Chapter 29 – Blue Skies
December 25th 2204 – Caledonia – 0525 hrs
Jonathan's body laid ajar on his bed. His arm hanging, his eyes in a daze. The pillow that he usually used to rest on the floor, filled with impacts from a long sleepless night.
Looking at the ceiling, he could barely make out the silhouettes of the round lights that were turned off. His eyelids felt like sandbags, but at the same time felt like they were jammed open. Stifling a sniffle, his eyes slowly trailed to the clock on his desk next to the bed.
0525
The gentle green light of the numbers barely reached his face, only going so far as the edge of his table, right next to his folded glasses. It was a familiar sight, Jonathan had often left his lights off to continue work in his quarters. He didn't need light to see a computer screen, and he didn't want to forget that it was supposed to be night time. Just a bit longer, he'd say. Though it never was just a bit more.
With a creek, the commander slowly pulled himself up to sit upright, and crossed his legs as he slouched tiredly.
Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and hit his knees once with clenched fists. But almost immediately, the anger faded and his hands slowly released themselves.
Sniffling again, he reached for his glasses and put them back on, the familiar sensation of metal pressing onto his nose and ears as if they were always there. Pausing for a moment, the commander took in a breath and forced himself up onto his feet.
Walking through the Audacious' dimly lit corridors, Jonathan cracked his neck as he attempted to jump start his body's processes. In order to preserve a little bit of their sanity, the ship's lights were set up to automatically dim according to the time of day. He didn't really understand it initially, but it was times like this where his eyes were still half-asleep that made the gentle lighting particularly pleasant.
"Morning Captain, are you going somewhere?" a kind voice sounded.
Looking up, the commander realized he had run into one of the ship's security officers. He couldn't remember his name, but considering he was on the way to the exit, it made sense he was stopped.
"Yeah, I'm going for a morning walk," he explained. "Change of scenery to clear my head."
"Oh, I see," said the blonde officer with a smile. "Though I should let you know that most of the shops on the station are closed right now, it's early as well on the planet."
"Ah… I see," replied Jonathan with a slight lower of his head. "Well, thanks for the heads up."
Sure enough, when he got to the orbital station's shopping center, the bespectacled captain found nothing but dark and closed off shops lined throughout the wide corridor. Similar to the ship, the shopping center seemed to have chosen to dim their lights while there were barely any shops open. The area's interior was not too different from one on earth. There were large signs advertising each shop's titles, plants to liven up the place, and small signs to direct people to the lifts and toilets. The only thing that was different in this case was the large skylight above him, which opened up to see the stars in the darkness of space.
Letting out a sigh as he passed closed shop after closed shop, Jonathan's eyes were soon drawn to a streak of warm light coming from one of the shutters in front of him.
Widening his eyes, he watched as a long haired Alterian woman lifted the shutters with a loud rolling sound to reveal the shop behind, and quickly made his way over to check it out.
To his surprise, he came face to face with a wide myriad of colorful flowers displayed throughout the shop, bathed in an orange light and wrapped nicely to be displayed. But seeing the display, the bespectacled captain cringed immediately.
"My, aren't you an early customer traveler?" came a gentle voice.
Looking up, Jonathan noticed the same Alterian woman letting out a yawn as she put on an apron. Upon a closer look, she looked about the equivalent human age of around thirty to forty.
"Uh no, not really," he replied quickly. "I'm just browsing for now."
"Haha, no problem," she replied. "Let me know if you need anything, I'll be in the back getting something."
Nodding as she left, Jonathan turned his attention to the shop's displays and leaned in to get a better look. Unfortunately, all he saw were lines and lines of flower bouquets. They were quite pretty, but not what he was looking for.
This… isn't exactly appropriate given the scenario is it? He thought with a sigh.
"Erm, excuse me miss?" he called out as he stood back up. "Do you sell anything other than flowers? Like something you can wear like… Erm..."
"Hm? Oh! Give me a second," the woman's voice sounded from the store room behind the counter.
Soon, she came back round the corner with a tall stack of straw hats in her arms, causing Jonathan to flinch in surprise.
"We just got these a few days back," she chuckled as she laid the different hats across the counter. "Since tourists only tend to come for the beaches, we figured we might as well play into that."
Most of them definitely seemed like something someone would wear on the beach. They were made of straw, and had large brims which looked good for keeping the sun out of the eyes. Some had pastel colored ribbons on them, while others seemed oddly plain.
But as his eyes continued to scan the different hats, Jonathan couldn't help but grimace before picking one of the ribbon ones up to examine.
"Are you looking for something in particular?" the shopkeeper asked as she rested her arm on the counter. "I can't help but notice you seem to be searching for something."
"I'm uh… looking for something I could give as a gift," Jonathan said quietly as his eyes shifted between the hats and flowers.
As he eyed the colorful display again, the bespectacled captain went quiet.
"Is there…. something here which you can…." Jonathan paused for a moment before continuing. "Give to apologize for something wrong you accidentally did?"
When the shopkeeper heard his question, she couldn't help but widen her eyes briefly before letting out a smile.
1045 hrs, fifteen minutes to their designated meeting time. Anika waited quietly as she leaned on one of the safety railing inside one of the Audacious' auxiliary hangar, just off to the side of one of the Seagull transports that were secured on the deck. From her spot, she was tiny in comparison to the high metal walls that housed the hangar and inaudible compared to the sounds of machinery that echoed occasionally throughout the area.
Her body sat still, and her eyes were focused on something far away. And despite her casual attire, a sleeveless hooded jacket with a simple skirt, the long haired Zalti's demeanor did not suggest she was on vacation. If anything, she looked like a child waiting outside the principal's office.
"Er… H-Hey,"
A familiar voice caught her attention. Turning in its direction, she sprang up and immediately went up to greet him.
"H-Hey," she replied with a stiff wave. "Did you have a good rest?"
"Y-Yeah, sort of."
The bespectacled commander in front of her glanced away, rubbing his neck awkwardly. His voice was soft, but he seemed… happy. Unlike the day before, his hair was tidied nicely and his clothes weren't crumpled. He had switched his regular uniform to some casual clothing which included a shirt that had the Cosmo Navy logo on it and a ballcap which had his ship's name and the side profile proudly displayed on the front. There were still dark circles under his eyes, but she chalked it up to a side effect of the nights prior.
"Um!" he let out suddenly, causing the Zalti to flinch.
"I-I'm really sorry about last night," continued Jonathan as he stammered. "Especially about… The nasty things I said about you… I was really… Out of line..."
The long-haired girl smiled gently as she watched her companion stutter, and similarly lowered her head.
"S-Same," she let out quietly. "I shouldn't have pressured you so much as well…"
"Yeah…" replied her bespectacled friend as he forced a smile and glanced away awkwardly.
"A-Anyway, I got to clear my head earlier this morning while browsing the shops so I…"
Swallowing hard, he swiftly presented a large yellow paper bag to her.
"I got something for you..."
The auburn hair girl flinched in surprise, and froze momentarily before she slowly took the bag from his hands.
"Well- since we were going out to a tropical sunny island," stammered the commander, fiddling with his fingers as she opened it up. "So I thought you would need something to keep from being sunburnt… Hence I-"
At that moment, Anika suddenly let out a small laugh, quickly covering her mouth in the process which caused him to flinch.
"W-What, is there something wrong?" he asked in slight panic.
"No it's-"
Still giggling, his friend quickly pulled out the gift he had got for her and swung it onto her head in a single motion.
"How do I look?" Anika asked with a grin.
Her forwardness caused the bespectacled captain to short circuit, and freeze as his face went red.
On her head, his gift was revealed to be a large tan-colored straw hat decorated with a small braid of yellow and white flowers embedded into its trim. With a small head flick, she flung her ponytail out to replicate a gust of wind, and held the hat in a pose.
Unfortunately, the naturalistic look of the beach hat completely contrasted with her more modern styled clothes. Jonathan had noticed this, and was now struggling to figure out what to say.
"It completely clashes doesn't it?" chuckled Anika as she did a small sway while looking at her own clothes. "You should have told me earlier, I would have worn something more appropriate.
"Y-Yeah," sighed Jonathan, facepalming awkwardly. "Sorry."
However, when he opened his eyes, he noticed that Anika was quietly eyeing him with a gentle look in her eyes.
"It's a very lovely gift Jonathan," she smiled. "Thank you."
Seeing her reaction, the bespectacled captain couldn't help but simply smile in relief.
"You're welcome," he replied with a renewed sense of pride. "I also made some slight adjustments myself. It wasn't that easy to modify it for the occasion."
"Really? How do you even modify a hat-"
Anika widened her eyes and immediately took off the hat to hold it in front of her.
"The flowers?!" she exclaimed in surprise as she eyed the intricate braid that held them to the weave of the hat. "I thought you just bought it, you really didn't have to go that far."
It was at this moment she also caught a glimpse of a few small band aids on her friend's right index and middle fingers.
"Well, when it comes to you," Jonathan smiled as he casually shrugged. "Of course I had to. You're one of my most special friends after all."
"I- see…" the Zalti commented quietly, raising her hands slowly to cover her blushing face behind the hat. However as she did this, her eyes flickered downward for a second.
Clearing her throat, Anika quickly put his gift back on and gave him another smile as she picked up her bag.
"Well then, since we have a long day in front of us, let's not dilly dally anymore shall we? I'm getting hungry just waiting here."
"Oh yeah," said Jonathan as they headed off. "You mentioned a local restaurant yesterday right? Is it far?"
"It's a few blocks down from the shuttle terminal," Anika replied. "But we can also do some shopping on the way, apparently there's quite a number of interesting shops according to Kaito."
"Oo! Souvenirs! It's been quite a while since I've gotten to buy some…"
Their voices trailed off as they exited the hangar, chuckling as they talked about what they wanted to do when they got to the surface. However unbeknownst to them, as a door closed behind their exit, two small heads slowly peaked out from behind the Seagull that had been next to them. One being a familiar spiky haired officer, and the other a long black haired one.
"Phew, crisis averted!" Kaito let out as he sat back down on the ground in relief. "Seriously, I can't let down my guard with these sorts of things…"
While the flight leader rested his head against the fuselage of the white spacecraft, the girl next to him twitched slightly, watching him breathe as her glare became increasingly annoyed.
"So… why did you call me here again?" Johanna asked, a small trace of blush slowly disappearing from her cheeks as she questioned the nonchalant flight leader.
Blinking, Kaito quickly stood up with a nervous laugh.
"Oh! Heh heh," he said hastily with the scratch of his head. "Sorry, you were my backup plan if things got any worse. You're the only one I know who's also close to Anika."
In response, the communications officer immediately cringed, imagining she'd probably been thrown into the couple by Kaito if they had gotten into a fight.
In the morning, Kaito had suddenly shown up at her workplace in a panic saying he needed her help for some sort of emergency. Unfortunately, by the time he had finished explaining the situation, they were both already eavesdropping on Jonathan and Anika's conversation.
Oh god! It's going to be so awkward the next time I see her! Johanna internally screamed as she buried her face into her hands.
At the same time, while the comms officer was having a mild anxiety attack, the spiky haired flight leader next to her let out a small smile and slowly glanced in the direction the couple had gone.
"Although… I guess I really underestimated her," Kaito chuckled, causing Johanna to look up in curiosity.
"Oh well," he shrugged before turning back to her with a nervous grin and salute. "Sorry Ms Gibson! You can go back to whatever you were doing. But I have a volleyball match to host! Cheerio~!"
The moment he finished his sentence, the mischievous pilot immediately bolted off towards the exit, leaving Johanna alone and flabbergasted next to the Seagull. With her eyebrow still twitching, the black haired officer simply dropped her head in defeat.
"What a nuisance," she sighed, before slowly getting up and trudging back to her post.
Meanwhile, the gleeful Kaito quickly jogged his way down to another exit in the ship. Ideally, he'd be able to catch one of the other shuttles that were going down to the surface at the same time as Jonathan and Anika in case he needed to support the Zalti on her date from behind the scenes.
"Then again, I guess this is something they should sort out themselves," he smiled quietly to himself as he passed through an airlock to the port.
December 25th 2204 – Isles of Edenitz Santo – 1125 hrs
It wasn't too long later that the bespectacled captain and his Zalti friend's shuttle landed on the surface of Caledonia. Met with the fresh ocean smell of their destination, the two chuckled to themselves before Anika pulled Jonathan along towards their destination.
Making their way past the airport terminal, the two were soon on their way through the peaceful streets of the tan city. Though there were no visitors, the cobbled pavements were still filled with Zalti, Alterian and even a few Garmillan locals who were going about their daily business. The sides of the streets were lined with colourful stalls, some large with their own buildings and others small with only carts and tents. They sold everything under the sun. Food, clothing, vegetables, the two even spotted a small mobile phone shop.
Holding her hat, Anika looked up to see that the buildings around them were providing a nice amount of shade over the roads. That added with the constant ocean breeze made their journey on foot a particularly comfortable one.
As she smiled to herself, she noticed a familiar sight coming into view. A small building with a raised entrance, and a deck extended out from its side.
Widening her eyes, she immediately turned around in excitement.
"Look that's the place we're-"
However, the bespectacled officer was nowhere to be seen.
Anika froze.
Ack! Did I lose him by accident?
Her eyes immediately darted from side to side of the street, scanning the shops for any sign of Jonathan. Most of the people she could see were dressed in simple, robe-like clothing. But eventually, she spotted the bespectacled captain at one of the shop's cashiers.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was smiling obliviously to himself with his bag in hand as the shop owner thanked him for the purchase.
"Jo-na-than~!"
Turning around casually in response, he found Anika standing behind him with crossed arms and a small pout.
"Oh sorry, I just went and bought this lovely model!" he smiled nonchalantly before pulling a small transparent box out of his bag.
"Gotta say the craftsmanship is pretty good with this fishing vessel, I couldn't resist buying it!"
As he said this, he showed Anika what he had bought: a wooden carved model of a fishing ship about the size of his hand. At the same time, he gave her a dumb grin of pride, which immediately caused her to flinch and glance away with a small facepalm.
"Very nice," she sighed before giving him a chuckle. "Come on, the restaurant is right over there."
In no time at all, the two were seated at a table inside. And in front of each of them sat a plate of golden pan-fried bass, topped with a dash of green herbs and covered in a thin layer of sweet brown gravy which spilled over into the plate.
Calmly, the two officers gave a quick glance at each other before picking up their cutlery, and slowly cutting a slice to put into their mouths.
Immediately, the two widened their eyes.
"It's… delicious!" Jonathan gasped in delight as he dug into the fish. "Damn it, fresh fish from the sea always taste the best! The texture of the crispy skin plus the soft flesh and… Whatever this sauce and spice toppings are called but either way… It's so intoxicatingly good!"
As the bespectacled captain enthusiastically took in two more bites, Anika in contrast began to smile stupidly as all her woes were washed away by the sweet sour juices of the fish, and slowly put her hand on her cheek as she absorbed every bite.
"I know right," she let out almost drunkenly through her chewing. "The synthesized stuff can't even compare. This is heavenly…"
"Here here!" her friend replied, beaming from ear to ear as he took another bite before turning to her. "You know, maybe we should order some to store in a fridge aboard along with some other dishes before we leave. It couldn't hurt to have a little more of a fancy selection for lunch over the next few days."
"I don't know… one of my friends did that once the last time we were here…" the still absorbed Anika replied before she took another bite. "She said it couldn't compare… that it was no different… from…"
The Zalti's words trailed off as she made a small squeak in delight before returning to her pleasant chewing.
"Sorry, what was I saying?"
In response, Jonathan couldn't help but stifle a laugh. His friend looked so comfortable and engrossed in her food. Her cheeks were puffed up almost like a hamster as she chewed, and her smile was so pleasant he could've sworn flowers were beginning to grow and bloom around her.
"N-Nothing, it's nothing," he quickly chuckled, glancing away while Anika put another slice of fish cheerfully into her mouth.
Taking another bite of his fish, he started to look around the restaurant they were in. It was a very airy place, with small ceiling fans over each table and a large opening that led to a balcony outside. Since the noon sun was beginning to heat up, they decided to not sit there and instead chose this cozy seat next to a supporting beam. The whole interior was designed sort of like a cabin, with its floors and furniture mainly made out of wood. There were also some interesting modern paintings on the walls in different colours, all depicting different fishes.
"By the way, out of curiosity," Jonathan asked casually as he turned back to Anika. "How did you find this place? Well not just the planet but basically this restaurant."
"Hm? Oh, yeah," Anika finally replied, breaking out of her blissful stupor.
Pausing, she tilted her head as she thought about his question.
"I actually visited this planet several times before and during my days at the academy," she replied with a smile before cutting another slice of fish.
"I don't remember the first time, but I do remember coming here a lot with my father and Uncle Langscroff in the past. It was a sort of hidden gem they found that was a lot less crowded and strict compared to the other locales in the LMC."
"Oh really?" said Jonathan as he held his head in thought. "Huh, that's interesting…"
He paused for a second.
"Wait, did you say 'Uncle' Langscroff?"
His statement caused the long haired Zalti to freeze, almost choking on her food before she quickly took a drink of water.
"Y-Yeah, that same Langscroff I spoke of back then," she replied sheepishly as her face blushed a little.
Putting down her glass, she turned back to Jonathan.
"We're not actually related in any way, but he and my father were close as brothers despite not being of the same skin color," Anika explained. "They were both assigned to the same unit and happened to become friends along the way."
"That's quite rare isn't it?" asked Jonathan as he folded his arms with a chuckle. "I thought usually the Garmillans were quite… bad in the past with that sort of thing."
"Yes…" Anika smiled as she glanced downward at her glass of water. "But Uncle Langscroff was different. He was kind, honorable, chivalrous… He actually pledged to mentor my sister and I after my father injured himself protecting him in battle. Even though he got a lot of criticism for it, he was somehow able to separate himself from the politics that was trying to swallow him up."
Jonathan watched as she began to grip her cup tighter, and couldn't help but fidget slightly in discomfort as he remembered something Berger had told him.
"How's he doing now?" the bespectacled captain asked in an effort to cheer her up. "It's been some time since that court martial, but judging from what I've heard of him, he seems like the kind of guy who'll always be doing something regardless of his rank."
However, Anika didn't respond immediately and instead lowered her head. Widening his eyes, Jonathan's face fell.
"O-Oh, I'm… sorry," he mumbled as he lowered his head.
Taking in a breath as Jonathan froze in his seat, Anika slowly put her glass aside and picked up her fork and knife to cut another slice of her food.
"Here, open wide," she said suddenly, causing Jonathan to look up in surprise to see her pointing at him with a fork of fish.
"I uh, what?" he let out.
"Ahh," mouthed Anika.
Flinching, Jonathan realized what she was trying to do and immediately went red.
"What- why are you trying to-"
"Ahh," she repeated again, her eyes staring firmly at him.
Twitching, the bespectacled officer finally relented and opened his mouth for her.
In response, his friend fed him her piece of fish, and he closed his mouth to take it off her fork. Chewing awkwardly, he felt his ears burn up as he watched her also cut a slice for herself.
"Erm….T-T-Thank you?" stammered Jonathan awkwardly.
Smiling, Anika took another bite of her fish and paused for a moment before turning back to him.
"Sorry, could we talk about something else?" she said politely. "At this rate, we won't be able to enjoy our food."
Still stuttering, Jonathan quickly turned back to his food and took another bite of fish to hide his embarrassment.
"Y-Yeah of course," he mumbled.
As Anika also quietly went back to eating, Jonathan fired his brain into overdrive to think of a better topic.
Think! Think! What can we talk about to save the conversation?! He internally screamed while scratching his head.
"Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed with the clap of his hands. "About the volleyball tournament you mentioned!"
Widening her eyes, Anika lifted her head.
"Oh yeah," she smiled. "Are you interested after all?"
"Yes!" he replied confidently before fiddling with his fingers. "But there's a little problem with that… Being on the beach and all, do I need swimwear for that? Because I didn't exactly bring any."
As he said this, Jonathan also let out a nervous laugh in an effort to further lighten the mood. However, to his horror, he noticed Anika had gone completely silent in her seat after hearing his statement.
"Y-Yes…" she let out softly as she lowered her head. "It's fine. I know a place where we can get some."
"A-Anika?" Jonathan asked as he stood up anxiously. "What's wrong? Sorry did I accidentally say something again-"
Slowly, the Zalti turned to look at him.
"I… didn't bring any either," she let out lifelessly.
For a moment, neither of them moved a muscle as they processed what that meant, before the gravity of her statement finally kicked in and both immediately short circuited into a puff of red.
A few minutes later, the two stood silently outside a shop, with a large billboard hanging above their heads spotting large pieces of colorful swimwear, and a room with no other shoppers inside other than a single cashier. On one side was the men's section, and the other the female's. Unfortunately, the shelves in between the two sections were not tall enough to fully partition them, which made things as bad as they predicted.
Clearing their throats, the two officers put on their mission faces, as if they were about to go into battle.
"So," Anika stated. "As agreed, no visual contact on either of us until we're done right?"
"Yeah," Jonathan nodded. "Of course..."
In an instance, the two glanced down at their feat, and marched towards their separate destinations.
Gulping as he finished his trek, Jonathan found himself face to face with a wall of bright neon colored swimming pants. He cringed at the sight, and immediately turned around to look for more discreet options. Unfortunately, that put his eyeline in the direction of Anika, and thus he had to make great effort to make sure he only looked down at the shelf's contents in front of him.
Crouching down, he looked through the section of slightly darker colored swimwear in the search of a decent pair of swimming trunks. Some had the familiar Garmillan triangular filigree pattern weaved into them in different colors, while others had what he assumed were Zalti or Alterian signatures.
Ugh, why do these designs always have to be so flashy? Jonathan frowned as he picked out two hangars from the shelf to compare.
Lifting the two up, he took a quick glance at the two designs. One was a green pair of trunks with the triangular filigree weaved into its right leg in a silver colour, while the other was a grey pair with some sort of red and black fish coming from the leg openings.
Neither was particularly to his liking, but Jonathan didn't want to spend too much time fretting about it.
After all, the quicker I finish this the quicker I can get out of the store, Jonathan thought to himself as he glanced between the two pairs of swimming trunks. And the quicker I can get out of this store the less likelihood I would have of accidentally causing something awk…
It was at this moment he realized that while he had been thinking to himself, his eyes had accidentally drifted past the two swimming trunks and were now locked onto Anika across the store who was laying one of the bikini tops over herself to check it out.
Flinching, Jonathan froze in place, unable to keep his imagination from breaking loose. But just as he recovered and began to move, Anika caught a glimpse of the bespectacled officer staring at her and immediately went red.
"Jonathan!" she huffed, causing him to immediately hide behind the shelf.
"Sorry!"
Cringing he crouched back down at his spot and let out a disappointed frown while he lightly knocked himself in the head.
Come on Jonathan! You're supposed to be better than Kaito!
Letting out a sigh, he looked back at the two swimming trunks in his hands and decided to go with the green one since it was slightly less eye-catching. Turning around, he quietly put the rejected pair back onto the rack before pausing.
Ah crap, I didn't bring any sunscreen either did I? Jonathan facepalmed.
He had been so focused on fixing his error from the previous day that he'd forgotten to pack anything other than a change of clothes. The shop probably sold it in another section, but coming out of his hiding place was risking another awkward incident. He could borrow some later from the other tournament participants, but knowing how mischievous the pilots could be, that didn't seem like a great plan.
And I shouldn't trouble Anika any further, Jonathan added silently to himself.
At the same, his ears perked up at the sound of a door closing and locking, prompting him to slowly peek back out from his hiding spot. Sure enough, one of the dressing room doors was closed.
That's my chance!
Swiftly, the bespectacled officer got up from his hiding place and quickly scanned the other sections for anything else he might need. He immediately found a shelf with sunscreen, but to his dismay there were multiple brand's and types — all of which had their text in different languages.
Flinching, he shook his head and grabbed the simplest looking one and moved on.
"What else what else?" Jonathan let out under his breath as he briskly walked through another series of shelves.
Sunglasses? Eh, why not although I think shades might better fit with my glasses. Towel is a must… Umbrella…
Satisfied with the products in his hands, Jonathan hobbled over to the cashier and dumped everything onto the counter in front of a slightly bewildered shop owner.
"All of this please!" the bespectacled captain exclaimed with an exhausted smile.
Blinking, the Zalti shop owner paused for a moment before he finally answered Jonathan.
"Y-Yes, of course" he smiled politely before proceeding to scan the items.
As the man checked each of his purchases with a beep, Jonathan quickly took a glance at the closed changing room door.
"Not paying with your girlfriend?" the shopkeeper asked nonchalantly, causing Jonathan to flinch.
"W-We're not like that," he replied hastily. "Anyway she prefers her privacy when it comes to this sort of thing."
Looking up curiously at the bespectacled human's reaction, the shopkeeper chuckled.
"Ah, I see."
While waiting for him to finish, Jonathan couldn't help but tap his foot impatiently. There was no telling when Anika was going to come out.
But as he was doing this, he noticed a set of what looked like sandcastle building toys displayed under the counter. Widening his eyes, he pondered on it for a moment before glancing away.
Nah, not today. Kaito wouldn't let me hear the end of it, the bespectacled officer smiled to himself as he passed his travel pass to the cashier for payment.
"Alright, that is all. Do you need a bag with this sir?" the Zalti smiled.
"Uh no, I'm good," Jonathan replied as he opened his duffel bag and started stuffing his purchases in. "Thanks."
Zipping it back up, he thanked the cashier again with a bow and turned to the exit with a smirk.
And that's a mission success! He cheered with a small shake of his fist. Now all that's left to do is wait for Anika and we can be out of this awkward mess of a situation!
Many, many minutes later, the bespectacled officer felt his knees begging to wobble as he waited outside the store under the shade of the building.
Ugh… This is taking forever... he groaned with the slump of his head. If she was going to be in there this long I might've just as well taken my time shopping… Maybe I should get some ice cream...
Eventually, he heard the sounds of someone's footsteps approaching from the shop, and turned to see Anika slowly walking out with a stiff look on her face.
"S-Sorry I got a bit carried away," she sighed remorsefully with the dip of her head. "Their options were just too overwhelming. Did you have to wait for a long while?"
"Yeah, a tad too much to be honest," Jonathan muttered as he shot an annoyed glare. "If I knew you were taking that long I would have…"
Pausing, Jonathan was soon lost for words as his mind took in Anika's new breathtaking look. She had switched her previous overall casuals and now was clothed with new casual loose beach clothing which included a thin white shirt which partially concealed the bikini she had chosen, which could be seen as orange in color both top and bottom. Finally she had a partially transparent aqua green shawl that was tied on her waist like a skirt. Needless to say, Anika looked absolutely dazzling and beautiful.
"You would have done what' exactly?" asked Anika with a frown which forced Jonathan to snap out his thoughts.
"Erm nothing… I mean never mind," replied Jonathan as he tried to glance away from his friend's bewitching attire.
Anika narrowed her eyes at her friend, wondering what else had randomly distracted Jonathan this time. But quickly she realized what had attracted his attention and forced him to be somewhat distant: herself.
At once, Anika's cheeks began to redden in embarrassment.
"Well apologies for taking too long," Anika pouted. "After all, when a girl's shopping, she takes her own sweet time to select what suits her the best."
"But nevertheless," The Zalti girl quickly shifted into a sly smile as she eyed Jonathan. "For somebody who's impatient about his date's timing, you certainly enjoyed your sweet time checking her out, haven't you?"
Immediately Jonathan started gushing and panicking. "Eeek! No, Anika I didn't mean to do-"
Anika started to burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Your face! Oh that is priceless!"
"Really Anika?" replied Jonathan with an exasperated look. "Really!?"
"I'm just toying with you silly!" Anika gasped for air before trying to contain herself. "You wouldn't swoop down to Kaito's level right?"
"Yeah… Of course," replied Jonathan, avoiding eye contact with her.
Anika's face soon fell as she realized that probably it wasn't exactly the best idea of teasing Jonathan about him being smitten by her current looks. Nevertheless she still had to cheer and lighten him up more.
"Well, in that case how do I look now?" asked Anika as she made a few poses for Jonathan. "I'm asking honestly this time."
Jonathan looked back at Anika and once again had his eyes saturated with her lovely attire.
"I-i-it looks good," he replied with slight shyness to his voice. "But…"
As Jonathan suddenly began approaching her, Anika felt her heart rate accelerating as she wondered if he was suddenly making a move on her. But before she could react, Jonathan put his hand into her duffle bag, took out the hat he had bought and customized earlier for her, and placed it squarely on her head.
"There we go!" said Jonathan with a satisfied and bright smile on his face. "Now it really suits the rest of your attire!"
Slightly stunned, the Zalti girl broke into a pout and quickly adjusted her hat to fit better.
"Of course, that was the whole point," she jested before taking a step past Jonathan and turning back to him. "Come on, let's go before we get too late!"
A couple of minutes later, both Jonathan and Anika found themselves strolling down the wooden boardwalk which divided the white beach and lovely trees from the urban buildings and infrastructure of the beach village.
"So who are we up against again?" asked Jonathan.
"I'm sorry?" replied Anika.
"The opposing teams for the volleyball match," Jonathan clarified.
"Oh that," she replied before tilting her head in thought. "I think the crew members of the escort frigate Ikazuchi and battlecruiser Thunder-Child are involved, at least from what Kaito told me. Although I'm not sure if he has gotten any of the other ships' crew members involved since then."
"Ikazuchi and Thunder-Child huh," mumbled Jonathan to himself as a wry smile came to his face. "That's an interesting lineup of competitors."
"Really?" asked Anika. "In what way?"
"Well I haven't played against those crews in any sporting events that's for sure," replied Jonathan. "But considering the reputation of the Ikazuchi's reliability and the aggressiveness of the Thunder-Child in combat, I think they will be giving our fellow friends aboard the Audacious a hard time. Unless..."
Jonathan turned to Anika with a devious and competitive smirk on his face. "They could be provoked enough to loose their cool."
Anika shook her head and chuckled in amusement. "Whatever you say Jonathan. Just try not to provoke them too much..."
"Oh don't worry, I'll go easy on them..." replied Jonathan innocently as he casually adjusted his glasses.
Just then, the two heard a loud commotion just off in the distance.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" asked Jonathan as he looked at the source of the noise.
"Ah," said Anika with a smile. "I think we've arrived."
"Captain! Go for it!"
"Don't let those smug pilots win!"
Down the beach in front of them, the two officers let out a small breath of awe as they descended into the small noisy crowd of spectators cheering around the court.
"Smash them to pieces Mitsuhiko!" a familiar ringing voice exclaimed.
"Received loud and clear!"
Within the court marked with a rectangle of blue rope, the freckled pilot smirked as he put together his arms in front of him and firmly bumped a fierce incoming ball into the air before immediately glancing at his teammate with a smile.
"Here you go Konno! Give me a good one!"
In a flash of sprayed sand and purple, the young pilot ran past him toward the front of the volleyball net and jumped up with her two hands held just above her head for a set.
"Roger~!" she smiled, tossing the ball straight to Mitsuhiko who was now already midair, flying toward the net with his whole body and arm primed for a hit.
Smiling at the graceful arc in which the ball was flying to him, the pilot turned his attention to his opponents across the net who were desperately getting back into their defensive positions. The man in front of him hastily jumped up to block his path, barely able to get proper footing while the female commander diagonally behind him braced herself in an attempt to receive his attack.
"Apologies, but this is going to be our win!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed before winding up his arm and smashing the ball straight down, rocketing it right past the blocking teammate into the front of the female commander.
Reacting barely in time, the female commander dashed forward with her fingers stretched out to reach the ball. But it was too fast, and smashed into the sand with a loud boom before her body even landed onto the ground.
Wincing as the ball bounced past her lazily, she slumped her head and punched the ground in defeat.
"Damn it!"
The spectators burst into a cacophony of cheers and groans upon seeing the result, and a whistle blow was quickly followed, signaling the end of the match as the referees on the side of the court flipped the score cards displayed to a score of 15-10.
"And it looks like we have our fifth round's winner!" Kaito sang out from above the crowd through his megaphone as the cheers and groans continued to echo out.
Standing up dramatically in his lifeguard style high-chair with one foot on the arm rest, he smugly turned to the court.
"Despite the desperate defense put up by the ever-lovable Kudo-Doyle pair, it seems like the reliable workhorses of the team were unfortunately unable to overcome the Osprey Squadron's precision and speed! Even though they had the lead in the first half of the tournament, it looks like they may have accidentally set the stage for an insurmountable comeback by the pilots~! Is this the payoff to their iron spirits?"
Immediately, the short brown haired commander sprung up from her sandy pit and pointed angrily at the smug flight leader.
"Asuka! Shut it with the animal comparisons!" she snapped with a pout. "I'm not a horse! And you're clearly letting your commentary become biased!"
"Oh? I thought it was pretty accurate," the spiky haired flight leader smiled as he put his finger on his chin obliviously. "But now now, don't take out your frustrations on the innocent commentator. You have other things you should be spending your time on now shouldn't you?"
Huffing as she twitched her hands, the Ikazuchi's commander let out an exasperated grunt and walked off with her teammate.
Meanwhile back on the court, Konno and Mitsuhiko shared a knowing look as they watched their mischievous flight leader cheekily smile in the distance, and both facepalmed as they made their way back to their team's benches.
"He's gone off on his high horse again," sighed Konno, who was dressed in a black bikini with a large translucent purple t-shirt over top tied to her waist for ease of movement.
"Do you think if a ball happened to fly his way later we could call it an accident?" Mitsuhiko asked mischievously. Compared to the young pilot's relatively dark colored attire, the freckled pilot's bright aqua green trunks were a severe but yet matching contrast in color to that of his wingman. Next to each other, they almost looked like the villains in a sports show.
"Maybe…" Konno smirked as she held her chin in thought. "If their next players had a spike strong enough... "
"What are you two talking about?!" let out a flabbergasted Genta, who smacked them both in the face with water bottles. "Don't get complacent now! You two are our last survivors! We can't let them steal the win from right under our noses!"
Flinching from the impact, Konno tumbled to the ground while Mitsuhiko stood frozen in place.
"Of course that's a given. We're not you, you know," he let out as the bottle slipped off to reveal a rather annoyed expression.
"Huh?! What's that supposed to mean? You wanna go now?" the chubby pilot exclaimed.
"Gladly! After we finish this match!"
While the two pilots got into a pushing match, Konno let out another sigh to herself on the ground as she picked the water bottle from her face and rolled her eyes away slowly.
"Boys…"
At the same time on the other side of the court, Josiah and Otto were watching the chaos unfold from the comfort of a table just next to it under an umbrella with two fruity drinks. Both were in simple casual wear that consisted of a shirt and bermudas, though Josiah had opted for a thin collared shirt while Otto had gone for the normal t-shirt.
"With the team score now five to five, the pressure is on for the Ikazuchi-Thunderchild team to regain their footing in their final match! But with the momentum on Osprey Squadron's side, every second they waste deliberating may only let the Konno-Mitsuhiko duo rest and become stronger! What will their plan be?" Kaito's voice echoed again.
Cringing, Josiah let out a sigh as he took a sip of his drink.
"Who on earth would actually fall for that?" he mumbled.
As he said this, his eyes shifted over to the Ikazuchi-Thunderchild team who were discussing at the table in front of them.
"Those two are just too ridiculous!"
"Captain, who are we using next?"
"Komi and Jole are out, they apparently ate too much."
"What?! Why- what were they doing?!"
"How about you Wells?"
"Me? No way. My noodle arms aren't going to survive."
Standing up suddenly, the red haired commander of the Thunder-Child fumed as he glanced at the gleeful Kaito with a tightened fist.
"Damn it, that monkey has us by the leash. If I were a little stronger I'd-"
"Calm down," said Kudo from the head of the table as she held her head in thought. "We just need to come up with a plan. The odds are still in our favour since Asuka's last team had to play two matches."
In response, the entire table widened their eyes, and all looked at her in anticipation.
That's our reliable captain!
However unbeknownst to them, the brown haired girl was sweating profusely under her guise.
Yahhh! What the hell are we going to do?! she thought as her eyes spun with panic. At this rate that bet's going to bite us in the-
Narrowing his eyes at them, Josiah sighed again and glanced back at Otto who seemed to be writing something down on a tablet.
"What are you up to?"
Pausing, the bespectacled officer turned to him.
"Oh I'm simply writing down the different strategies of this volleyball game," he smiled. "I get the basic gist but it's more fun when I can see what each team is trying to do."
Turning back to his tablet, Otto took a sip of his drink.
"The most curious part of their attacking strategy so far is this 'setting' I keep seeing," he continued as he referred to a sketch similar to the motion Konno did. "When you first explained to me the basic rules, I thought everyone would simply try hitting the ball over normally as quickly as they could. But every team tries to get this system done when they successfully neutralize their enemy's attack."
"Oh, that. It's to make it easier for the hitter to spike," Josiah explained. "This way attacks are well coordinated, and the hitter can focus more easily on where and how they're going to hit. The setter is even more important in regular volleyball when there are more players. He's the one who controls the team's offense by mixing up timings and who he uses to attack."
"Hm, interesting," Otto smiled before glancing up past Josiah suddenly. "Oh Miss Welmer! What a pleasant surprise!"
Jumping, Josiah spun around in fright to see Anika and Jonathan walking up behind them. Immediately, he avoided eye contact with them and went back to his drink.
"Hey Otto," the long haired Zalti waved with a smile. "It's pretty lively around here isn't it?"
"Yeah, the competition is really building to its climax," replied Otto as she put her stuff down on the chair opposite him. "Are you planning to play?"
"Well, I think so," said Anika as she looked around. "But from what I've been hearing from Kaito's commentary it seems like the tournament has already started. So we probably shouldn't butt in…"
Suddenly Anika felt a familiar gaze piercing her directly, instinctively she turned to the crowd of spectators and looked around earnestly to find its perpetrator.
"What is it?" asked Otto curiously.
After scanning through the crowd for a while, the auburn haired girl turned back to Otto and shook her head in denial.
"It's nothing, I thought someone I knew was looking at me..." she sighed with a wistful expression on her face.
It was at that moment she noticed Josiah sitting quietly next to Otto, and realized she had completely ignored him by accident.
"O-Oh, hello Lieutenant Anton," she quickly smiled. "Sorry, I didn't see you there.
In response, the tactical officer glanced up with a polite bow and went back to his drink.
"H-Hi, don't mind me ma'am."
"I- see, sorry for disturbing."
To be frank, Anika was surprised to see Otto hanging around with Josiah again. At first glance she thought he'd spend more time with friendlier people like Johanna, Eddie or even Jonathan. Even after the mission on the Neu Lambea, she'd figured they'd simply be comfortable working together rather than becoming buddies. But regardless, it was nice to see the bespectacled Garmillan breaking out of his shell a little more.
"I think the big tournament is only on the main court," Otto added after looking around as well. "There are some other casual matches in the surrounding courts. Maybe you could ask one of them if you could have a turn."
"Hm, we'll probably do that then," she replied before turning around. "Jonathan! Let's try checking out one of the-"
However, the captain was nowhere to be seen, causing her to facepalm and look around again.
"Has anyone seen where-"
Anika soon spotted Jonathan approaching the joint Ikazuchi-ThunderChild team's table.
"Ah never mind," muttered Anika.
"What's up Thunderbolts?"
The two commanding officers and their subordinates flinched as they turned to see Jonathan who was smiling with a very smug expression in front of them.
"Having trouble hitting your mark?" Jonathan added coyly.
Twitching, Kudo and Wells narrowed their eyes in disbelief while the rest of the team froze. Briefly, the two exchanged a look.
"You are… Commander Lee of the Audacious right?" asked Wells as he slowly turned back to Jonathan, who simply raised an eyebrow.
"Well yeah, obviously," he replied as he put a hand on his hip. "Who else would I be?"
The Thunder-Child's commander paused.
"I- I see," the red haired commander replied slowly before giving a quick hand motion to the rest of their team.
"Sorry, could you give us a moment?" he added sheepishly.
"Uh, sure. Go ahead."
Immediately, the group huddled up tightly together and began discussing in hushed whispers, leaving Jonathan to tilt his head in confusion.
"Yeah no, that's him."
"He's different from what I'd imagined."
"And much younger too."
"What why is he picking a fight with us?"
"Did you do something again?"
"No of course not!"
"We don't have time for this!"
"But this could be to our advantage though…"
Freezing in response to her sudden statement, the whole group turned to Kudo who was holding her chin in thought.
"Think about it," she added. "He should know his subordinates better than us, so he'd be able to match their mind games better. Plus, he seems pretty confident in his skill if he's going to taunt opponents like this."
The team around her went silent for a moment as they pondered the Ikazuchi captain's words. Turning around, they took a peek at the supposed bespectacled commander that was behind them and watched as one of his well dressed female friends came up to talk to him.
"But how would we convince him though?" asked Wells as he turned back to her with a hushed voice. "He thinks we're his opponents right now."
Smiling, Kudo gave him a thumbs up.
"Leave it to me!"
Confidently, the brown haired commander stood up and strided over to Jonathan, leaving her team to watch in anticipation from her back.
That's our reliable captain! They all simultaneously smiled.
"Excuse me sir!" she exclaimed with a firm salute, causing both Jonathan and Anika to jump in surprise.
"Lieutenant Commander Suzaki Kudo of the Ikazuchi! If I may, could I make a request of you sir?"
Caught off guard by her formal statement in the midst of their vacation, Jonathan held his head briefly to switch gears.
"S-Sure," he answered. "But at ease Lieutenant Commander, you don't need to be so formal. We are on vacation after all."
"Understood," she nodded, clearing her throat as she lowered her hand. "Then, as a fellow officer of the Cosmo Navy…"
Suddenly, the brown haired officer slammed down onto her knees and dropped her face into the sand with a ceremonial bow.
"Please I beg of you! Join our team and help us bring down Osprey Squadron in this next match!" Kudo exclaimed.
Immediately, Jonathan and Anika widened their eyes.
"E-Eh?!"
At the same time, the entire team behind her dropped their jaws in dismay and turned into stone.
"H-Hold it right there!" said Anika quickly as she sprung in front of Jonathan to defend him, slightly put off by the fact that this cute bikini clad girl was bowing so pitifully in front of her friend. "Why are you so desperate to get him on your team?"
"Well-"
Raising herself from the ground, the brown haired officer gave her a determined look.
"We would like to defend the honor of us escort ship officers ma'am!' she declared. "People tend to look down on us and leave us out of the information loop because we're only around for fodder, so this is our one of the few chances to show what we're made of!"
"But more importantly…" she grumbled as she began to clench her fist tightly. "There's one particular guy who we absolutely cannot lose to. One whose smile will haunt us for eternity if we let him get the better of us…"
"Look at him!" she exclaimed again without warning, pointing towards a certain spiky haired man relaxing in his high chair with his feet up on its handrails while he drank a bottle of water. Grinning, he let out a satisfied breath and leaned back to put his sunglasses on, almost like a mischievous cat enjoying the sun.
"He's acting so high and mighty as if he's already won!" Kudo muttered with flickering a dissatisfied pout forming on her face. "Even though we've fought him to a standstill- all we need to do is finish him off. Don't you just want to wipe that smug grin off his-"
Mid-sentence, the brown haired girl paused when both Jonathan and Anika crouched down alongside her and put a reassuring hand on each of her shoulders.
"Say no more," the Zalti smiled as a foreboding aura started to grow around the two friends.
"We'll rip their heads off," Jonathan finished with a devious smirk.
In response, Kudo beamed in response and gave another polite bow.
"If you would please."
Smiling, the two got up and began to remove their outer clothing as they strode toward the court. Jonathan had left his shirt and placed his Audacious ballcap aside and now wore his newly bought dark green trunks which resembled closely to an army camo pattern. After placing her beach hat alongside Jonathan's cap, Anika removed her white shirt and let lose her aqua shawl revealing her orange string bikini whose color contrasted well with her beautiful auburn hair and green eyes.
"Let's go Anika," smirked Jonathan as he cracked his knuckles. "It's about time I had a chance to knock that clown down a few pegs."
"Yeah, I've got a bone to pick with him as well," Anika replied similarly as she stretched her neck with a chuckle. "He's going down."
As the pair went off to battle, Kudo let out a small excited smile to herself and got up quickly to return to her team.
"C-Captain!" her officers let out.
"Mission accomplished!" she smirked as she hit her hand onto the table confidently. "Now let's try to support them the best we can."
"B-But you lost all dignity with that-"
"Understand this my comrades!" she smiled confidently with a proud pose. "Sometimes you have to put your pride aside for the greater good! With a little bit of honesty, even giants will help you!"
In response, her team members all opened their mouths in awe and gave her a quiet applause.
"That's our reliable captain!"
With the quiet breeze rustling through the trees of the court, and the sounds of waves gently hitting the shore in the background, the audience members of the main court waited with baited breath as the next Ikazuchi-Thunderchild team slowly came out of the shadow of the spectating tables.
"Well well well!" Kaito exclaimed as he got back into his proper commentating posture. "It looks like Osprey Squadron's opponents have finally picked their champion team! And it's…"
Taking a step forward into the sun, Jonathan and Anika smiled confidently and gave a quick mischievous glance at Kaito before they entered the court.
"An odd turn of events!" the flight leader exclaimed with a grin. "As their trump card, the Ikazuchi-Thunderchild team have pulled out a surprise appearance of Commander Jonathan Lee and Anika Welmer of Zalti from the Audacious! Sneaky move bringing out the resident power couple!"
Immediately, the two reeled over in response to his comment but quickly put on two fresh smiles as they approached Konno and Mitsuhiko on the other side of the net.
"Sorry about this," Jonathan smiled menacingly as he shook Konno's hand. "We mean no harm to you, but your flight leader needs to be taught a lesson."
"I-I can imagine sir," Konno nervously chuckled as she pulled out a coin. "Call it."
"Heads."
Flicking it with her thumb, the silver coin flew upwards with a gratifying ping and floated in the air for a few seconds before it landed on her fist with the smack of her other hand. Taking it away, it revealed tails.
"Uh, looks like we'll be serving first," the young pilot smiled.
"Mhm, let's have a good game," Jonathan nodded before he and Anika turned away to get into position.
But as they did, Konno and Mitsuhiko flinched when they noticed a considerably dangerous aura emanating from the two of them.
"Maybe we should go a little easy on them at the start," the freckled pilot let out quietly as they both also turned to their starting positions. "You know, let them release some of their anger first."
"Good idea," Konno nodded as she sighed. "It wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise. Besides, Ms Welmer might not be familiar with the game, being not from Earth and all…"
A few minutes later, the two teams were in position to start the game. With Anika and Jonathan one one end, and Konno and Mitsuhiko on the other, with the latter on the end line preparing to serve.
With the volleyball in hand in front of him, Mitsuhiko nodded to Kaito who dramatically put his whistle to his mouth.
"Let the final match begin~!"
As the whistle sound echoed across the court, the freckled pilot threw the ball up in front of him and took three steps forward.
Seventy percent power, he smiled to himself as he drew his arms backwards and swung them up to jump. Won't be easy to get, but shouldn't be too difficult either.
Winding up, Mitsuhiko smashed his right hand into the ball, hurling it with a deadly spin that pierced through the air towards Jonathan and Anika like a bullet.
Seeing its speed, Konno widened her eyes.
"Ah! I thought you were going to-"
But suddenly, the ball stopped in its tracks when it hit Jonathan's arms.
"Eh?"
With only a slight pushback on his bent legs, the bespectacled captain canceled out all of Mitsuhiko's attack power in the ball, and sent it over to Anika who gracefully set it high up above the net. Her eyes going wide as Jonathan met the ball in the air, Konno watched in horror from below as he and the projectile blocked out the sun behind them. And in that moment, his attack seemed to glow blindingly like the brilliant charge of a wave motion gun whose barrel was directed straight at them.
"Ah ha, that was a mistake," Konno chuckled.
Screaming, the two pilots braced themselves as a ball full of pure blue rage descended upon them. Winning had escaped their minds, survival was now their priority.
A/N: And that concludes part 1 of the obligatory Beach Episode of Audacious! XD
Jokes aside, this was pretty hard but fun for both of us to write. I had to get some help from my proofreader on writing the beach volleyball scenes as I don't know how the rules work... He even had to introduce me to watching the anime Haikyuu for me to understand the basics of the sport... XD Was a pretty fun show I have to add. As for the other scenes, the sweet sour fish is actually based on an actual dish I used to eat at Phuket, Thailand in a seafood restaurant during my holidays. And as described in this chapter it is very delicious. Damn do I miss it... Shame I can't go there anymore due to the stupid Covid19...
The character of Suzaki Kudo is inspired by the actual historical commander of the Japanese destroyer Ikazuchi, Commander Shunsaku Kudō. Who made a brave and humanitarian decision to save the lives of the survivors of the sunken HMS Exeter, HMS Encounter and USS Pope after the Battle of the Java Sea. A very rare act of chivalry and kindness in the Pacific War considering how brutal the old Imperial Japan was to most POWs. And yes, if some of you haven't noticed already. Some of Suzaki Kudo's personality quirks and appearance are indeed based off IJN Ikazuchi's Kantai Collection's kanmusu/shipgirl counterpart (though much older than the one from KC obviously). She's the one out of the four adorable Akatsuki sisters who always says: "You can rely on me more!"
And yes, Jonathan did made a pun on both the Ikazuchi and Thunder-Child's names. Because Ikazuchi translated from Japanese actually means Thunder! Hence, THUNDERBOLTS! XD Still not as cool as the Thunderbirds from International Rescue but yeah.
As for next chapter release of Audacious... Don't worry, it will come much earlier than usual with a scheduled release of December 25th. Consider it as a Christmas present! Anyway I hope you enjoy this installment and look forward to Part 2 of the beach episode... (winks before putting on headphones to listen to Data singing Blue Skies...)