonne.

"That's a good girl!" They both clinked their drinks...heh, maybe they'd get along. I joined in the toast, just in time for a lady to come by, putting down another tray for us, lined with about twelve shots or so, some sort of dark rum from what it looked like. She smiled as she set it down.

"With regards, from Commander Rodecker." It looked like a good enough house warming gift. I pointed them out, both Tasha and Evonne looking very pleased.

"Well, shall we?" Evonne nodded, grinning at the beam, even though she could barely keep her head above the table.

"Hell yeah." Tasha also nodded, sharing the sentiment.

"Indeed." I nodded myself, all three of us taking our respective shot.

"So, what do we drink to?" Evonne held her shooter up first.

"To God's Hammer!" Me and Tasha agreed, it was a proper toast. After all, we could continue our war now. We both rose up our glasses.

"It's settled, then." We clinked them.

"To God's Hammer!"

EFSF Indignation, February 1st, UC0080
Corridors - Living Quarters, 2230 Hours
Ensign Rick Evans
I couldn't even see straight, but I felt damn good. I had all I wanted, the bottle of booze in my left hand and my right around her back. She looked over at me, the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face.

"Oh god, I'm so fucking drunk!" For whatever reason, it was the funniest thing I had ever heard in my life, and so appropriately started laughing uncontrollably, both of us starting to fall over. She caught the wall with her shoulder though, balancing me with her left arm around my back. We took another look at each other, and just started laughing again, this time falling down to the ground. It didn't even matter, though. We just sat there and stared at each other, laughing, clinking our bottles together. Somehow we managed to get back up, and we started stumbling around again.

"Rick, Rick, we gotta drink more. Get me another drink..." I looked over at her, laughing in her face.

"Idiot, you're holding a bottle in your hand." She pressed her face to mine, laughing with me.

"Oh, fuck you. I need another vodka, or a beer...anything..." I just laughed, putting my bottle down and putting hers up to her face.

"Drink up then!" She obliged, chugging as much as she could. I pulled it up after I saw her starting to start choking on it, not wanting to drown her with booze. As soon as I pulled it out of her hand she threw her other arm around me, forcing me against the wall.

"Thank you! Come on, we gotta drink...we're in a new unit!" She forced my mouth open so she could do the same to me, pouring my bourbon in it. As it went down, it burned horribly, but I managed to keep it down. I couldn't let her out drink me, of all people. But, ahh...I was feeling too good.

"I know, I know..." She force me to drink even more, I could just see two or three bottles right in front of me, from what it looked like. After a while she pulled it away, I could see barely that it was empty.

"Yeah, that's right...we're gonna kill some zekes...we're awesome! Awesome!" She could barely even hold me against the wall anymore, just laughing with her head down. She fell onto me, just holding me in her arms.

"Damn, I'm so fucked up...mmm..." I just smiled, barely being able to pick up my bottle again, trying to hold her at the same time. I just smiled, I knew I was.

"Rick, you drunk? Rick?" I forced her to keep walking with me; she was leaning on my shoulder as we kept going. I don't think we even had any place to go to, really. I couldn't even remember where our room was. But we just kept walking.

"I'm...I'm pretty drunk." She looked back at me, shaking her head.

"No, you're not." I smiled, and she forced us against a viewport, I looked back and could see the Earth, way out in the distance. As soon as she noticed that I was looking out it, she forced her face up against the glass.

"Oh, Rick...we got to go back, there...I want to see the lighting again...I wanna see it with you..." I smiled....she'd only been there once, and that was for MS training. Oh, she was so afraid the first time she saw it; she thought it was some new weapon the zekes were using. It was hilarious.

"We will, I want to..." She looked at me, and then put her cheek up to my mouth.

"Tell me, what do you want..." I put my head up to hers, wondering what it was myself. Then again, I really couldn't that much, or even stand up for the matter.

"I...I wanna go home, sometime. I want to see home..." She took her head back, looking me in the eyes. She looked like she knew what I meant. We started slumping down, underneath the port.

"Would you...would you take me with you? Please take me with you when you go home..." I smiled, holding her closer to me; I didn't even care about the bottles anymore.

"Yes, I want you...I want you to come with me...its beautiful back home...I want you to see it..." She nestled up to me, sitting in my lap.

"Oh...Rick..." I smiled, letting her rest against my shoulder. I couldn't even imagine this was happening...oh, the wonders of being drunk...I forced us back up, though, we had to keep moving.

"I want to see it all...I want to see home, I don't have one...I want one..." I kept us moving, basically carrying her along as she stumbled, nearly falling over a few times.

"We'll see home, we'll go there..." She managed to keep her balance long enough so that we could finally make it back to our room, me having to put my face right up to the name plate to see it was labeled "4". We stumbled inside after I messed with the door a bit, her knocking me down onto my bed. She cuddled up next to me, putting her head on my shoulder. It felt amazing, all of it. The bed felt great, better than anything I'd slept on in months, an actually decent mattress...not that it mattered, I just felt like I was floating in the air. And then I had her, right under my arm...damn the fraternization policies, damn how afraid I was about asking about it. I had the liquid courage, I was just gonna tell her how I felt...

"Hey, Tasha..." I looked down at her, looking at her just breathing on my chest, feeling every time her heart beated against mine...she didn't answer me.

"Tasha!" I shook her with my arm that was on her back, but after a second I realized it didn't matter, she already passed out on me.

"Fuck..." I just put my head back down on the pillow, but I could only smile. I guess there'd be another time...she'd make it through, we'd both would. It was the only thing that kept us alive...but even that didn't matter to me at the moment. All that did was that she was with me. I guess that was what mattered the most. At any rate, I couldn't even keep my eyes open, so I laid back, content with falling asleep. She'd be there in the morning...