On a late night on Irk, four men sat on the deck of Skrem's home. Vaukt, Skrem, Ord, and a visiting Vard enjoyed the crisp air. Inside, Rem, Aero, and Zha were enjoying themselves doing whatever it is women did. The men didn't bother themselves with it. The fact they got some men's only time was good enough.

Skrem smoked a Cohiba cigar from earth, he developed a fondness for human smokes with his career. Vaukt enjoyed an earth made pipe with a Vortian blend for a delightful smoke. Aside from the two SpecOps veterans enjoying their smokes, the table was laden with bottles of Human, Vortian, and newly crafted Irken alcohol, with Ord allowed to help himself. He was starting to earn his way as far as Skrem was concerned.

"How'd you get so good at this game?" Skrem asked his former superior who's position he now held.

"Poker? I play with my mate. Got pretty good at it."

Vard's expression widened as he continued dealing out the next hand of cards to the other men.

"Wouldn't recommend playing with her. She'll clean you out every single time. Certified card shark."

"Who, Zha?" Ord queried, surprised, taking up his dealt cards.

"There's a reason why she's not allowed to play with us and it isn't because she's a woman." The short-statured male huffed in amusement. "You wanna wind up poor, play a few hands with her."

"She keeps things interesting. Nice to have someone on par with me." Vaukt smirked as he puffed on his pipe. "Never a dull moment."

"How did you ever manage with her?" Skrem asked with a surprised look.

"She must like men who are hard to get. When you're a dark and mysterious field man, you're suddenly very interesting."

"Careful not to break your arm jerking yourself off, Sir," Vard jested in good humor as he finished dealing, taking up his own cards. A quick glance saw him raise to the pot at the center of the table. "She has you well-trained…and I am just as obedient to mine. Skrem could stand to learn a few things."

"Your eyes deceive you, Vard. It's a constant fight for dominance between us. You never have a dull moment when you have two alpha personalities in the room." He paused to take a sip of beer. "Though I think she learned from me that if you want something done you just need to do it and damn the consequences."

"Like taking all your cards before you even got here?"

"Yes and when I tried to take them back she whacked me right in the crotch with her purse."

Skrem laughed at that. "Big bad Generalissimo smacked in the groin and brought to his knees."

"Yeah and how many times has Rem crotch tapped you?"

"...No comment." Skrem quietly took a puff on his cigar as Vaukt cracked a smug look as he glanced down at his cards briefly.

"Everyone has their own system that works." Vard observed, watching as the others made their decisions in playing the hand. "Happy mate, dinner's never late."

Another round of laughter ensued as hands were raised and the round played. Vaukt took the hand and began dealing another round out.

"Speaking of women…Ord, you still seeing that girl you were with before going to basic? What was her name?"

"What?" Ord looked up after taking a shot of Vortian spirits straight and wincing slightly.

"Yeah, your dad mentioned you were seeing some gal."

Ord went quiet, pouring himself another drink.

"Didn't even get an off world deployment and she went somewhere else didn't she?"

Ord glanced up without saying a word before looking back down at his newly poured shot.

"Well, if that's what she's like you're better off. Better woman out there for you." Vaukt reassured. "What about-"

"If you're about to propose I date a kid of one of your Invader loyalists, if her parents are anything like dad I think I'm good having one cool parent."

"Good because I'd have to outdo them and somehow steal a tank for your birthday." Skrem laughed as he added in.

"Not all of them are as…eclectic as your dad is," Vard carefully chose his words to not speak ill of Skrem, even if it was good natured, taking a drink of his ale. The Invader raised the pot much to his dismay. "Bastrado…"

Vard's chips joined in before turning his attention back to Ord.

"...word on the street someone's been telling you tall tales lately. How tall are they?"

Skrem smirked as Ord downed another shot.

"I'd say they were as tall as Red and Purple. Then I find out they're real. Like you and Aero, making those prosthetics with that Vortian artificial muscle stuff. Not to mention keeping a Voot Cruiser going way past the redline. I'm no engineer and no naval expert…but from what I read of them, you two and Jur pulled off a real feat and probably set some sort of speed record."

"Well, she did most of the heavy lifting. I manned the panel." He humbly commented with a small shrug, glancing over his shoulder into the house through the sliding glass door. Inside, the women were several drinks and stories in, laughing at something one of them said. "...Irk, I love that woman."

"Hey, focus." Skrem snapped his fingers in his direction. "No girls allowed. Hurry up and lose this hand so I can make my monies back."

"In your dreams," Vard chuckled, doubling-down, turning his attention back to Ord. "...Corr must really like you to be telling you all of this…but I imagine that ding-dong being your dad may have something to do with it too."

"Probably. Here I thought he was just the ex Elite that showed up sometimes. He looked a lot younger when I was a kid I swear." Ord looked down at his hand briefly.

"Okay, moment of truth," Vaukt began, "What do you guys have?"

Ord put his cards down. "I have a seven, six, nine, a lady, and a human male giving himself brain surgery."

Vaukt just looked at Ord's cards and looked at him and then shook his head. Watching the younger man hang his head in defeat as he looked to Skrem as his cards went down.

"Two eights."

"That's a little something." His look went to Vard next, "So what's your hand?"

He laid down his hand, revealing a small straight with a smirk.

"Tough to beat but you're always full of surprises." The small-statured man commented with amusement, finishing off his bottle to toss in the growing pile in the nearby trash can. "Speaking of surprises…lucky number seven's in the oven."

"Number se-? Good lord, man, stay off of her!"

"You have seen her, haven't you? I'll climb her like a playground all day long."

Raucous laughter.

Skrem broke the laughter to look at Vaukt, "Yeah, what are you and Zha on anyhow?"

"Just Kerkt."

"Wait, really? I fig-"

"He's lucky he's as good as he is. You know how he is."

"...Yeah, he does remind me a lot of you. Damn good guy. Might have your job one day too."

"Bit of a family business I guess. But, look, between how myself and Zha are, you have any idea how bad it would be if we had more than him? That woman is my world but add too many and it's going to be one of us who decides to go out for cigarettes one day and not come back."

"...Kinda brutal, don't you think?" Ord asked.

"Yeah, well, you only heard of Grimm's nonsense. Try actually dealing with it and then want a bunch of little dumbasses running around."

"He's being melodramatic." Vard commented in bemusement, taking up the pot before placing the deck of cards in front of Ord to deal the next hand. "Kids are great. Reminds me every single day of what we all fought for and what it took to achieve…but they can be a bunch of little dumbasses sometimes as he put it. Some of the good with some of the bad."

"I'm really not, Vard. I'm pretty sure anything more would've just…" Vaukt stopped and stood up, walking down the stairs of the deck to go take a breather.

Ord turned to Skrem. "What's that about?"

"Genuinely? I think he misses his job. The day he handed it over to me…I could see it in his eyes that he didn't want to go."

"So why'd he quit?"

"Vaukt…is very much an autocrat. His ideals for what Irk needed wasn't the Republic. All the same, he fought with us, led the way as one of the top commanders, and then decided that it was better for everyone involved if he went out of the public eye, even if it meant everything he loved save for Zha. Believe it or not, there is a small segment of the Republic's supporters that would've wanted someone like Vaukt as a dictator. He knew that wasn't the right call, not with the Empire gone."

"Autocratic yet his leadership style sees him more of a first among equals in a way? How paradoxical."

"Got a lot of that in SpecOps." Skrem sighed, "He kinda gets like this sometimes remembering the old days, what he had, what he's missing out on. What he'd want back."

"He quit over differences in ideology?"

"Nah. He stayed on to set the foundation for SpecOps within the Republic. Though, the first election was coming up and…he saw his supporters gaining some momentum so he left. Stabbed what would've seen him remain right in the spooch. Rather selfless if you ask me."

"Must be in one of his moods…" Vard muttered with a pursed expression. "Won't pretend I understand politics. It's why we put someone outside of our influence up for the job in the first place. Nothing says he couldn't have stayed on or even served in the private sector. His name's worth its weight in gold in the private contractor industry. He's his own man and always been a stubborn, driven sort."

"I think he thought differently. Imagine he beat out Tak for an election, I can't imagine that change in leadership going well abroad at all if he had his way…and you know he would damn well do as he saw fit." Skrem sighed, "Yeah, stubborn and driven, that's him. I can't see the guy wearing a suit at some private sector thing either, you know you can't either…almost think he'd rather be a mercenary now. Do what he does best."

Ord dealt the cards out to his dad and Vard as the two spoke, keeping quiet for the moment.

"...but I do wear a suit in the private sector. Sort of. Yeah, it's under the government umbrella, but I'm out of the defense side entirely." Vard clarified with a shrug. "I get it though. Its what we were literally bred and raised for. Some have a harder time letting go than others. Plenty of pre-Republic mercenaries floating around because of that…and one of the reasons why Vult's not around."

He leaned back, over the railing of the deck.

"Next hand's waitin' on you!"

Collected after taking some time to smoke on his pipe in some solitude, Vaukt returned to his seat, Ord quickly dealing him in as Vaukt threw his wrist watch into the money pile.

"Boss, your mate got you that Rolex on Earth."

"I know, and I'm out of cash."

Vard's visage twisted into a frown as he picked the watch up and tossed it back before Vaukt.

"Keep your watch, General. That's a gift from your woman."

Vaukt took his watch out of the pile of money and put it back on. "Fully intended to win even if I had to drug one of you and take it back at the end of this."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Sir." He chuckled, being a good sport as he took up a stack of his chips to slide over to him. "Don't think of it as a handout. It's a loan. I'll get it back."

"Well if I win I'll just call it you preemptively giving me some of my money back." Vaukt smirked as he opened another bottle of Vortian lager to drink.

Ord looked at Vaukt's direction after grabbing some Vortian ale himself, "So, um, General, do you not like peacetime affairs?"

Vaukt shook his head. "Felt more at home in my old line of work. Yet it's probably better for everyone if I'm out of the spotlight. Generalissimo Vaukt as leader of what we have left is attractive to some more autocratic types. But…yeah, I hate this. Carpentry is the one thing even keeping me remotely sane. Without anything productive to do I'd be completely out of my gourd. Zha might like retirement but…I think that's a point we disagree on."

"See? Vard was right." Skrem added, "Some of us really just can't let it go."

"We all miss it," Vard admitted, taking up his cards to play the hand. "Some more than others, but we all miss it. Sure you've developed some sense of camaraderie and brotherhood with the men you're serving alongside now, haven't you? Back then, all we had was each other. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows, we endured it all together…that's the part I miss, not the constant danger and near-death experiences."

"Yeah, I got two guys I'm real close with in the Academy." Ord answered.

"Your childhood friends Siph and Yent, right?" Skrem chuckled, "You had that when you guys were fighting each other with squirt guns."

"Yeah, yeah those two."

Vaukt chuckled, "Well, I sort of miss the field work personally. The risk of death came with the territory, and I preferred that to being cooped up somewhere. Maybe I'm an adrenaline junkie, who knows. Hunting is fun whenever I can get to Devastis."

"It's Devos, boss." Skrem corrected.

"Old habits die hard."

Vard looked to his cards as Vaukt raised, grimacing as he threw them down, folding.

"Should've let you bet your freakin' watch. I'm out," He turned his attention back to Ord. "So story time with Corr…how far along are you?"

"Whoops!" Vaukt laughed as he looked to Skrem who added some more to the pot followed by Ord.

"Well, he's at the point of telling us about a couple other campaigns going on since all you guys were doing was trying to fix Green Team and keep dad from suck starting his sniper rifle."

"You got that fucking right." Skrem shook his head at the memories.

"Vylat and Orenk, specifically."

Vaukt set his cards on the table face down, but still in hand, as he heard that name come up. "I could've gone the rest of my life without hearing Vylat."

Vard shuddered in shared sentiment.

"Listen, I'm not prejudiced, but I could've went my entire life never knowing of their existence and been fine with that. They check off every negative facet of society a civilization possibly could in the worst ways possible." He explained with a shake of his head, opening another bottle of ale with a hiss. "...'least we weren't a bunch of bugfuckers like Mirage, right?"

"Wait, wait," Ord put his hand up, "Someone on Mirage fucked one of those bugs?"

Skrem blinked, "We'll uh…we'll let Corr fill you in on that."

"Gross." Ord practically gagged.

"Stop. Nobody actually…yeah. Making fun of Amka mostly. Letting aliens put their blood inside of him and all." Vard clarified with a scoff at their antics before taking a drink. "...if you're at Vylat, he tell you how Grimm managed to take casualties before the campaign even began? The Tallest Cyur going critical? A for effort, F for execution."

"Yeah, second largest ship in the Irken Armada before that super battleship Tallest Miyuki that was under construction. Just…lost to bugs."

"Well, before that, hands, let's see them." Vaukt interjected.

Skrem threw his cards down, another two pair.

"I think I got you beat this time." He set down four sixes and started reaching for the pot.

"Ah, you may have four of a kind but guess what?" Vaukt laid down four fives and two kings. "Full house, buddy!" And with that Vaukt swept all the money towards himself.

"Welp, that's it for me." Skrem laughed, "Any more money lost and Rem's probably going to decapitate me with a kick to the head."

Ord shook his head, looking in his pocket and seeing he only had five left. "...Yeah maybe not too wise to gamble with Vard and Vaukt." He paused, "You went to Vylat though, right? Clean up Grimm's mess again?"

"...I think I damn well sank his field career for a good while after that, not cleaned up his mess. Went there to take care of who was then the star invader. As far as Imperial records were concerned, Invader Nossa was extremely successful but Impending Doom II on Vylat was an absolute failure."

"That's the one that always beat you out at the academy, right?' Vard prodded Skrem in good nature with a snicker. "...crazy vodeta that one."

"Yeah, barely. She and I were within single digit points of each other."

"Close only counts in hand grenades. You know that. At least you're prettier after having half her face ripped off…unless half-cybernetic insane loyalists are your thing, of course."

"Well it's a matter of being self centered or helping other people." Skrem huffed as he took a sip of his beer and relit his cigar that went out from being idle for too long. "She and I were basically equal in every sense…save for loyalty to the Empire as it turns out."

"And my dad still hangs onto being First Loser." Ord chuckled.

"Hey, that's Mister First Loser to you, young man."

Vaukt only chuckled, withdrawing a tin to refresh his pipe after tapping out the burnt contents within. "He's like you in some ways, you big meathead."

"I'd hope so, he is his son." Vard chuckled, a ruckus of rapidly-approaching footsteps from inside the house belonging to Rem as she slung the sliding door open.

"Are you ffffreakin' ssserious?!" She slurred, obviously half-lit much like Zha.

"Serious about what?"

"Ssseven?! Ssshe's nota…clown car!"

He smirked, shrugging.

Vaukt laughed. "He is serious. Just watch, soon enough he and Aero will have a dozen. May his sanity continue to hold up better than mine." He raised his beer bottle before drinking from it.

"Yeah, I'll drink to that," Skrem added as he downed some himself.

"You know what, congrats Vard." Ord smiled at him before drinking some.

"Don't joke about that. I'm a weak man, I can't say no to her." Vard snickered, raising his own bottle to toast. "Bottom's up, boys."

"Well you can't borrow my PAK." Skrem laughed before downing some more beer with the others, why not? "And hey, Aero, Zha, c'mon! Get Rem back in there so we can keep boy's night going here!"

Vaukt shook his head, realizing Skrem may have gotten himself deep again.

A haughty hand planted on her hip in defiance as she stood in the doorway.

"Oh yeah? Yooooou…'member that…ffffromthe…couch."

"Bu-"

"Nope!" She shook her head, almost losing her balance. "Hadyour…chance."

Vard leaned back, looking past Rem into the house. "Hey, Aero?"

"Yeah?"

"Might wanna come make sure Rem doesn't take a dive, she's wobbly."

"I…amnot…wwwobbly."

"Uh-huh. Stand still."

"I…am."

"Nah…you're all over the place. I can see it from here." Skrem shook his head. "Really, Aero, help her. Couldn't come over here and smack me upside the head even if she wanted to without tripping over herself."

"Oh yeah? We'll sssssssssee-"

About that time, the tall, pink-eyed woman came up behind Rem, easily picking her up from under the arms. "Ooookay, that's enough for tonight. You…have had enough to drink, young lady. Time for bed."

Comically held aloft by Aero at arm's length, she feebly attempted to escape to no avail. A dejected huff of defeat followed.

"I'm…nottired."

"You are now. Skrem can come cuddle up with you later."

"...promise?"

"Promise. Set a good example for your little smeetie-pie." She grinned at Ord, who facepalmed in embarrassment as the other men laughed.

Skrem lifted his beer to the tall, pink-eyed woman. "Thanks Aero, always been a big help to all of us. Rem, I'll make sure you're comfy later."

Vaukt puffed on his pipe. "Well this was a very welcome show. At Ord's expense."

"Oh ha ha." Ord watched as Aero brought Rem inside. "...I guess Corr wasn't kidding with how strong she was." He blinked after realizing how easily Aero picked up his mother.

"Yup, he wasn't," Skrem nodded; "Vara really enjoyed getting hugs from Aero but she'd only do it when she was in her suit. Even then, she's strong. I should know. Even in my custom armor when she snuck up on me once. Could still feel the pressure…"

Vard anted up the pot before taking up his drink.

"She held most of the weight records aboard for the longest time. Radec was determined to outperform her. Sometimes people are just built differently and she's an exception."

Vaukt dealt cards between him and himself before Ord decided to throw his last into the pot and dealt in himself. "Remember that little disguise Kazak picked up for her, Vard?"

"What disguise?" Ord asked.

"I wonder if Vard and I should spoil it or let Corr tell you when it comes up."

"I'll leave it to Corr. He's been faithful to the truth thus far." Vard smirked, looking to the young man. "...Skrem said you were thinking about transferring out of the Honor Guard into Special Operations after graduation. Still plan on doing that?"

"Yeah, yeah I am."

"Decided you wanted to work for your dad after all or is it something else?" Vaukt queried with a smirk.

"Something like that. I mean, given I know you two I can get in at the snap of a finger, especially with dad heading it. Hearing all of this from Corr just made me want to actually do something with my career rather than just sit around and look pretty."

"So not chasing some tail?"

"Oh I wish." Ord laughed, "Unfortunately we all can't have a High Marshal taking a liking to our dark and mysterious c'hurta now can we?"

"Fair point."

"But, I mean, I'm learning more about the past, what you all were going through…it makes me want to follow your example, take that risk for the future. You all fought for it, I want to see it survive the ages."

"Friendly word of advice: Don't." Vard countered, checking with a knock as another round of bets found its way to him on the current hand. "If you've made it this far through Corr's retellings, nothing but pain, suffering, and misery awaits you. We were fortunate. Lucky, even. Not all of us shared that luck."

"Don't bother trying to change his mind, Vard. Rem already tried to talk him out of it." Skrem puffed on his cigar. "Trust me, this kid gets something in his head, he's gonna do it."

"Sorta like you in that way, huh dad?"

"No, I think you got stubbornness from someone else." Skrem shot a glance across at Vaukt.

"Maybe the kid just naturally gravitates towards our line of work." The retired General shrugged. "Perhaps you shouldn't have spoiled him with fun military gadgets either."

"What other parent is going to give their kid an AT rocket launcher?"

"...You really want me to answer that?"

Skrem just puffed on his cigar as a response.

"How can he gravitate towards something he's never done before?" Vard countered Vaukt's reasoning. "Could be wrong as I have been known to be, but you give me the impression of having something to prove about something you didn't even know about a few weeks ago. What were you doing before you went to OCS on the way to Honor Guard?"

"I joined the Elites actually," Ord answered. "Yerd was a technical guy, actually kinda like you, Vard. Siph came in with the direct enlistment to OCS route for the Elites but he really impressed some people with his dedication to make Honor Guard."

There was no hiding where Vard was going with his line of questioning as they played the hand.

"Right, Elites…you deploy anywhere before OCS?"

"Just Vort, field training exercise with the VDF…first time we've done that since the war ended, they told us."

"Ah…those exercises. You kids didn't fare too well, did you?"

Ord smirked. "Actually my unit was the only one that was able to complete their objectives. The others definitely got roasted. Overall still a loss for us but a nice little distinction for us."

"I'd be very disappointed if my boy's ass was grass in this hypothetical." Skrem beamed in some fatherly pride at his accomplishment.

"Point being is your boy's ass is green as grass and he wants to jump off in the deep end." The short-statured veteran clarified, taking up the cards to deal another hand out. "Look, you can scrub toilets on Foodcourtia for all I care, Ord. Your parents raised you right…but what we did? The "cool guy" feeling wears off real fast. Couldn't pay me enough to get back out there in any capacity now, even if I could do it."

Vaukt opened his mouth to speak before Skrem cut him off. "Oh shush, we all know you would in a heartbeat. You still got that fancy power armor of yours too."

Ord blinked. "I know it does, Vard. I've heard the stories, Corr's showed me helmet footage from you guys and Ohnmatu. I know exactly what I'm seeing but it hasn't changed my mind one bit on this. May mean I don't come home one day like Volx but…I want to shoulder that risk."

"Right…and you saw that did to Haxx…now imagine it tenfold for your parents who made and raised you. I'm not speaking from any ivory towers here. My eldest is a helmsman in the Armada. First daughter's a corpsman. Xan just started First Phase for the Elites. No parent wants anything bad to happen to their kids…but their kids don't stay children forever, either."

He finished dealing before taking up his cards for a look.

"Special Operations isn't just having high marks in physical fitness and marksmanship. Sure you've gathered that by now, if not from the three of us at this table."

"I know…I know." Ord sighed, "Dad…actually may have taught me some things before I joined the Elites that really helped me out along the way."

"Yeah, back when you thought I was just the ex Invader." Skrem chuckled.

"Didn't know you had a background in SpecOps or that you were in this shadowy unit."

"...Well to be fair, you never asked. Just asked about my Invader stories."

"Kind of assumed they were always there." Ord looked at his cards and practically grinned, causing Vaukt to fold instantly.

"Nope, nope, this kid's got something."

"Oh come on! Give me some money!"

Vard smirked at the young man as he folded as well.

"Word of advice: Be discreet and never show your true intentions. You already know why."

Ord, still grinning, laid down his cards that were a whole bunch of nothing as he swept the money towards him.

"Son of a bitch!" Vaukt laughed at the realization that he was just had.

"Not bad…could've gotten another round of bets out of us all, but everyone's got to start somewhere." Vard acknowledged, finishing off his drink. All of them were well on their way by this time in the night. "...so…had his first drink with his dad…played cards with the guys…Skrem…you taken your boy out to his first…adult venue yet?"

"I'll give the kid a tank but if Rem even hears that I've taken him somewhere like that? Forget the couch. I'll be sleeping in the yard."

"It's a nice yard. You take good care of it." Vard chuckled, shrugging with a smirk. "...you're right though. Doubt Zha would let Vaukt have any slack in his leash, anyway."

"I'm still in charge of myself, thank you very much." Vaukt finished off his bottle and stuck to enjoying his pipe. "Besides…you know I had to go ask Vult, Hesa, and Calla about this sort of thing. Always been so obsessed about work before Zha."

"Yeah?" Vard grinned, standing up from his chair to grab his coat. "Prove it. I'll drive. Cowards and POGs need not apply."

Line crossed.

"Good, because…I am not driving after a six pack." Vaukt stood, pipe in mouth, he had everything he needed as it was.

Skrem looked at Ord. "You breathe even one word to your mother about this and I'm going to make sure you clean toilets."

"All right, all right, sheesh." Ord and Skrem stood up to follow Vard, Skrem grabbing his Imperial style trench coat, something he picked up from his old boss, and something in particular fashion at SpecOps given his popularity.

Taking a moment to attempt cleaning up the table outside and put away the card set, Vard led the procession of men through the house, destined for the front door. Zha, many drinks in, was reclined back in a chair. Aero threw a blanket over top of her like the caring, gentle giant she was before the commotion garnered her attention.

"Oh, hey, hey, where are you going?" She moved to intercept. "All of you have been drinking."

"Yes. We have." Vard nodded, gesturing to Ord over his shoulder. "We need to find this handsome young man a sweetheart to think about when he goes to do cool guy stuff."

Aero blinked, processing what was being presented. She had gotten quite fluent at speaking Vardinese.

"...you're taking him to the strip club, aren't you?"

"You're good."

"Have to be with six, well, seven kids and you." She reasoned, noting the apprehension from all four of them. What was she going to say? What was she going to do?

"...maybe this isn't such a good idea after all." Vard sighed.

"What? No, just…let me take you? You're smart enough to find a way home."

Ord looked between the two, perplexed at the exchange.

"...you don't care that he's going somewhere like that?"

"Of course not!" Aero beamed with a smile. "He knows who loves him at home and I'm not afraid to snap any of those dainty skanks like a glowstick. C'mon, let's find you a future ex-girlfriend!"

"I uh-" Ord started but stumbled initially with Aero's response being unexpected. "Dad said I should never try to turn a stripper or a hooker into a housewife."

"You…" Aero teased, tapping Ord on the chest with a single digit. "...need to lighten up, young man. Live a little and enjoy yourself. I helped kill a lot of people so you could have that luxury. Now, get going before Rem sobers up and murders your father preemptively."

"Your dad's been teaching you right, kiddo." Vaukt gave Ord a pat on the back as they proceeded out.

"...So…" Ord started and then paused, "what happened at Vylat after the loss of that battleship?"

Vaukt took a few puffs before cracking a satisfied smirk. "Sent Grimm to the pound for a while, so to speak. I'll let Corr tell you the details but…I suppose some personal highlights won't hurt."