5:34 P.M. Same day. Alliance Repair Depot 57: Sallop IV
Bryan rushed past the hundreds of people bustling along Landing Pad Seventeen's solid deck, the wind of Sallop IV blowing his long brown hair across his face. Shaking his head, he forced the stringy mop out of his eyes and continued scanning the landing pad, jumping up and down to get a better visual sweep. He still couldn't see her though...
Pushing his way through the thick mass of bodies, Bryan's mind started to get desperate, and it soon forgot everyone his body was bumping into. It taught him to dole out "excuse me"'s and "I'm sorry"'s as if they meant nothing, like a robot was saying them. He ducked under the cockpit of a parked Y-Wing, hoping, by chance, that it was Justin's. Coming out into the wind again, he shot a glance at the droid socket behind the cockpit, but saw no R2 unit sitting in it. Frowning in disappointment, he turned around and continued on.
Several minutes passed by, but there was still no sign of Maxie or her A-Wing anywhere. But he didn't give up. He knew she was here somewhere; the landing pads had been sorted into fighter areas based on what Cruiser you were—or had been—attached to, and Landing Pad Seventeen was where Faith pilots were allowed to land, along with pilots from four other Cruisers. And since there were very few Faith pilots that had survived, it hadn't taken them all long to land. So where was she?
He bumped shoulders with a Ponadin pilot, who growled at him. But Bryan paid him no attention, just automatically apologized and started running at an A-Wing near the edge of the landing pad, an A-Wing he hadn't inspected yet. And he began to recognize it as he got closer and closer, the TIEs painted on the green surface catching his eye; it's how Maxie's fighter had looked in the docking bay shortly before launch. He pushed and shoved his way out of the main crowd, and ran towards the lone A-Wing. He hoped she hadn't already run off somewhere, and he was starting to think that was the case when he didn't anyone standing near the starfighter. But out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a human figure standing in a deep shadow created by the sun, right next to the port side thruster. The figure had its back to everything, and was leaning into the framework of the thruster, like a scared child.
Bryan pushed his hair out of his face and started for the figure. As he moved closer, he saw her hair waving in the wind, it's light blonde hue just brushing the cannon mount. He approached her cautiously, not wanting to startle her, though at this point he assumed it wouldn't matter. "Maxie?" he said quietly, voice sucked up by a sudden burst of wind. He took two more steps forward. "Maxie?" he called louder. As the wind died down again, he heard her somewhat loud sobs against the hull of her ship, and his spirit sank a little deeper into the black hole that gripped his soul. "Maxie?" he projected, not shouting but calling softly.
She finally turned around, a bit startled. But then she locked eyes with him, and her shoulders sagged and relaxed. With miles of joy in her deep brown eyes, she sniffed and tried to speak. "Oh my God—you—you're here." She charged into him and hugged him fiercely. He hugged her back just as fiercely, closing his eyes in relief and joy at having one of his best friends in his arms again. He pressed the side of his head against hers and just held her as she wept into his shoulder. They maintained the embrace for several long moments before Maxie finally broke away and looked him in the eyes again. "I thought you were"—snuffle and swallow—"dead." Another swallow. "I–I didn't see your fighter land, and—and—" she wiped her eyes with her sleeve "I–I didn't hear your voice on the–on the com and—I–I thought—"
"It's all right Maxie, I'm fine," Bryan reassured her with a small grin. "I'm here; I'm alive. Don't worry."
Maxie sucked in her lower lip and nodded heavily. "Okay."
Bryan smiled at her and she smiled back.
"You all right?" He asked.
She crossed her arms below her breasts and nodded heavily again. "Yeah." She sniffled again.
Bryan nodded his head, feeling somewhat awkward. "Good." He jerked his head to the crowd behind him. "Wanna go find some other people? Or do you wanna...maybe..." he shrugged, not able to think of anything.
The wind blew again.
"Sure," Maxie muttered as she pushed a lock of her hair from off her face.
"All right..." Bryan turned slowly and waited for her to fall in beside him before he started walking himself. His eyes once again began scanning the crowd for any recognizable faces. "I think I saw Kevin land," he told Maxie. "But I don' know about Evan yet..." "Mmhmm," Maxie responded quietly.
"Yeah, and Danny hasn't shown up yet either. Yurnold I'm pretty sure was killed..."
Maxie swallowed loudly and sniffled again. "And Dassa too."
He looked down at her sadly, and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "Come on, try and cheer up. I know its hard with what's just happened but...time heals all wounds. Just try and cheer up a little."
She just nodded.
They were now on the verge of the crowd, when suddenly a familiar voice rang out from somewhere. "Bryan! Bryan!"
Bryan perked his head up and searched wildly for whoever was calling his name. He finally spotted Danny Jefferies squeeze his way out of the crowd, clothes rippling in the wind.
"Danny!" Maxie ran to him and hugged him furiously, causing him to re-balance himself as he wrapped his arms around her.
Bryan speedily walked over to the young pilot, grinning happily. When he finally let go of Maxie, Bryan grabbed him and gave him a back-clapping hug real quickly. "Nice to see you alive, Mr. Jefferies."
"Same to you, Commander. Nice to see you." With a grin at Maxie, he added, "And you too Maxie." He gave her another hug, holding on longer this time.
"Have you seen anybody else?" Bryan asked after a moment.
Jefferies nodded curtly. "Yeah, I saw Evan up by the northern edge,—"
Maxie and Bryan exchanged glances of ease at the mention of Evan's name.
"—and Carmila just landed a minute ago near the center over there," he pointed to the center of the massive crowd.
"You sure it was Evan?" Bryan asked. "And not Kevin."
"Yeah," Jefferies reassured. "I asked him which one he was and he said Evan so..."
"I see," Bryan nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Anyone else?"
Jefferies shook his head. "Naw, man, not yet. How 'bout you two?"
Bryan gestured to Maxie. "Well I just found her, and I'm pretty sure I saw Kevin landing. I know a lot of people though, so I've run into a few others. Not very many from the Faith though, as I'm sure you can guess." He looked soberly at Jefferies.
The black man just nodded in understanding. "Yes, sir."
There was a long pause before anyone spoke.
"How ya takin' it?" Bryan asked finally.
Jefferies looked down, then up, then shrugged. "Pretty well I guess. Didn't know that many people. Maxie, Kevin and Evan, you, and Dassa are the only people I really had as friends."
"What about Donar?" Bryan reminded him.
Jefferies grinned. "Yeah, forgot about him. He's alive."
"Oh, he is?"
"Yeah, I heard him on the comlink while I was landing."
"Great."
"Guys?" Maxie asked, eyes no longer watering.
"Yeah?" Bryan answered quickly.
"Can we try and find Kevin and Evan. I wanna give them a hug."
Bryan smiled sympathetically. "Sure. Where'd you say you saw Evan?"
Jefferies pointed somewhere over the crowd. "Northern edge near the hospital."
Bryan nodded. "Okay, let's head over there."
The three started out through the crowd as the wind picked up again. Bryan peered over the crowd, sometimes getting up on his tip-toes to do it, while Maxie's hopeful eyes searched at eye level for any sign of the twins. Danny just passively scanned the bodies passing him, his mind on something else. This had been his first major battle as a pilot, so there was no telling what was going through his mind right now. The dead, any of his friends, just wanting to get away from it all...who knew.
Bryan stopped for a moment and scanned the area ahead as best he could. "Which part of the northern edge, Danny?"
The young pilot snapped out of his trance and looked around for a moment, trying to remember. He pointed somewhere to the left. "That way, towards the entrance to the hospital."
Bryan's eyes scanned the large hospital from its top just below the clouds to its base, where it hit the landing pad. "All right..." he lead the way towards the large building. His pace quickened as he raced towards a damaged X-Wing sitting next a large B-Wing. He almost knew that that was Evan's X-Wing. "Is that it?" he pointed.
"Thas it."
Bryan nodded in delight. "Good." He quickened his pace—only to run straight into the domed form of an astromech droid.
The droid tweedled an apology.
"Oh no," Bryan answered as he looked down. "My...fault." He stared up at the man that came behind the blue droid.
It was Justin, eyes red from crying, staring at him with a defeated expression and a tired body. And judging by the way his head was craned, Bryan could easily tell that he was holding back his real pain.
Bryan slid around the droid, grabbed his old friend by his right arm and thrust him into a hug. It wasn't a back-clapper, just a genuine hug between two men who had known each other for half their lives. He had been Justin's right-hand man ever since he'd met him in his senior year of high school. That had been the year in which Justin had met his wife, Samantha Halstead. And Bryan felt instilled with a certain pride at being one of the very few people who had known the two since they'd first been together. He had stood by through all the fights, all the crisis,' all the friction between the two. He had to endure Justin when Sam was away,—something he didn't mind at all—and endure all of Sam's insults when she was in a bad mood, only to be apologized to about a day later. But he minded none of this, and was proud of his two friends, in everything they had accomplished in a world where, nowadays, love was all but forgotten.
Bryan would miss her heavily too.
Justin hadn't deserved this—to have his wife ripped from out of his heart just like that.
It only made the storm in Bryan's eyes grow deeper.
He released from the hug, momentarily gazing back at Danny and Maxie. "Go find Evan, I'll meet you there in a minute." Turning back to Justin, he immediately asked. "How ya holdin' out?"
Justin just shrugged. "I'm...all right."
"You can cry if you want, buddy...it's all right. You loved her dearly."
He looked and nodded and swallowed. "I know."
Bryan let out a small laugh, somewhat embarrassed. "Of course you did, what the hell am I talking about, huh?"
Justin brightened ever so slightly. "Mmhmm."
Bryan nodded uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. Jokes weren't an option though, no matter if they brightened him slightly. Then, an idea quickly came to him. "Wanna come with me, Maxie, and Danny? We're uh, going to find a few friends of ours and...then...possibly go get a drink or something...just hang out until we're told what to do or something."
"Oh—"
"You wanna come?"
"Sure, man," he responded quietly.
"All right. Come on."
"Hold on a minute. R2?" he said to the droid.
The droid acknowledged.
"Go back to the ship and just...I dunno...find something to do please, all right?"
The droid acknowledged and rolled off on his three legs.
Smiling as they started walking, Bryan asked, "You named him R2?"
"Mmhmm."
"Hmm," Bryan said thoughtfully. He pointed towards Evan's X-Wing. "It's over there, that's his X-Wing."
They walked a short distance more in silence.
"It's windy," Bryan observed as he momentarily had to stop to regain his balance as a huge gust hit the landing pad. "Gotta love Sallop IV."
He finally spotted Maxie's hair whipping up in the wind, and started towards it. He saw her and Danny huddled around two other people near the fuselage of the X-Wing. Glancing in between their shoulders, he saw the bright-eyed face of Evan Silliger looking very saddened as he talked. Bryan and Justin walked up quietly to the group and waited patiently.
"—couldn't believe—"
Evan stopped upon seeing Bryan enter the circle around him and Kevin, who was standing next to him. He hugged Bryan for a few seconds. "Ya all right, man?"
"I'm fine. How 'bout you?"
"I'm all right, man, I'm all right." He stepped aside to let Kevin step up.
"You survived, man," Kevin said as they embraced. "Bryan Rawling...most bitchin pilot in the Rebel Alliance." He broke off and grinned. "Never had a doubt in my mind."
Bryan returned his grin. "Really?" He chuckled. "I thought you were the most bitchin pilot in the Alliance?"
"Naw. That was—that was Evan that said that. Didn't know what the hell he was talkin' about."
"How you two holdin' out?" Bryan asked again to them.
"Pretty good—"
"We're all right—"
"Good. Ya find anybody else we know?"
They both shook their heads sadly.
"Naw—"
"Unh-uh—"
"Hmm." He stepped back. "By the way, guys, in case you don't remember him, this is Justin Berislo. He's...a...pilot from the Defiance."
Kevin and Evan shook hands with him.
"—How are ya?"
"—How ya doin' sir?"
"I'm all right." Justin answered.
Maxie and Danny shook hands with him next.
And then they all just stood there, saying nothing to one another, no one knowing what to say.
It was Danny who finally broke the silence. "What should we do now?"
"Anyone up for a drink if we can find a...bar or something around here?" Bryan immediately suggested.
"—All right."
"—Sure."
"—Okay."
"Cool." He started for the entrance doors to the hospital, leading the way.
The bar they chose was the biggest along the spiraling Salvo Lane. The Lane was the most unique thing any of them had ever seen. It started at the top of the multi-leveled Tesas City and spiraled down the side of it's box-like structure. At each side of the spiral was a bar or restaurant, and the amazing pattern continued all the way down to the ground level. Each side of the city had several of these spiraling lanes, each with its own theme. So far, they'd walked by a shopping lane, a hardware lane, a theater lane which Bryan had stopped in front of for a minute to observe, and now this lane, the final one along the right side of the city-block, dedicated to food and drink.
The bar they now stood in front of was called Julek'ret Famanic Pust. And, of course, no one knew what that meant. All they was that it was the biggest bar on the Lane, and still had plenty of seats open. The Pust itself was amazingly built. The bar area was multi-leveled like the city, with four floors that cascaded up the far wall, guard rails blocking the edges of each walkway and stairs bounding up on both sides of the levels. Far left from the entrance was a small entertainment stage, empty at the moment and pitch black. In the center area were dozens of tables and black chairs with very few people sitting in them. Luckily, most of the crowd hadn't left the landing pads yet and most of the Sallopians were at work. The place also reminded the pilots of the Starlight Lounge, because of the blue color that was on almost everything; the carpet was blue, and the lighting was a dim sky-blue. And on the far right was a large observation window, like the Lounge's, that looked out on a spectacular view of the wilderness that surrounded Tesas City.
Bryan led the way up to the first level of the bar, and they waited until the Sallopian bartender walked over.
He asked him something in the native language, which went straight over everybody's head.
Bryan turned backed to his friends. "Anybody got a UT on 'em?"
They all shook heads at him.
So he looked back at the bartender. Scratching the back of his neck nervously, he said: "Umm, do you have like a...a universal trans—"he arranged his index fingers and thumbs into a box shape"—lator."
The Sallopian put a finger up, then ducked under the bar for a moment. He brought up a small circular device, which he switched on. Bryan assumed it was universal translator. He asked something in the Sallopian language, which Bryan assumed to be something like "Language?" or "What do you speak?"
Bryan leaned over the UT. "Basic; English."
The device made a noise, and the Sallopian nodded to Bryan.
"Can you understand me?" Bryan asked.
After a moment, he got a "Yes."
"Okay, do you have a Fedrellon Glazer?"
The Sallopian nodded.
"Okay. No liquor though, please." Bryan stepped aside and let Maxie go up.
"Hinnin Saldurt Twister please."
As the rest ordered their drinks, Bryan just bounced on his heels until he caught the eye of a Sallopian sitting next to where he was standing. He exchanged nods with him.
The man eyed him strangely. "Er ou un avv those pilas from tha—from tha Erebellion up therr?" he asked in a scratchy voice, pointing towards the landing pads.
Outside, the wind howled against the window and rattled the ribbons hanging from the arch.
"Yes, I am. We all are. Just got back from a...very interesting attack."
The Sallopian nodded understandingly. "Av eard. Ou ere awmbushd." He pointed up to a monitor hanging from the ceiling. It showed a picture of a Bingin anchorwoman sitting against a background that said CivilianNet News; meanwhile, on her right hand side was an motion image showing a snippet from the Battle of Deil Nine—where the Alliance had just retreated from. All the image played was the Punisher destroying a quartet of Cruisers. Once the Cruisers were destroyed, the image rewound back to the beginning instantly, and played again as the Bingin talked..
Bryan's nod confirmed what the Sallopian man had said. "Yes." He looked away from the monitor.
"Ah tragidy. Um shawry," the man said, smiling sympathetically.
Bryan smiled back. "Thank you very much, sir."
The man nodded and turned back to his drink.
By now, the rest of them had already ordered, and after they had all paid, Maxie led the way to finding a table at the center floor. Soon enough, they were seated, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the bar. For a while, no one said anything, but sat and sipped their drinks.
More people eventually flooded into the bars, most of them pilots and personnel from the brutalized Alliance Shift One fleet. The group already seated got up numerous times over the next hour-and-a-half to give hugs and say "hi" to those alive and those thought to be dead.
By the time seven PM had come around, Maxie was completely wasted and possibly in another reality; after his third drink, Danny was feeling a bit tipsy; Justin was slowly sipping down his second drink, eyes staring out of reality at the steel top of the table; Kevin and Evan were close to Maxie's level of drunkenness, only they still had partial good judgement; and Bryan, with his fourth non-alcoholic Fedrellon Glazer, was left with a huge sugar-high running through his blood, staring nervously at his friends around him, as they remained deathly silent.
Since they had first sat down, four more people had joined their table: Lieutenant Third Dartel Polzsar, one of Justin's friends from the Defiance's pilot corps.; Commander Molly Raoin, Bryan's first student and rated the second best pilot in the Alliance, behind only her teacher. She had been Shift Two's Commander but Shift Two never went into battle; Cadet Kilad Caeshar, who had been transferred off the Faith a month before; Maya had joined in, and added on to Bryan's discomfort at being around the woman who had turned him in to the Empire two years ago; and finally, Chris Braves, one of Danny's old friends from his home planet Beru, who he hadn't known had joined the Alliance.
Shifting uncomfortably in his seat for the third time this minute, Bryan decided he needed to get up and get out of the cramped chair. He could feel his muscles craving to stretch. "Excuse me for a minute boys and girls," he muttered, scooting his chair back and standing. Out of the whole group, Justin, Molly, and Danny were the only ones who acknowledged him. Keeping his glass, he stretched and then started for the entrance, desiring some fresh air for his lungs. The tables in the bar were now full, all of them occupied with Alliance people. He waved to people he knew every now and then, surprised at how many different people he knew in the Rebellion. He'd always considered himself to be the silent one in a group.
Stepping outside, he immediately breathed in the invigorating oxygen, glad that it wasn't the smoky, musty air inside the bar. Looking around, he couldn't help but admire the Sallopian's stunning architecture and city design. He was absolutely blown away by the street he was standing on right now, how it spiraled down the side of the city like—something out of a dream. Or Bryan's own imagination.
Thinking back to his childhood, Bryan was still shocked that he was able to remember everything from his imagination, everything it had created for him, all the characters, all the personalities, all the starships, all the governments...all the worlds; The United Alliance of Free Worlds and Civilizations; the bounty hunter, Maxine Deltair and the Phantom, the Galactic War, Jack Talisand Trading and Market Outpost, Commander Talon Page, pirate Aaron Irons, the Vathkil Empire, the Duglorin Marauders, the Licathans, and of course, he first original character Supreme Admiral Timothy Ganondry...
Smiling as the memories flooded into him, Bryan leaned against the entrance doorway and took a sip of his half-full Glazer. His imagination had been his favorite place when he was a child. He wasn't insane, he knew the things his mind created were far from real, but he still loved them all the same. It was a place where he could go anytime, anywhere, in reaction to anything. Other people had friends they relied in, or family, or, in some cases, doctors. He knew of very few people who could rely on themselves for any kind of help. But that's what Bryan had taught himself to do. He had given up on relying on people to comfort him. That was all that stupid game's fault—
Lo and behold, as he was starting to get flustered at the thought of the Sammy game, one of the other people involved in it, Clara, came down the street.
Literally, Bryan realized with a grin. He took another sip.
When he looked again, she had spotted him and was walking, somewhat quickly, over to where he was standing, coming to a halt in front of him. "Hey!" she said with some brightness.
"Hey. How are ya? Survived the battle I see."
"Yeah, but it was pretty bad though. I—" She stopped for a moment to think of how to say her next sentence. She lowered her voice a little and leaned in towards him. "I feel kinda guilty that I'm still alive. I had a lot of friends who..died up there."
Bryan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know the feeling. I lost—"a sigh—"quite a few friends of mine too,—"
"Hmm–"
"—including a girl I hadn't seen in years. One of my Playhouse buddies."
She smiled wryly. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks. I'm sorry too, for anyone and everyone you lost."
The smiled brightened. "Thank you."
He returned the smile and took another sip. "So who you lookin' for; if you're lookin' for anyone that is, of course?"
"Umm," she looked past him for a moment, then continued, "I was seeing if I could find my friend Max."
Bryan looked up at the sky, thinking. "Max..."
"Forrester. Me and him are on the Peace together.
"Don't think I know him. Did he fly at any of the Valiance Tours lately?"
"No."
"Hmm."
" I lost him in the landing pad crowds. They're ridiculous."
"Yeah, I know. I was at Landing Pad Seventeen—"he rolled his eyes and made a face"—it was so ridiculous."
Clara's let out a laugh. "Yeah. Kinda reminded me of the hallways at Heights. All cramped and narrow."
"Eah," Bryan said out of the corner of his mouth. "Trying to squeeze through the spaces between people..." he rolled his eyes again.
They exchanged a chuckle.
"Well if your looking for someone, I'll let ya go. Good luck."
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye."
She walked into the bar.
At the same time that Molly walked out. "Well they're gone."
"You mean Maxie and all them?"
"Yeah."
"Haha. Yeah, they're whacky when they get a few drinks in their system." He stuck his thumb back into the bar. "But to see 'em like that, nearly out cold? Thas just plain weird."
Molly chuckled. "Yeah." She locked eyes with him. "I needed to get some air. Smoky air?" She stuck out her tongue and made a hacking noise.
Bryan chuckled.
Molly looked back inside, most likely staring at the people still at their table. "You should see this one guy I know on the Renenguard. Get's drunk practically every night. Ten suspensions, twenty-three reprimands, one attempted rape when he was drunk, and one week in the brig—all of his crimes were done while he was drunk." She smiled in amusement. "I thought I'd seen everything up until I saw all that."
"Are you serious? And he's still a pilot? They haven't, like—done anything about it? At all?"
Molly started laughing and answered, "No."
"Are you kidding me?"
Molly shook her head. "No."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. Probably because Captain Brane is a Fedrellon female and Tervin is a hunk."
Assuming Tervin was the drunkards name, Bryan continued to listen. "A hunk? Really."
"Yeah. He's cute, hot, and has a good sense of humor. And what kind of "devil" would take him away from all the girls in the pilot corps?"
"Ah, I see. Yeah, I wouldn't put that past any leader in the Alliance, whatsoever. They'll take anything, so long as it's a hot girl or guy offering it to them. Especially the Congress." He finished his Glazer and crossed his arms. "I've had a mind to do that to Maxie occasionally, though, throw her in the brig and stuff. She used to get drunk at least two nights a week. She even annoyed the Faith's bartender, which is amazingly hard to do. However, when she is drunk, she manages to control her drunk actions; she's nothing like your friend Tervin."
"Yeah...well don't get me wrong here," Molly said. "He's a good pilot. He just needs...a little more control." She copied Bryan and leaned against the other side of the entrance.
"I understand," Bryan responded.
"Hmm hmm," Molly laughed softly.
The wind suddenly whipped again, and all the hair on all the heads of everyone walking down Salvo Lane swirled and twirled.
"God, that's getting annoying," Bryan said. Looking across at Molly, his eyes gazed over at her right forearm. Hesitant, he started asking, "If I may ask, how's the uh...the...?" he swiped his index finger along the top of his arm.
"Oh, it's...still there," she said with a smile that Bryan could tell was forced. "Still dormant for now."
Bryan nodded and looked away slowly. "Hmm. That's good."
"Yeah..." She sighed heavily. "Okay, well, I had my drink. I'm gonna go back up to the landing pad and see if I can..." she shrugged, "help with anything." She stared over at him with tired eyes. Either that or she was squinting or some reason.
"All right. Have fun."
She stepped over to him. "And in case I don't see you again before you leave, nice to see you." She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him into a lose hug. "Alive I mean."
Bryan laughed. "Yes, of course. Nice to see you alive too."
She let go, smiled, and started heading back up Salvo Lane. "Bye."
"Bye."
As she got more distant up the road, Bryan couldn't do anything but watch her go. If this was the last time he saw her, he wanted to make he saw her until she was out of sight. And he did, watching her back the whole way. Loosening his arms, he stared into his empty glass at the remaining droplets there. Then he shoved the glass's bottom up and tried to get at least one of those drops onto his tongue. As he did, his eyes shifted back to where he had last seen Molly before she went around the corner. God help the Alliance if we lose her before this war is over. He felt one of the droplets hit his tongue, and it refreshed it perfectly. Dropping the glass again, he swallowed the tiny droplet, then turned back into the bar.
9:32 PM Same day. North side of Tesas City
The wind was finally dying down, along with the huge Sallop sun, its golden rays splashing their warmth across Bryan's face. He basked in the warm rays for a few moments, eyes closed, heart beating normally, and all his nerves at peace for a time; the first time since coming back from the battle. His hands calmly gripped the guard railing he was leaning against, his whole bodying slowly relaxing. When he opened his eyes again after a time, the sun was now a dimming ball against the gray clouds, and it cast a pink spell on the entire sky, weaving its rays in the clouds all along the horizon. Below it, the Tesas Sea was becoming shadowed in a beautiful black curtain created by the falling sun. Bryan couldn't help but be blown away by this marvelous sight. It was, by far, one of the prettiest thing he had ever seen. Even darkness seemed lovely on this planet. Stepping away from the guard rail, Bryan walked over to the placard laid out against the railing, explaining the historical significance of this lookout, called the Lur Dol Koren'ket. Bryan assumed Koren'ket meant "view" or something like that. The place had been suggested by the bartender at the Pust, the same one that had served him and his friends.
Bryan saw a picture of a chubby-faced Sallopian in the center of the placard, a woman named Lur Dasde'ra, Caraheta Dol. The Koren'ket was named after her. Not able to read any of the words on the placard, he moved on to another part of the Koren'ket.
This view, another breathtaking one, overlooked Tesas City; the whole thing. Bryan was very impressed and could easily see why Tesas City was rated the number one tourist attraction in the galaxy by the Empire. That was, of course, until it joined the Alliance. The city itself was arranged inside six rectangular sections of duranium metal that made up a protective outside shell nearly five-and-a-half kilometers high and one kilometer wide. Each section was connected directly to another; two East-West rods, two North-South rods. If one got a good aerial view of the city, it would look like a huge Tic-Tac-Toe board. And down each side were the spiraling streets like Salvo Lane. On the surface, massive skyscrapers grew tall and stretched across the landscape of the city. Almost every one of them had landing pads with all sorts of different car models and airships. The lanes of traffic cascaded upward like their friends the skyscrapers. The cars started out floating along the solid streets; the next road was about fifty meters above that, going perpendicular to the street; the next one was fifty meters above that one, going in another direction. The night lights were already activated throughout the city; the inside of all the duranium shells were glowing with a brilliant, warm light. Already, the skyscraper lights and the streetlights combined to create an almost magical glow over the whole place...
Bryan shook his head in awe. This truly was a beautiful city. His ears became filled up with sounds: car horns; loud music from the bars; the fiery blast of ship's engines from ships taking off from the landing pads. It reminded him of Earth, only the cities were much smaller than this.
Walking along the path, he spotted someone else he knew. She was leaning against the railing, chin in her right hand, gazing out at the sight, eyes reflecting an immense sadness.
Bryan stepped towards her, as silently as he could, not wanting to disrupt the woman's serenity and calmness. There was still someone who needed a little comforting...
But his quiet approach didn't work.
Admiral Emilie Rodenski turned her head around to see who was coming. Upon seeing him, she smiled as sweet a smile as she could muster. "Hey," she said, almost whispering it.
He stepped up to the railing and leaned against it again, facing her. "Hey." A pause. "How ya doin'?"
She blinked once. "I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm all right. Enjoyin' this...truly beautiful city. I never knew something as distant as Sallop IV could be so lovely."
"Yeah, I know. I've been up here for a while now." She over at him, the sadness still in her eyes. "This view never get olds," she finished with a slight chuckle.
"Oh, I'm sure it doesn't. Not something as...beautiful as this."
Emilie managed to maintain her smile. "Mmhmm."
Bryan scanned her face curiously. "So, if I may ask, how are you really holding up, Admiral, after that attack?"
She didn't answer him for a moment. "I'm—I'm holding out pretty good. Better than most." She grinned. "Or so I've seen."
"Hmm hmm," Bryan grinned. "It's not your fault, by the way, in case you were thinking that."
"Thanks...while that may hold up for you," she glanced at him again, "for everyone else..."
"Eh, what does everyone else know? They're not an Admiral. They don't know you, they don't know your job, they don't know nothin' about being you and doing what you do—what you do best, by the way."
"Aw thank you," she said. "You're the only one besides Maya to say that though."
"Oh well, it still means the same thing Emilie. It's not your fault." He paused to think. "Intelligence—Alliance Intelligence—got the information we used. They confirmed it, verified it—did all that wonderful stuff, then told us we could attack. So we did, the attack turned out bad, and here we are now." He shrugged. "Intelligence told us that the Punisher wasn't finished. They were wrong. It's their fault."
Emilie stole a glance at him, then shrugged very lightly. "Mmhmm."
"Okay."
The weak wind blew again.
"Tell me," Bryan started. "Do you know exactly how the Punisher destroyed our ships? I mean, like, how it works, so that it can pick off multiple targets with that many superlasers? Was that ever explained at all, or...?"
"Ah, yeah," Emilie answered, looking down at thought. Turning so that she was facing him more, she continued. "It's kind of complicated though."
"All right. Shoot."
Sighing, Emilie swallowed then started. "Well, the Punisher was designed to be a kind-of advanced form of the Death Star—"
Bryan snickered. "Leave it—"
"—so—"
"—to the Empire to come up with something better than the Death Star."
They both exchanged a laugh.
"Anyway, it was designed to better than the Death Star. And how it worked was this: it—well it—it was kind of like a virus. It took the energy that's—in the Cruisers and turns it into unstable nuclear energy."
Bryan's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? What's in the beams?"
"Um, I'm not sure. It's something like carbinin, I don't—I don't know. It's something that bonds to carbon-vincium though."
He snickered. "Well that's anything."
Emilie burst into a laugh. "Yeah, I know—"
He laughed with her as he said, "That's why we use vincium, because it bonds to just about anything. It can be converted to any form of energy."
"Yep, and that's why the Punisher works. It converts vincium to unstable nuclear energy, and uses that to blow up the energy lines and destroy the Cruiser, creating the same destruction as the Death Star at one-fourth the power it takes."
Bryan smacked his lips. "Wwoww. Well it at least it can't destroy a planet, right?"
Emilie shook her head. "No, I don't think so."
"Good."
"Yes, good. Not like anymore people need to die," she said, the sadness reappearing.
"Hey, remember, it's not your fault."
She nodded pretty fast. "Mmhmm. We lost too many people in that fight."
"Yeah, I know. It sucks. I lost a lot of friends, and I'm sure you did too."
She just nodded.
"I heard Commander Kano didn't survive..."
She nodded again.
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks," she answered, hinting at a sob.
Hesitating, Bryan then asked, "Were you and him close at all?"
She nodded for the third time. "Mmhmm. Or...we were getting close."
"Mmm, I see. I know how you feel. I lost my girlfriend a few months ago. Imperial spy..."
"Yeah, you told me. Sorry."
"Thanks." A thought then passed through his mind rather quickly. "Tell me—and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to. I don't want to seem imposing. But..." He hesitated. "Have you found a replacement for—militarily of course—for Commander Kano? Yet?" Wow, that was a stupid question Bryan, he thought. Second of the day. He knew the answer before she even said it.
"No, I haven't."
"Oh, really, well I—"
"But I was kind of hoping you could do it."
Bryan stopped and blinked. "Hmm? Oh, um, well I'd—I'd love to but—I can't...really...um...well it's just that—that—well it's not that I don't want to—honestly it isn't—it's just that my Colonel, Maxie Linwood, has been waiting forever for a promotion...to Commander and—" he quickly thought for something to say. "Well, she's been a Colonel for a year-and-a-half now and...that's a really long time for a Colonel in the Alliance."
Emile grinned. "Bryan, the Alliance is only eight years old."
Bryan shrugged away the question. "Yeah, but still, it's a really long time. Most Colonel's are only Colonels for maybe...eight months at maximum, before they're promoted. Maxie's been my Colonel for a year-and-a-half now."
Emilie thought about this, nodding after a second.
"And she's more than qualified for the position."
She licked her lips. "No offense, but I'd prefer experience in this case."
"Aw, Emilie, she won't let you down, and if she does you can come hunt me down and kill me. But she's ready. By far."
"Okay. Well I'll think about it."
"All right. Please do." He sighed, a little tired. "Well, for now, you enjoy your wonderful view here and I will see you around. See you later." He walked past her towards the turbolift.
"Bye," she said.