October 4, 774 S.D.
Fai mumbled under his breath, the huge crate attempting to rip his arms out of their sockets. He made his way around a corner into another long corridor, the bright lights of the ship starting to annoy him.
"Stupid uniform, stupid crate," he muttered, daring to use one hand to itch at his lower back. The crate dropped on his foot and crashed loudly, making him shout and jump as the pain seared through him. The door nearest to him hissed open, where a young but severe-looking female officer stood, shaking her head at him.
"Be careful, Cadet! That's full of disruptor rifles, we wouldn't want it to explode and disintegrate the ship!" she scolded. Fai scowled, but stood straight and bowed and held it.
"Very sorry," he said, keeping his sarcasm undetectable. When she didn't catch it, she went back inside to her quarters. Fai pulled down his lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue for a moment and, limping slightly, carried the crate to each weapons cache hidden in the walls and propped them up as neatly as he could. Under his breath, he muttered, "Why I joined the Federation Fleet, I'll never know. I knew I was too desperate to travel around."
Fai Ishido, an orphan, was sixteen and new to the fleet. His foster parents was a nice couple and he liked them very much, but since he understood all that went on, he couldn't accept them as his new parents, especially since he had only lost his real parents two years earlier. They had been rather open-minded about letting him join the Federation now that he was of age—since he promised that he would continue schooling. He figured it would be better to get a job now, at least, and he also liked the idea of travel.
Being the fresh meat for the crew of the exploration ship Erasmus? Not so much.
He ran his fingers through his fine brown hair and sighed, throwing the crate back into a small storage room. He adjusted his white uniform and black slacks and made his way to the transporter to the bridge.
"Job done, sir," he said as he materialized. Standing with his back turned to him was Captain Leingod, who turned and smiled at him. Unlike most rather older captains, he was much younger with blue hair and shocking blue eyes, like Fai's. He motioned toward his seat near the left edge of the bridge.
"Take your seat, Cadet, and thank you," he said warmly. Fai nodded, sitting graciously in the low but comfortable seat. The computer hologram blipped on in front of him, showing the radar and computer statistics of the operations of the ship. He was only second engineer and didn't operate the machinery in the actual room, but he liked this much better. He was also a replacement fighter-pilot, but he had no experience outside of the simulations.
"Sir!" the Navigations Officer, a boy his age with blonde hair, said. "Federation Station #5 is within one-thousand kilometers! Send a docking request?"
"Of course," Leingod said. "It's been nearly two months since we left to explore that outer-rim, so I'm sure all of you are ready for a break, right?" There was an outcry of approval, and he smiled. "Good; I know I could. Good work, people." He repeated what he said onto the intercom.
Fai, grinning with relief, finished up the statisitics table, filed a report, then leaned back and stretched. They hadn't turned up much life on the outer rim of the Milky Way, and secretly agreed on the ship, Captain Leingod's visit to Elicoor II was kept secret, but he wished they could've gone too. Technically the planet was still considered underdeveloped, even though they now knew about their world's technology. The Federation reluctantly agreed to begin advancing them in very slow and orderly steps, but ordered those who weren't authorized to stay away for the timebeing.
After the ship docked, they all retreated into separate parts of the Station, nicknamed Moonbase. Captain Leingod immedietly went toward the research lab while all of them went toward the recreational area.
"Shame that he doesn't set some time aside to relax, eh?" one of his friends, Mary, said. Her hair was a short-blonde, tied back neatly into a ponytail.
"Yeah. You'd think a big hero like him would've taken a longer vacation," he said.
"I still can't believe Aldia was destroyed by the Executioners, not to mention damage most of our worlds," she said quickly.
"I'd rather forget it," Fai said flatly.
"I know, sorry."
Fai left her and went downstairs into a small refreshment bar, filled with soldiers from their own ship and some of them from others, chatting loudly. The lights were slightly dimmer and much warmer colored than the usual white or gray. A few plants with automatic-hydrators hovered in the corners. Fai took an empty bar chair and ordered a cola, which he drank happily. On the ship, the only thing they were allowd to have was water or tea, so it tasted like heaven.
"So, how's it goin' mini-Cadet?" one of the older officers with close-cut brown hair said loudly, looking at Fai.
"Great," he said, nodding.
"That's good," he replied clearly sarcastic, and looking around, making some of them laugh. Fai smirked and turned his head back toward the bar tender, shaking his head. One of the other officers grabbed his drink and poured a hot sauce in it.
"What the hell?" Fai shot at him. They jeered for a moment, and the entire bar became silent except for the other officers from different ships.
"Mm-mm, sure looks tasty!" the brown-haired officer said, shoving it back at him, making the others laugh again. Fai picked up the glass and drank the rest in one fell swoop. He managed to keep his disgust to a minimum and swallowed, making them all stare at him.
"Okay, now you try," Fai said, his mouth burning but managing to hide it. He bought another soda for five-hundred fol and poured generally the same amount. They all looked at him, surprised.
"Nice job, lad," one of them said, making them all laugh and pat him on the back, making him cough. The old man turned back the soda.
"I couldn't handle this if my life depended on it," he said, laughing, ruffling his hair. "Welcome to Erasmus! Ha ha!"
"Can I get some water now?" Fai choked.
"Ha ha, yeah!"
Fai dashed toward the water fountain and drank a lot, listening to the laughter. Well, maybe this isn't too bad, he thought as he returned to his seat. I'm still the newb though.
"Listen up!" came Leingod's voice. He exit the elevator and walked toward them. "Erasmus is heading to the Styx System in approximately three days. It's a neutral zone, and we're acting as ambassadors to the Telicoorians."
"What?" a young female officer said. "What for, Captain?"
"Hm…they're complaining about New Federation acts of breaking Interstellar Law, and are threatning to detach itself," he said, then sighed. "As if we need more stupid struggles."
"That sounds like a lame excuse, if you ask me," Fai said, wishing they could stay a little bit longer.
"Yeah, like the kid says, why are we even bothering?" the man he met earlier said. Fayt glanced at him, then shook his head.
"I don't know, but it seems like everything in our galaxy is still lost in a foggy swamp or something like that," he said, sounding and looking much older than he really was. But then, he suddenly smiled. "Well, brighter news is there's a circus performance going on tommorow in the auditorium by a friend of mine, courtesy of Moonbase." There was a series of nods, and everyone began dispersing, understanding that as a "you're-dismissed-even-though-you're-not-on-duty". Fai sighed, yawned, and went back to his quarters on-ship.