Luna lead him out the door and out of the Crystal Tower back into the inner courtyard. Instead of going back to the main building she crossed right into one of the wings. It was also a big building and she informed him, that this was the administrative office of the kingdom.
Seems that even Utopia needs it's fair share of bureaucracy too, SunTzu thought. Which might not be the worst because some regulations are always necessary to keep order.
Yup, he definitely was German he realized and smiled at himself.
"I'm sorry about this, but we have to manage the paper work part now. I do think you don't mind getting paid for your labor though. Oh and I'm sorry to tell you this, we're getting an apartment for you over in old Tokyo but we couldn't finish it yet. You know security checks and all. Looks like you're having to stay in the barracks at least tonight." the queens associate told him.
"No problem Ma'am. I'm already glad I don't have to sleep another night in a space fighter again." he responded.
She looked back at him and smiled.
"Please call me Luna, we'll be working closely together as of now. You'll become a close part of the court."
"People call me SunTzu, i don't know my real name." he responded.
The Head Admin lead him into the building which was decorated way less than the other two buildings he already visited. A lot of people in office clothes were doing their business managing the kingdom inside.
After a few turns and a quick elevator ride into the buildings top floor, they got into a small meeting room.
Inside a brown haired woman in a spotless business outfit and a black haired man sporting thick glasses and a suit we're already sitting on the meeting table, with the man sitting on Top.
"SunTzu, this is Naru Umino, the Kingdom's Ambassador at the United Nations and therefore our representative at the world's governments." Luna introduced the woman.
The woman got up and shook SunTzu's hand.
"Nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you from the Royal couple. Hello Luna." Naru said. "As Luna said I'm the link between the Kingdom and the other governments of the world. This is my Husband Gurio Umino, the chief official of the kingdom and therefore head of day to day governmental activities outside of Defence." She spoke on, while her Husband got up. He looked a bit hounded but that probably came with the job.
The men shook hands and Umino pointed to a chair.
"Please, take a seat so we can begin. I'm a bit busy these days." the official said.
"Umino, be nice to the Lieutenant. He's a new vital part of our Expeditionary Forces." Nary exhorted her husband.
"Which also means another cost factor for the expeditionary forces." he insisted. Well lets see here." He arranged some documents and slide them over to SunTzu.
"You'll get the standard pay and amenities of a pilot in the rank of Second Lieutenant of the kingdom and even if I'm opposing it, you'll get your paid apartment over in Juban. No rented car tho, we'll need to save money wherever we can. Expeditionary warfare is not cheap." He started and they processed through various topics regarding his new deployment.
After around 45 minutes they were all done. Umino was the archetype of a state clerk but getting paid was never wrong and they also paid his rent, so it was all good for him.
Luna pulled out a mobile phone and called someone up, stating they were done and SunTzu was ready for his next appointment. Umino and Naru said their goodbyes and went out, getting back to their regular work. Naru stated that she had an appointment coming up in the UN-Office in South Crystal Tokyo. SunTzu sensed that both had pretty full schedules.
"Ami, Sailor Mercury, is taking you over to the military wing now and will give a small intelligence update. She'll be here any second." Luna reported.
"You'll like Juban. Nice part of Tokyo, feels a bit provincial although it's near the bay. The girls and I used to live there too." She sighed "For transportation we'll find a way. You got any luggage or so?
"Not much, basically just a few Flight suits, 200 Galactic Credits, two GA Uniforms and a bit of underwear and sanitary stuff inside my fighter"
"Light traveling i see. I'll see that you get a bank account and a small starting bonus till tomorrow so you can at least buy some things. Don't worry, it's not a car, so I'm sure that I can pull this out of Umino."
"Sounds great. Thanks for getting me settled."
"You're more than welcome. Sorry we had to order you with out any heads-up from the outer rim to here. But our time schedule for mobilzing the Taskforce is pretty tight." Luna explained.
"SunTzu, please take good care of the princess and the Senshi. These will be most valuable for this Galaxy in due time, you will experience. Also i do care personally for them."
As she finished the sentence, someone knocked on the door and opened it a moment later.
"Guten Tag Leutnant, ich hoffe es geht Ihnen immer noch gut", Sailor Mercury said in German without any accent. SunTzu was quite surprised to find someone talking German here. He was also surprised to see that she changed from her Senshi Outfit to an olive green military uniform for female/ with the Royal Symbol on the right and the GA's Crest on the left sleeve. Her rank indicated her as Captain of the Galactic Alliance Military Intelligence. Also she was wearing glasses and carried a bunch of documents and folders.
"Das war ausgezeichnetes Deutsch, Hauptmann," SunTzu answered also in German while standing up.
He was about to salute, when Ami said, now in Basic, "Please Lieutenant, no need to be that formal. I'm Ami Mizuno and as you have already seen, I'm also Sailor Mercury, the Patron of Water. Call me Ami please, we're comrads now."
They shook hands.
"Please follow me, we'll head over to the military administration building."
"Bye Luna."
"Bye Ami, Bye SunTzu" the elder woman said.
"Goodbye Luna, and thanks again."
She smiled and told "No problem. Oh and please do me a favor and stay as nice with the palace cats as you've been." Then she winked and he couldn't help seeing similarities to the black cat from before again. Also how did she know that.
With a puzzled look he followed a grinning Ami.
"How much do you know about Crystal Tokio and this stellar System already?" Ami asked him.
"I got hold of the official availabile information from the Holonet. Nothing too fancy but I know the basic information as political situation, geography and so on."
"Very good, I got some more intel plus the stuff you need to know like Radio Codes, Strength of our forces and so on." she handed him the documents and folders. "Everything is also available on Datacards inside. I don't have to stress that this Data is sensitive and secret to you I guess. On a sidenote if you like Disney Princesses you'll love the radio codes regarding the Queen's Status". she said with a wink and a smile.
"I'll take good care of it, Ma'am"
"Call me Ami please. This whole Military formalities is new and unaccustomed for me."
"Sorry… Ami."
"Please try to sight through this documents soon. I think you already heard that the time before we head out is running out."
"No problem, I'll start today."
"Oh, by the way, I checked in with the detail responsible for security proofing your apartment. They'll be done by tomorrow and you can move in. Also, I'll try to organize a safe SmartPhone for you as soon as possible."
"Awesome, that's great."
They crossed the courtyard again and head over in the opposite building. The building was a bit more secured than the other one.
On the way the met the Captain of the Guard again.
He saluted and both returned the gesture.
"Nice to meet you Lieutenant. Major Motoki Furuhata, Commanding Officer of the Royal Guard. To a good cooperation."
"Thank you Major, the pleasure is all mine. I try my best."
"Im sorry but I have to move on. See you later. Ami." Motoki said and left for the main building.
"He's pretty busy these days getting the guard ready. It's serious for him to guard the palace and the Royal majesties. The King is an old friend of his from school. As are Naru and Umino from the queen. And no, it's not about nepotism but about people we can trust. One day i'll tell you the story how we got we're we are now and how important that loyality is."
"Uhm, okay. I understand that. Keep your circle small and loyal."
"Exactly."
The guards at the am entrance of the military complex greeted formally and opened the door for the both of them.
"I'm delivering you over to Makoto, Sailor Jupiter. She'll take care of getting you geared up. Most of the administrative as well as a large part of the logistically important stuff of the Expeditionary force are housed in here still. There's plans to at least place some of It over at the outlying base but you know how fast bureaucracy works." She finished with a shoulder shrug.
They walked down a flight of stairs into the second underground floor of the building and moved on, finally ended in what looked like an Armory. Makoto,was waiting in front of a locker room full of guns and gear and a table in the middle. The tall Brunette also was sporting the olive green Uniform of the ESDF now.
"Here we are. I'll see you around SunTzu." She turned and moved around to exit.
"Oh and don't forget to learn." She said with an parental tone in her voice.
"Ami, he's not Usagi, I'm he sure he will do as told. Give the man a break." Makoto yelled back after Ami.
"14 years later and it's still all about learning." Makoto said to herself and grinned.
She turned around and extended her Hand to SunTzu.
"Captain Makoto Kino, Commanding Officer of our Expeditionary Special Forces and Sailor Jupiter. Nice to finally meet you face to face Lieutenant. SunTzu, right?"
"The pleasure is all mine Captain. Yes, SunTzu."
She nodded welcomingly.
"Call me Makoto. Bluntly spoken, we don't have enough manpower so I have to inform you that you not only will fly with the Squadron but also will be joining us on foot occasionally and of course in training. So we probably share a foxhole soon anyway and can ditch the formalities. You have any problem with also being deployed on ground?"
"None," SunTzu said. You know what they say, any other arm is just there to support the infantry anyway. I'm GA Special Forces Commando qualified also, what you probably already know."
"I actually expected way less of cooperation from a Space Jockey, so yeah, awesome. Don't worry, your main stay will be with the Squadron of course tho. But we will need a Jack of All Trades kinda Guy." She paused for a moment. "And yeah, I've read your service record. Not bad, we're definitely lucky to have you on our Team." The Brunette said. "Join us in training whenever you can or felt too. We'll need every gun available soon."
He still didn't know what was upcoming but damn, these people sure seemed pessimistic about the future. He needed to find out what they knew, that he didn't as soon as possible.
"Let's head into the Armory to get you kitted out. You got any gear or weapons yet?"
"Just the GA's Standard Blaster for Pilots at the ship. No PPE, no Infantry weapons." He answered as they walked into the room.
In there a 35-40 year old Soldier in olive colored service uniform was standing and awaited them.
"This the new guy Cap?"
"Hey Bob, yeah. SunTzu."
Both man shook hands.
"Name's Bob, I'm the Chief Armorer," the man said with a thick texan American accent. "Take a good look around and let me know what you want to work with."
SunTzu started looking through the various available stuff, starting with Protective Gear. He didn't know why but he pretty much knew what he wanted.
"What about armor and stowage?" He asked as he browsed.
"GA Standard Armor could be scarce but if you're good with our Plate Carriers and Helmets, then we're good. The Special Forces Teams use USSOCOM-issued stuff mainly.
"Got an compact Plate Carrier for me, maybe some inserts or a Chest Rig for it too? Something I can Sport inside a fighter cockpit too?"
"What about this LV-MBAV" he said and pointed to a place on the wall where a certain khaki colored Plate Carrier was hanging.
"Perfect. Which armor you use?"
"Standard E-SAPI Cut but I got some beska-reinforced ones that protect against Lasers and Blasters too. It's been a hell to get those. Administration still hates me for this."
He grabbed a lightweight Helmet and also put it on the table.
"Sounds awesome. Now let me see for Guns."
"Hey SunTzu," Makoto opened up nervously with hands behind her head. "Is it True, that you prefer projectile weapons over Blasters? We have this small problem getting energy weapons and ammo in sufficient ways."
"I prefer Weapons from Earth yes. By the way I'd would to reserve that MK48 over there for training sometime."
Mako signed relieved and asked the Armorer.
"Talking about that, any word on my E-30 Blasters, Bob?"
"Sorry Boss, Administration is not willing to pay for something the Galactic Alliance should deliver us as part of their Army and the GA has problems distributing them to everyone. Same Shit as always." Bob answered with an apologizing gesture.
"But I got word, that we might get those shipment of URGIs from the US soon."
"14.5 URGIs also?" SunTzu asked.
"Yup, 14.5s also." Bob answered.
"Reserve one for me. Recce Configuration. I'll take an Block 2 as Recce Rifle base for now," he said and grabbed one of the Rifles from it's Wall Hanger.
"Dude knows what's business" Bob said surprised to Mako. She just smiled.
SunTzu also took a Glock 19 from the Wall and put her also on the table.
"Bob, I need something Sub-Compact, even smaller than a MK18 but still with a bang and more range than a standard PDW. Something I also can work out from the cockpit. Do you have anything that would fit the description?"
"Give me a sec, I think I have something over in my workshop. I'll be right back." Bob told and left the room.
Makoto and SunTzu questioningly looked at each other and shrugged. He came back a minute later packing a short, compact rifle.
"This is a special project of mine. HK416C in .300 AAC, Custom Geiselle Rail, made to be light and compact."
SunTzu let out a small whistle,took the rifle and examined it, including taking aim with the weapon.
"Perfect, a beautiful weapon. Exactly what I need" He stated.
"I'll get her ready for you. And configure the Block 2 in a Recce Setup too. Everything will be done somewhen by tomorrow. But you can at least take the Glock right now."
"Great, thanks a lot. I appreciate it."
"Hey, Customer Satisfaction is our goal here", the Texan said and smiled.
SunTzu took the Pistol and a Holster and fixed it on his Belt. He didn't thought that he'll need a gun soon but as soldier it was never wrong to carry something to protect you."
After they were done in the armory and said their goodbyes to Bob, Makoto let SunTzu know, that he'll get a tour of the other parts of the military wing soon too. It was about noon.
"Did you have lunch yet? You must be hungry after your travel."
"Wouldn't mind some food, as long as it ain't Nutrition Bars if I'm honest."
"I'll show you the mess hall, she's in the wing behind the Crystal Tower.
They set out for it and on the way they talked about his use on the battlefield.
"You know, in my opinion the whole Military of the GA isn't incorporating Air and Space Power as effective as it could be. Earth's Military is better In this. I think our Forces could excel in this. My A-Wing is highly autonomous and modified including enhanced sensors and communication packages so we could help from up above at least, if I can't join you guys on foot."
"You're a godsend gift. Second and third Teams have JTACs but I'm still looking for one for my for my first team. They're hard to get from other Armies. To be honest it's hard to get anyone volunteering to join the Expeditionary Force at all. Seems nobody wants to defend the Stellar System and rather keep to their own countries. But that's not gonna help or make things safer for anyone in the galaxy. The people of earths haven't realized that yet unfortunately." She paused.
"Sorry, I got carried away. Anyways. When you find time in the next few days seek up the clothing department on the same floor as the Armory. They'll take your measures for a uniform of our Forces and you can get some Cammies there." She proposed
"Which Camo are you using at all?" He asked.
"Lots of former Marine Force Recon and MARSOC-Operators in the Teams, so they often sport Woodland in the green. We adopted quite some of their ways actually. We of course got camos for any climate available tho. For Work in space and vessels the guys prefer Multicam Black."
"Flexin' on em I see."
"Hell yeah. We might be a small force but at least we do the tacticool part."
Both laughed. They walked around the Crystal tower now and headed for the building in the backside.
Makoto pulled out her smartphone and told SunTzu "Hey, look here for a moment" and then took a selfie of them both.
He assumed this was for facial recognition or something official but Sailor Jupiter commented something very different.
"And the first picture with the new Pilot goes to me. That just won me 40 Bucks. Minako will be so fucking mad!" Makoto took on a smile if she just won the lottery, while she was sending the picture over a messenger on her phone.
"Great, i'm a trophy for my new bosses' Bodyguards now. Exactly what the Jedi trained me to be." he snarled sarcastically.
She laughed and said, "I see we will have lots of fun with you."
They then arrived at the building, which housed the Guard and the Court Servants as well as the Dinning Hall and entered. Lots of people were having lunch at that same time too.
"Here we are. Listen I'm sorry, I can't join you for lunch but I gotta meet with Team One now. I'll make sure someone is coming to take further care of you soon, be it Marvin or someone else. See you at Training these days."
"Goodbye Makoto, thanks for the Help! See you around" SunTzu said and hold up his hand to wave her goodbye.
He entered the dining hall, almost every place was already taken. He decided to first provide for food and then find a place later.
He took a dinner tray and got into line. Waiting for his turn to get served he actually felt how hungry he really was. It's been more than a day he had some real food.
As he got his food he went to search for a table and finally found an empty one in the back.
He sat down and began to eat. The Food was pretty good and way better than on Kamino and Tattooine. One point less to worry about so.
A soft female voice came over from his left side.
"Excuse me, are this places taken?"
He swallowed down and looked to the left.
The teal haired Sailor Neptune, now in a black flight suit was holding a tray with food. Behind her was Sailor Uranus, also in a flight suit, also holding her lunch.
"Please, take a seat. It would be an pleasure to lunch with my wingmen."
Neptune smiled and sat down adverse to him, Uranus followed, placing herself next to Neptune, not saying a single word.
Before they started eating, Neptune introduced them both.
"Lieutenant, I am Michiru and this is Haruka. Really happy to get to know you."
She extended her hand and he shook it.
He then extended his hand to Haruka but the blonde woman didn't take it.
SunTzu nodded and got back to his lunch. From the corner of his eye he could see that Neptune slapped Uranus thigh, Uranus didn't flinch tho.
"So, that was not the worst show for a rookiee what you did on Tatooine. That Star Sheriff is not the worst pilot in the Galaxy." Uranus suddenly spoke. "But do you think you got what it takes to persevere in combat?"
"Honestly… I don't know. Never been into combat yet. But I'm more than willing to give my best." SunTzu replied to the provocativly told question.
"Good that you're willing to give your best. I just hope it's good enough then." Uranus stated.
Neptune smiled apologizing and hold up her hands.
"Please, we're here for lunch. Let's enjoy our food."
The rest of lunch neither Uranus nor SunTzu spoke much more. Neptune tried to lighten up the table's mood with Information about the Food Schedule or tips for sightseeing around the palace but SunTzu mostly just nodded his head or gave one lined replies.
It looked like he was right and Haruka would be a difficult person to deal with, which in turn would probably be making being their wingman harder than it could be.
Uranus finished her meal and got up in a sudden. While she was standing up, she could see that the both Senshi had been holding hands under the table and Michiru's hand slipped away and SunTzu got the impression that these two girls might be more than comrades.
Haruka took his and Michiru's Trays and walked off to put them away into one of the trolley.
Neptune sighed and turned over to SunTzu.
"Listen, I'm sorry how our first meeting went. Haruka is not a bad person, she actually has a heart of gold. She's just a bit tensed up lately." She apologized.
"Michiru, you coming or not?" Uranus yelled, ready to leave the dining hall.
Michiru got up gave a crooked smile to SunTzu.
"Next time I'll make sure she's nicer. For the sake of our cooperation. Bye. And welcome on board."
She then left the table too, following Haruka.
SunTzu sat there and took a moment for himself. He really had to find out, why everybody was so tensed up around here. And he hoped that things that he could proof himself to Sailor Uranus soon.
He got up, got over to the trolley and put the tray away. Leaving for the entry of the building he almost stumbled into Marvin.
"Oh, here you are. I wanted to meet up with you earlier for lunch but things took longer. I know you're done already but care to join me. I'm starving."
"Sure thing Captain. I'll take a table for us so you can get food."
They walked back into the hall and SunTzu got back to the table he was sitting before, fortunately it was still empty. Marvin got in the queue for food in the mean time.
After a few minutes he settled down with his tray.
"You liked the food?" The Squadron leader asked.
"Definitely better than on Tipoca City, that's for sure." SunTzu answered, but his mood was still a bit down.
Marvin nodded.
"Listen I bumped into Haruka and Michiru on the way. Michiru let me know, that Haruka was not exactly the welcoming squadron comrade one should expect. I'm sorry for this, everybody is a bit tense these days. He put down his cutlery and leaned over.
"In a few days we leave for our first combat mission and pretty much nobody has combat experience on a Galactic scale. People are pretty tense because of this. And Haruka is worried although she would never admit it. Also the whole Task Force has the usual problems you face with operations like that. Supplies, Volunteers, People saying we shouldn't go to combat, and so on."
"I see, this explains a lot. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Marvin said and continued eating. "Most of the Squadron has combat experience in space but you're not the only one that hasn't. But don't worry, I saw enough holos of your training to know that you got what It takes. And that A-Wing of yours is the bomb. I've came around quite a lot but this Fighter is supreme. Oh, it's also getting the talk of the base. Looks like she gave some of the air crew a lesson on how to treat a lady."
"Oh Shit, I'm sorry. I told AICA to be nice but you know she can have a special attitude." SunTzu made an excuse for AICA."
Marvin laughed, "Nah, it's all good. The crew was just surprised that an A-Wing without an Astromech started talking to them. From what i heard about the Ship, she probably twisted everyone around her finger already."
"Quite possible. She is something else." SunTzu laughed too.
Marvin finished his meal and cleaned his mouth with a napkin, before he opened up.
"We don't have much space fighters available, so it helps us immense that you guys joined us. I'm really happy to have you here."
"Glad to be home. At least I think this Earth is my home too." SunTzu said.
"Yeah, could be worse than to fight for your own planet's forces. After we got discovered from the GA some six years ago. Two years ago it was actually Haruka and Michiru who discovered the Coruscantian Trade Exchange."
"Really?!" SunTzu interrupted him.
"Yeah, really. Haruka used to be a race driver but as soon as Earth got access to Starfighters she jumped in. Michiru followed her of course, you know they're a long standing couple."
"I was suspecting something the way they treat each other." SunTzu said.
"Oh, they're a beautiful couple and complement each other perfect. Goes for flying too. They share a Fighter actually. Anyways, one day the two of them made this discovery and It was like the best thing that could have happened to us. Because one of Terra's Inhabitants found such an important trade route Galactic Alliance Government finally stopped treating us like one of the last backwater planets in the Galaxy and gave us some development support and rights. We didn't even had a Senator in the past and now we're a special development member of the Galactic Alliance and the Neo-queen actually meets with the import people. She actually met a few times with the Chief of State even. Without this there would be no Earth Task Force and I think you wouldn't have joined us either. And both of them already fought in space. Some Pirates made the fault to cross into the Stellar System a few weeks ago. ESDF and us took fast care of them tho."
"I see. My Jedi Master from Training would probably say something about the Force works and connects the dots of the Universe." SunTzu stated.
"Maybe, yeah. If you believe in something like that. I wasn't there for all this tho. I've just came back to earth two and a half months ago after I heard they're putting a expeditionary force together and were looking for pilots."
"Really, what you did before that then? You're from Earth, right?"
"Yeah, I'm from Chicago, United States actually. Served in the US Air Force as Fighter Pilot in the GWOT. But you don't get to air combat a lot there and it was were i always wanted to excel in. So when the chance came around five years ago, I left the planet and became a space fighter pilot. I was actually working as a Merc for the GA and it's Allies in the Swarm Wars. That's where I got my A-Wing from. GA sure made sure we were equipped well."
"You've came around quite a bit so." SunTzu said appreciative.
"Yeah, but you know what they say. Ain't none place like home. And here I am again. Alright, let's go. Since I haven't done more than enough organisatorical stuff today already, I gotta head up to the HQ. Care to join?"
"I'd come along. Could take the time and get my measures done for an uniform."
And they left, heading back to the military complex again.
They were talking about the Squadron and the rest of it's pilots on the way.
"Tomorrow at 10am we'll head out for training together. Your wingmen won't join us yet, I let them actually take the day off tomorrow. It's Michiru's Birthday tomorrow and i thought giving those two the possibility to enjoy this day would be nice."
"Nice gesture Captain. Not something every commander would do."
"Probably, but you'll come to find that we do things a bit more different than the regular GA's Armed Forces. We're collecting for a birthday gift too, if you wanna join in."
"All I got is some Galactic Credits, you'll take them also? Don't have any idea where to change." SunTzu said
"For sure, course is one ten for them here so they're rather in demand. You can let them change at a lot of places in the city already." Marvin explained.
"Nice gesture from you SunTzu." Marvin stated.
"Michiru seems to be a nice person. And she'll be my Wingman after all. Just let me know when and where you want the money."
The entered the HQ, the military complex again.
"Gotta get up to Top floor. Make sure to get to the airbase later. See you over there then." Marvin said and left.
SunTzu left for the underground floors again, letting the various information boards and signs lead him to the clothing counter of the base.
After they took his measures and got the order for all of his uniforms and combat clothes he left the building again. On the way out he could listen two soldiers talking about a speaking A-Wing over at the Air Base as they passed by. He had to suppress a smile, AICA really was becoming the talk of the day.
Being a bit lost and without what to do he sat down on a white painted bench in the courtyard overlooking a beautiful fountain. For March it actually was a pretty nice day with the temperatures around 20 degrees and the sun still shining although it was after 4pm.
"Ah, here you are Lieutenant. I was searching for you." A voice came from behind.
SunTzu jumped up in surprise and looked behind.
The King himself was heading towards him.
SunTzu bowed down.
"I'm sorry you had to search for me your Majesty." He apologized to the King.
"No problem, it's not for something serious. I just wanted to talk to you for a second." The King said in a calm, reassuring voice. "You have time right now?"
"To be honest I'm a bit lost right now. Guess I should get back to the Base but i don't have any idea how so."
"I'll take you, wouldn't mind seeing this Star fighter everybody started talking about lately on my own. Please follow me."
"Right behind you, Sir."
They left for the main building and the motor pool at a side of the palace walls.
"I hope you're settling in is according to your liking. I'm pretty sure you already acknowledged that we have the same problems every army has but rest assured that things are or will be taken care off, before we leave."
"No problem. Almost everyone is very welcoming so far."
"Glad to hear this, it's a great concern for the Queen and myself that you settle in fast."
"I'm sure about this. But if I may ask open, is there a schedule for our deployment yet? It seems people are pretty tense already, as if it's very close."
"We're actually aiming for spring actually but actually the GA Fleet Command didn't give us an okay yet. I know that's not a lot of time, especially for you who just got here, but it is absolutely necessary for us to get going as soon as possible. You'll understand why in time. We didn't forget about your questions Lieutant."
They arrived at the motor pool and the King got the key to vehicle. He declined the staff's offer to supply a driver and escort, stating that he got a competent bodyguard with him already. This earned him a smile from SunTzu. The King sure had Charisma.
They walked over to where the vehicle were parked and got in another Humvee.
The key turned on the ignition and they left for the airbase. They took a different path back to the base as before and the king showed him around a bit, pointing at buildings in the distance and what they were. As they entered the Airbase, the King went a road leading away from the Hangars and Landing strip soon they were driving parallel to a gigantic cemented square, it was at least 500 metres long and 200 metres broad but still lay inside the perimeter.
"This is the Landing spot for the FarSide, our Taskforce's Flagship. She's undergoing crew training near Mars right now."
The king then took head back to the Hangars.
They arrived at the Landing Spots and parked next to AICA, where a ground crew was just finishing to wash the Starfighter, while music was playing from her integrated Loudspeaker.
As soon as the Ground Crew catched a glimpse of the King they snapped to attention and assembled in a line in front of the Fighter and saluted. The music stopped.
"At ease Men. Is the star fighter ready for Inspection through the king?"
"Yes, your Majesty. We just finished washing her. Standard Maintenance has been done."
"Excellent. Dismissed!"
The crew saluted again and rushed to gather the various tools and other things they used. Then they hurried away.
"Competent guys. I didn't tell anyone to work maintenance on my ship." SunTzu said, as they finally stepped forward towards the A-Wing.
"You didn't, Twas me who politely asked those gentlemen to do so. And being able to work on the Galaxy's most sophisticated fighter they couldn't turn down the propose." AICA came on over the Loudspeaker. "The cleaning was more something of diligent but routine piece of work they did for me."
"AICA, would you please introduce to yourself to the King of the Stellar System of Sol."
A small infrared seeker on the belly of the starship turned onto the king.
"Oh! Your Majesty, I'm sorry I didn't greeted you before. I just came out of standby when the crew left. Artificial Intelligence Controlled A-Wing 001 at your disposal."
"Greetings… AICA?"
"Exactly, that's what we call her." SunTzu said. "Did you behave well for once?"
"Of course I did, I always do. Please don't mind my pilots blatant accusations my king."
"Of course." Endymion said and turned to SunTzu. "Very exceptional Ship you have there. I heard about it's potential in combat too. I'm excited to see you both In action."
"We won't let you down, don't we AICA." SunTzu said.
"Affirmative. You can count on us King."
AICA affirmed too.
"I'm sure you will. Now excuse me please, I have to get back to the palace. I did enjoy meeting you AICA. SunTzu, since I don't get much out of the palace these days, it's been my pleasure to get you her."
"Thanks a lot for getting me over here King your Majesty. It's been my pleasure, really."
"Till Next time your majesty" AICA bid farewell to the King.
Endymion got back up in the Humvee. And just before he left he turned over to SunTzu.
"Oh, and Lieutenant. Easy with the hand kisses on the Queen. They're not good for the Queen's Ego." He then left, speeding the Humvee away, letting a dumbfounded looking SunTzu behind.
SunTzu spend some time to inform AICA about what happened at the palace and how things will further continue.
After a bit of talking he climbed inside the cockpit and installed the Data Cards Sailor Mercury had provided, so AICA could analyze them and he could access them over the Ships Datapad. SunTzu also told the ship about the various people he met today and he couldn't go on with complimenting the beauty of the Queen and her Senshi. AICA made the usual snarky remarks but listened concentrated on what her pilot told. She then gave him a run up what she did in the meantime and a positive statement about the ground crew. She made the guys clean her by providing music to listen too. SunTzu laughed and asked, "So I guess we have local music now. Great!"
"I plugged in some radio waves and the local predecessor of the Holonet. They call it the Internet."
"I do know what the Internet is AICA."
"Really? Should have warned me, parts of it are very, very weird and creepy places."
SunTzu just shrugged at that and AICA continued.
"Oh, I found some really intriguing music on there. It's called Mongolian Throat Singing, you want me to play some of it?"
"Oh, let's do this another time, okay? I need to head over to Flight Center and see if our Squadron Leader is around." he excused himself.
"Too bad, next time then. I got assigned a hangar. If you don't mind I'd move over there , it's the one in the middle on our right side."
SunTzu sighed internally, lucky him got around a lesson about Mongolian Throat Singing he could do without.
"Great, I should find a Place to settle for the night too. You're cockpit is comfortable but I wouldn't mind sleep in a bed at all."
He left the cockpit, while AICA automatically asked the Flight Control for Clearance to move to the Hangar.
He turned around and waved her goodbye as she started to turn off and head into her new Home. She answered with flashing her positional lights as a goodbye.
SunTzu entered the flight center again and went straight for the duty post.
He asked the guard if Marvin was around and got the answer that he was in the Ready Room with some of the pilots and how to get there.
He walked over there, knocked on the door and then entered.
"Excuse me, I hope I don't disturb anyone."
"Ah SunTzu, I was about to look for you. Good that you're here. I want you to meet the rest of the Squadron."
There were four more pilots in the room, a Shistavanian, a female Miralanian and two humans, a dark haired woman and a blonde man.
"Squadron, this is Callsign SunTzu. He is our newest pilot and will be the Wingman of Haruka and Michiru."
SunTzu nodded politely into the room, and Marvin introduced the Pilots, starting with the Miralanian.
"This is Odegana, our assistant Squadron Leader." The Pilot gave a nod
Next stop was the blonde Man. "This is Ritz".
"Over here we have Xenia", he pointed to the black haired woman.
"And last but not least Taego." The Shistavanian showed his fangs.
"These are our Headhunter Pilots, against you will train tomorrow."
"Against? Shouldn't we not rather train together?"
"Are you afraid new guy?" Ritz asked him mockingly and Taego growled.
"I think it's a nice way to get to know each other's abilities so we can work on them." Marvin said, before an altercation could happen.
"I want to see each one's strength and vulnerabilities tomorrow. Anyways, me and the squad we're just discussing what present to give to Michiru. You still in?"
SunTzu fished out a credit chip and held it up.
Marvin collected Money and credits from everyone and they settled on a gift, they wanted to get afterwards.
When they finished all of the pilots left except for Marvin and SunTzu. Ritz did some more provocative shittalking towards SunTzu, but SunTzu didn't react. Jedi Breathing techniques were a blessing.
"You know how pilots are, he's just giving you a hard time because you're the new guy." Marvin told him.
"I know, I'm not mad or so."
"Glad to hear. Mako sent me a message, saying she's over their baracks with her Team if you want to meet them too and invited you even to stay the night over there tonight. You could sleep here too. Nobody will be around tho, we other pilots already have our apartments over in the Old City. If you want I can drop you off at the Infantry's barracks."
"Guess it's not the worst idea to introduce myself to the people I will work with on the ground."
"Good, let's go then. You got everything you need?"
"Just let me get some stuff from my ship and I'm good."
They head out and went to the Hangar, SunTzu packed a small bag with Necessities and they got into Marvin's Car, a Jeep.
They drove a short distance over to the ground forces part of the base and stopped in front of one of the barracks.
SunTzu and Marvin said their goodbyes till tomorrow and SunTzu left the car, while Marvin drove on.
SunTzu grabbed his bag and entered the building.
It was a regular barracks building with some bunk beds in rows at both sides of an corridor. At the back where doors to other rooms, probably for the showers and restrooms. Behind the bunk beds was a table with chairs and sitting there was Sailor Jupiter with a bunch of Soldiers in Service Uniform.
Heads turned into his direction and Jupiter got up.
"Lieutenant, nice to see you again. I was just giving the squad a roundup about you." the tall brunette Woman said.
"Hey Lieutenant , I think you got lost on the way to the Barracks of the Fly Guys." a red haired man in his twenties yelled.
"Dish, shut up! Come over here Lieutant, I want you to meet the team."
Makoto lead him over the table and introduced the first Squad, Team 1 of the Special Forces Detachment of the Task Force.
"This is Gunnery Sergeant Rudy Ruiz, he's the Team Leader and doubles as my Platoon Sergeant." A black haired Man in his late thirties with beard and hair longer than GA's Field Regulations would allow nodded.
"Hulk, our Machine Gunner." The name was fitting, the man was a mountain of muscles.
"Next is Pedro, CQB Specialist from Brazil."
"Oi Tenente!" the Brazilian said.
"Nava Levi, our Martial Arts and In-Fighting Specialist. Might want to spare your blade fighting against her one day."
A bronze skinned black haired female nodded to greet him.
Makoto pointed at the other side of the table
"Kiwi and Aussie, our Scout Sniper Team."
One of them hold his hand up and said "Mate."
"And these are Boots Martens, our Team Medic, Briggs and Smitty. And the Irish fucker over there is Dish, our Comms guy." She pointed to the red haired guy that asked if SunTzu was lost earlier.
"What brings you here SunTzu?" Makoto asked him.
"I'm looking for a place to stay the night and thought it would be better to stay here and get to know the Team than staying alone over at the pilot's place."
"Good idea, come sit down and we talk a bit."
They sat down on the table and Mako began to speak again.
"The Lieutenant here is our newest Starfighter Pilot and also will be working with us from time to time. I don't have to tell you that he could be used as a JTAC so please be nice to him. We do need him. This goes for all of you. Also, before you guys start complaining that a Space Jockey can't keep up, the good Lieutenant here is also Commando Certified by the GA."
"GA Commando Certification ain't worth Shit", the big black Guy introduced as Briggs said.
"That's what I was told while training in Tipoca City too", SunTzu responded.
"Wait, Tipoca City?" Rudy fell in. "Tipoca City as in Kamino, Tipoca City. Home of the legendary ARC-Troopers?"
"Exactly." SunTzu replied nonchalant.
"My SOF Instructor was an Imperial Stormcommando."
Dish let out a small whistle.
"Hey Mako, why Terra Squadron gets a Guy trained like that and not us?" Rudy asked
"It was just three weeks of Training. Also, you heard about that talking A-Wing over at the Airbase I suppose. It's his. He's our new Jack-of-all-Trades the Queen wanted."
They talked on for a few minutes more about SunTzu's Training and what the Storm commandos and Training Facilities on Kamino are like, when Makoto got up.
"Alright Guys, Mama is going home. Be nice to the new kid while sleepover, okay?"
"Where are you heading Captain?" SunTzu asked.
"Home of course. I'm gotta put on a floral dress, grab me an apron and make sure my husband has a decent dinner when he comes home from work." She said and the surprised SunTzu completely. He never thought the Leader of the Special Forces Detachment, radiating the calm professionalism of a Commando, would actually be a good housewife too.
"Team", Makoto implied a salute with two fingers, "i see you Fuckers tomorrow morning for training. Be ready."
The team sighed and told her goodbye.
Rudy lead SunTzu over to the bunks and showed him a place where he could sleep this night. He then showed him around the barracks to where the sanitary facilities were and also showed him the teams gun and gear chamber.
"I'll get you some room for your stuff too. Better to have it here and have access to tools and shared stuff than always picking everything up from Flight Center and bringing it here." the Team Leader told him. "The Captain already told the Armory to deliver your stuff here too. Oh and by the way, did you had dinner yet?"
"No, I was so busy doing stuff today that I completely forgot to organize something or get back to the palace."
"We got you, we possess an exquisit assortment of Instant Ramen here. We're in Tokyo after all." Rudy smiled.
Meeting the Ground Forces could have been worse SunTzu thought gladly.
They got back to table and SunTzu had dinner with Instant Ramen where some of the team members joined in. Answering the question about some of his first impressions of the Taskforce he had led to a long talk about the Pro and Contras of Galactic Alliance Forces Standard Procedures and what the Task Force wanted to different in the field.
It was around 11pm when they went to their bunks and SunTzu afterwards took around another hour of learning for some of the data Ami had given him these day. He fell asleep studying.