Angel's Fury: Flight of the Angels
Chapter IV
Kasumi liked the quiet; especially early morning and late evenings. Hardly anyone was awake, except kitchen and night staff, granting her a great sense of peace and tranquility that she enjoyed. Quietly walking the silent halls with only the hum of the computer and electrical systems, she smiled to herself. She liked it when things were this way.
Stepping into the galley, she could smell the sweet aroma of breakfast fresh off the grill. She eyed the serving area where the staff waved her over. Kasumi did nothing at first, unsure of what to make of the older man's gesture, until she noticed the display of food. Nodding understanding, she approached the cook, who looked old enough to be her uncle, or her father.
"Mornin' lass," the man greeted. "What'll it be?"
Kasumi looked down at the spread before her, momentarily perusing the display before picking only the eggs and hash browns. Offering the man a curt nod, she turned towards the salad bar, and helped herself to a large plateful of fruits, and then grabbed a few drinks. Tray loaded with her morning meal, she wandered off towards a corner and sat down.
Clapping her hands together, she quietly whispered, "Itadakimasu," and started consuming her meal.
Yesterday had been a simple affair. Wake up, eat breakfast, started repairing her Marauder, explore the hangar decks, lunch, spent the afternoon in her room, dinner, explored more, bed. She'd conversed with a few of the crew, but mostly kept to herself. Today didn't seem to look any different.
From her seat, she watched the few crewmen mingle with one another. Most of them were pointless banters to pass the time as they ate. Early risers or night workers from what she gathered.
Thinking back to the previous morning, she remembered to her surprise the amount of children that were aboard ship. Especially yesterday morning when about halfway through breakfast, the door opened admitting a group of 5 to 9 year-old children clamoured in with their guardian in two, and were served breakfast like any other member of the crew. She had not expected that a massive warship such as this would house that many children.
After the initial surprise, her lunch and dinner experiences weren't as bad. She quickly became aware of the various families aboard ship, all of them being either bridge crew or technicians.
She also noted that the pilots on roster were not aboard, except herself, the commander, and Jasmine as of yesterday afternoon. She'd also observed that the aerospace fight bay was completely replaced for additional crew quarters, along with half the mech bays, explaining the larger crew compliment, and substantially larger team of engineers and technicians, and only 18-mech capacity.
Sensing a presence, Kasumi looked up to see Alexandra and Celina in front her with trays. "Good morning," she quietly greeted, lightly bowing her head.
"Mind if we join you?" Celina asked.
"Not at all," she replied. The two of them then sat down and began to eat as well. Looking from her food, she eyed them wearing a pair of matching ornate leather armbands. One black with gold embroidery, the other a simple double-layer zigzag design going around their arms. She wondered if they were from a certain clan she knew off, but then pushed the thought aside. It mattered little to her. They were simply her employers.
"How are you finding the ship?" Celina asked, curious as to her opinions and thoughts.
"It is impressive, to say the least," the platinum-haired woman answered. "I've noticed you've converted several hangars."
"The Imperator was refitted with the idea of extended missions," Alexandra answered. Looking up from her food, she explained a bit of the ship's history. "It was refitted about 20-some-odd years ago. They decided to drop the fighter bay, along with the 2nd, 4th, and 6th hangars and refit them into habitation and cargo space. Good thing too. Gave us room to upgrade the weapons recently."
"Still, it's a bit of a hard life from the get go," Celina commented, adding on to Alexandra's answer. "There's not much for children. The parents make due. Kids are happy as they can be. I suppose you can say we're all family in a way."
"Is it not strain on resources?" Kasumi inquired, a bit curious as to why they would give a warship the capability to house additional crew, and support children for that matter.
"Not particularly," Celina cheerily answered. "We make enough through contracts and ferrying. It's the same with the 2nd company, who uses the second Overlord. But they still have their fighter bay."
"A reasonable explanation" Kasumi said, her expression thoughtful.
Celina shrugged. "We're just good at what we do. We have a good name though. We might not be popular like the Gray Death Legion, Kell Hounds, or Wolf's Dragoons, but we're getting there.
"Give us a few more decades, and I'm sure our kids will be up there with the best of them." All this she said with great enthusiasm. Kasumi said nothing to this, save for a noncommittal nod.
"Don't get ahead of yourself now," said Alexandra.
"Oh ha-ha, very funny Alex," Celina playfully muttered, nudging her sister. "Just wait until you find yourself in love and dating. You'll see what I mean."
"Like that's going to happen," she returned, disregarding the notion as impossible. To that end, she wasn't particularly interested in finding someone, or settling down.
As the sisters continued to banter back and forth, Kasumi quietly watched. They were close, quite close actually. The way they went back and forth indicated a strong relationship between the two. But underlying it all, she noted a small schism between the two. Relatively minor, but it was there.
The reason she couldn't exactly tell. From what she could observe, there was something that Celina was doing that Alexandra didn't approved of, and it bothered the younger Carter. It was definitely a point of debate, based on that minor display where Celina momentarily displayed annoyance and displeasure in regards to her elder sister's comment.
One thing she prided in herself was her ability to read people. From a young age, she found she had a talent of reading people. From something as blatant as a particular facial twitch, to something as inconspicuous as a hand gesture. She could observe people and watch how they behaved – whether there were in a conversation, eating a meal, or how they carried themselves – and make logical assumptions of what sort of people they were.
To a degree, she could even observe a conversation and tell whether or not two people liked each other. It was a useful ability, one she exercised almost daily. To her, it was like reading a good book. She found a certain level of enjoyment just blending into the background and observe.
Cleaning up her tray, she clapped her hands together and whispered, "Gochisousama-deshita." She excused herself from the table, putting away her dishes away for the staff, and calmly left the galley. Watching that exchange between the two had been an interesting experience. It also gave her a better idea as to how her employer's mind worked.
Setting her toolbox down on the catwalk, Kasumi read the damage report. Specifically the gauss rifle. Her brows furrowed in concern. Some of the magnets were cracked, and several completely dislodged. Even a portion of the system was disconnected from the electrical mounts. She'd have to dig deep into the machine and physically restore those connections. Sighing to herself, she hoped that she wouldn't have to replace the whole weapon.
Putting the report aside, she climbed into her mech and started up the computers in diagnostic mode. Accessing the computer she started to run through a system by system check, going over what was still functioning, and what would need to be looked at. Clearing vital cockpit systems, she moved on to less important systems, satisfied with her readings.
"We missed anything?" Looking up to the source of the voice, Kasumi saw Jeremy lean against the cockpit frame, just as Squeak appeared from his afro and greeted her with a wave from its stubby paw.
"Pardon me?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"The Marauder," he elaborated. "Took a look at it. Some minor damage to life support systems. Had to replace your coolant system, but otherwise, cockpit's working fine. Been working on it since you left.
"Let us know if you need any help," said Jeremy with a nod and then walked away.
Looking out her window, Kasumi wondered how she had missed the crewmen who were going about fixing their machines. Setting her diagnostics to auto, she stepped out of the cockpit, grabbed her tools, and started work on her machine.
Partway into the late afternoon, the gate alarms rang as two of the bay doors opened. Looking up from her worked, Kasumi watched the machines thundered into the hangar. Three others disappeared around the corner, their foot falls reverberating through the deck as they boarded.
She surveyed the blue Sunder, noting the burn marks and armour breaches. It must've just recently returned from a match.
Her mind quickly pulled up the roster and concluded that Alexandra had enough battle ready mechs for two lances, give or take, under her command. But she must've just lacked enough pilots if she was hiring. Filing the thought away, she continued to work.
Working on the gauss rifle had been a nightmare. But at the same time, she was astounded how resilient her machine was. Leaning down, she grasped a damaged magnet and pulled. She heard the metal groan angrily in protest as it resisted. Bracing her foot, she pulled even harder, hearing it screech, toppling her over as she dislodged the component.
She lightly massaged the back of her head as she sat up. Regaining her bearings, she examined the component. She sighed tiredly as she tossed it aside, adding to the growing pile of parts she'd need to replace.
Stepping back onto the catwalk, she watched as crews locked the Sunder into its cubicle. Based on her count, they had 2 assault mechs, 2 heavy mechs, 2 mediums, and 2 Pumas light mechs that had no pilots. Descent force by any standard.
Picking up a rag, she wiped off some of the grease on her hands as she overlooked her mech. There was still a lot more work to do.
"We've really got our work cut out for us" Jeremy dryly commented, shaking his head as he examined the growing pile, nearly reaching his waist in height.
"We better finish it within two weeks," Jeremy muttered under his breath, examining the stripped Marauder. "I hate myself sometimes…it's gonna be a bitch fixing all this." Kasumi nodded in agreement. "You took a hell of a beating. But nothing compared to that Wolf you trashed."
"It was a competition, after all," Kasumi deadpanned.
"Yeah…more work for me," Jeremy sourly stated, then waved towards the Sunder and towards the wall. "And I still have to fix those damn things that just came back…"
Kasumi shrugged. She wondered how in the world such a person was the chief engineer, but again put the thought aside. It wasn't her business. Wiping away more grease, she figured she'd done enough for the day.
Stepping out of her office, the first thing Alexandra noticed was the noise. Dread and annoyance washed over her as she recognised whose voice it was. She'd know it anywhere. And it was louder than usual. That meant he had a big crowd around him telling some story.
It was one of the times she wished her office wasn't so close to the galley. She wasn't sure if Celina knew he was aboard yet, but she's probably going to run to him when she hears. Then an idea came to mind. With a sense of purpose and a hidden grin, she made her way towards the galley.
Entering, she saw Tim sat on a table while everyone else surrounded him, as he regaled a match he had fought in. With flourish he expressed his stories, colouring them with words and sounds for the children.
Enraptured, the children sat on the floors or laps of their parents with their eyes wide, hanging on to every word he uttered. At least he was good for that.
Surveying the galley, she noticed Kasumi quietly observing from the rear, while Jasmine and Audrey sat near the front listening. Clearing her expression, she strode up and placed her hand on Tim's shoulder. And sure enough, he jumped mid sentence, and very slowly turned around.
"Hey there," he warily greeted, not liking the particular grin that she was sporting.
"Had fun?" she asked in an eerily pleasant voice.
"Uh, yes?" he awkwardly answered, not daring to break eye contact.
"So much fun that you forgot about Celina?" she asked. "That you left her alone, depressed, and annoyed, that you'd spend more time playing your games, drinking with your buddies, and sleeping in hotels, instead of with her? Is that the sort of man that's dating my sister? The so-called 'Hero' who'd protect her?"
"Well...I...that is...oh boy..."
"Oh boy indeed," Alexandra pressed on, poking him hard in the chest. "Just who do you think you are leaving Celina like that? Huh? You think I can trust you if you're gallivanting like that? Do you?"
"Look, Alex, I didn't think-"
"That's right, you didn't think," she interrupted. "And what did I say about calling me that?" Grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt, she pulled the man down until their noses were almost touching. It would've been comical, a 5'-10" woman pulling down on a 6'-6" man, if she weren't trying to kill him.
"I think I've made my point, don't you think?" she asked in a deadly whisper, but everyone heard it. Tim could only nod, absolutely fearful for his life.
"Now, here's what I want you to do," she calmly instructed; her eyes boring deep into his for emphasis. "You're going to march to my sister's office, go on your knees, and apologise to her. Is that understood?" Again, he simply nodded. "Then march," she commanded, letting him go with a light shove. Tim immediately bolted out the door towards Celina's office. Turning her attention towards the crew, she smirked and said, "Jeremy, keep'em under wraps."
"Aye ma'am," he chortled. "Alright everyone, break it up," he ordered as he started to clear the crowd. "Show's over now, there's nothing left to see."
Stepping out into the corridor, she closed the door and quickly followed after Tim. She didn't travel far before seeing Tim suddenly drop to his knees in front of a very perplexed Celina, who had probably intended to leap into his arms.
"I'm very sorry!" he suddenly cried out, his humbled form laced with regret. "I didn't mean to leave you alone! Things just came up! I swear to you that I didn't sleep with any woman! You're the only woman I'll ever be with! I swear to you! So please, forgive me!"
"Wait…what? Tim, what are you talking about?" Celina was very, very, confused.
"Your sister told me that you pissed with me," he immediately explained, having yet to look up to see the confusion that was etched across her face.
"Well it's true I missed you," she slowly admitted. Disappointment was evident in her voice. But regardless she was still clueless to why Tim was behaving this way. "But I'm not angry or anything. You're just having fun with the guys."
"But Alexandra said-"
"Wait…you said my sister told you I was unhappy?"
"Yeah…"
She looked up to see Alexandra stand there. Realization dawned on her as she started to laugh. She pointed behind Tim while trying to contain her mirth. "Look behind you."
Confused, he looked up and behind, where leaned against the bulkhead with a smug grin on her face.
"Wait…are you saying that that was…was a…"
"A very funny practical joke," Alexandra flatly answered amused. "Couldn't resist, what with all the noise you were making." Pushing off, she threw a glare towards Tim threatening his manhood if they did anything in the hall. She then turned around and went back into the galley.
Slowly getting up, it took Tim a few moments to realize what happened. "Am I that drunk?" he warily asked. "Did I just fall for a practical joke…by your sister?"
"Clearly," Celina answered, amused by the fact her sister even played one, even if it was mean. "Just because she's like she is, doesn't mean she doesn't have a sense of humour."
"A twisted one," Tim commented sourly, still trying to recover his wits. "I'm going to have nightmares over this one."
"Now you're being silly," Celina chuckled. She grabbed Tim's hand and started to pull him back towards the galley. "C'mon, let's get dinner. You can tell me about your adventures then."
"That's what started this whole thing," he groaned.
The predawn air was nice; cool, crisp, and clean. For Solaris anyways. High above the smoke and smog, Alexandra quietly enjoyed coffee while gazing at the horizon beyond. Here above the noise and pollution of Solaris, she could sit and enjoy the view and tranquility the sight brought her. Located on the outdoor patio of a coffee shop, she waited for the sunrise.
Placing down the cup, she stared out towards the mountains, remembering photos of mountain ranges her parents had taken from the planet she was born on. She had no memory of it save for those photos. They'd only spent a short while there before moving on with their lives. Such was the life of a mercenary.
"So what brings you out here at this hour Sunshine?" She needn't turn around to recognise that drawl.
"Still calling me that?" she asked, calling over her shoulder.
"I still think it suits you," the raven haired woman opined. She sauntered up next to the young commander. That grin of hers had yet to leave.
"I could easily call you Amazon."
"Yeah…but it doesn't have that same ring, ya know?" She chuckled as she watched Alexandra's eyes roll. "So, what ya doin' 'ere?"
"And you?" she returned, while indicating to the seat next to her.
"Don't mind if I do." Pulling out the chair, she slowly sat down, mindful to accent her hips and chest. "I come 'ere to enjoy the sunrise."
The flaxen-haired woman chuckled as she drank. She didn't have to answer right away. It was her time, and she could easily ask her to leave. Even if Jasmine did wait for her expectantly.
But she eventually decided to answer. "Same reason as you."
"Finally, someone who actually appreciates a good sunrise!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air. "Enjoys one of nature's greatest gifts! Not that crap down there!"
Alexandra nodded in agreement. "Humans on the whole prefer the new and exciting. Not the mundane and common."
"Twits, that's what they are," she drawled, setting down her cup. She stood up, suddenly riled up. "Hard ta enjoy something that can be seen on any planet, eh?"
"And yet…it's always different. Even on the same planet." Alexandra slowly sipped her coffee, savouring its flavour, while enjoying a completely different view. She was extraordinarily beautiful. She held a confidence not often seen in people. She liked that aspect of her.
"Like what ya see?" Jasmine looked over her shoulder with a knowing smirk.
Alexandra shrugged indifferently. It wasn't her business to know.
"That's fine if you dun wanna answer," she said, accepting the silence. "But, I know I'm liking what I'm seeing.
"So you say…"
Jasmine slowly approached, and leaned forward until she was merely a hair's breadth from Alexandra. "You know what I think?"
Alexandra raised a thin brow.
"I think you're sexy." Without warning she leaned in, planting a light kiss before pulling away. "And I plan to make you mine."
"Did you just…" she asked, as she lightly touched her lips.
Jasmine grinned at her. "Damn straight."
Letting out a sigh, she leaned back into her seat, slowly sipping her coffee as she looked over the rim of her cup. She couldn't help but grin. "You can certainly try." The game was afoot.
