Ord was heading back towards where he figured Radec and Skrem would go after a get together, a local bar. He had in hand a floral arrangement for Rose, courtesy of Saro and his lovely wife, as well as some bottles of booze for the boys. Courtesy of a friend of his dad's and Vaukt's who was willing to…overlook certain legalities. What fortune.
His walk down the street in the setting sun of Irk was stopped as he looked into the window of a restaurant, seeing his two friends and Rose hanging out in a booth. Taking a breath, he made his way inside and toward the table. Coming to a stop near it as his friends shot him a disdainful look.
"Oh, look, SpecOps is back." Siph commented out of spite.
"What do you want?" Yerd flatly asked.
"I wanted to apologize after having a very enlightening talk with Saro."
Digits folded his arms, leaning back with an unamused expression.
"I'm listening…or do I need to polish your non-existent rack first to be worthy of your presence?"
Ord's head gestured toward Rose before he began talking.
"She's right. That one war game I was in has been the high point of my career so far. I've clung to it like a smeet to a bottle because it's the one piece of success I've had so far. By Irk and the gods, I am my dad. I'm the first loser, I'm the man with lots of bluster, I've been strutting about like an Invader and I haven't even finished this yet. I've been completely stupid."
He paused to set a few bottles of liquor on the table.
"And I got these as an apology for you guys."
"Careful, it's learning." Rose chided, her tone cold and unimpressed.
The boys looked between the bottles, Ord, and themselves in an unspoken conversation. An admission of fault? A sign of humility? Bearing gifts? Was he doing all he could to salvage the social nosedive he performed earlier to save face or was this in earnest?
"...suppose we can let this one slide this time." Siph finally spoke, taking up one of the bottles for closer inspection. "We'll squeeze the air out of your head next time."
Ord's attention turned to Rose, "And I tried to impress you like my dad tried to impress my mom and got shot down just about as hard." The man shook his head as he held out the floral arrangement. "I asked Saro and his wife for something special for such an occasion of…a mix of apologizing for being an absolute ass and trying to show I care. I…just hope the flowers work better for you than they did when Vaukt tried to give some to Zha on Orenk. I'm really trying here."
"...who are you and what did you do with Ord?" Digits facetiously asked, feighing horror.
Rose eyed the bouquet arrangement offered with an arched, questioning brow. Crimson gaze like her fathers shifting between the colorful blooms and the young man offering them. A small sigh followed as her arms unfolded to accept the flowers.
"It's a start. Words are pointless pushing of air if they don't have meaning behind them." She concluded despite the gesture. "Some semblance of integrity in there admitting fault in front of your friends."
"I mean it's what you said, right? An officer accepts his failures, he doesn't push the blame onto others. Plus it's kind of hard to deny your faults when you have the General Saro telling you to your face that you've been an absolute prick."
"I'm confused." Siph commented, brow furrowed as he gestured to Ord. "...you-"
"Doesn't take much to confuse you, does it?" Digits interrupted with a snicker.
"Shut up…no…you left to go find Saro…the Saro…and he recommended flowers for her? We're talking about the same guy, right?"
"Yes, the Saro…and no, I'm not going to bring you to talk with him like I did. He's done a great job of trying to live an unassuming life in not wanting to be found. He's found peace cultivating life rather than destroying it, I'd rather not damage that more."
The pieces fell into place and everything clicked as Yerd's attention snapped back to Ord in realization.
"Wait, he's a florist? You bought those from him?"
Ord withdrew a holographic projector of a photo he has of himself with Saro and his wife, something he asked for as a form of proof that he very much was with who he was saying it was. On the strict condition that it not be shown to anyone else aside the parents after the proof was delivered. The last thing he needed was word getting out about his current place of living and have his life upended.
"I did, yes. The booze I bought from a friend of dad's and Vaukt's. You know that liquor store around the corner?"
"I guess? Not really familiar with this area." Siph commented, still processing the projected image of arguably one of the most universally-infamous and despised Irken next to Grimm himself with a Vortian mate. A cold-blooded, grizzled, veteran of battle and master of war…tending to flowers. Not even his unassuming casual dress and surroundings could hide the look of a hardened man staring through them. "...he as friendly as he looks? Looks like he wanted to gut you."
"You try having someone acting like an Invader walk into your shop practically demanding his presence to ask him questions about the past and not wanting to kick his ass. From what he said, only Invaders liked other Invaders…he said, and I quote, 'they loved the smell of their own farts.'"
"I mean…he's not wrong. Even your dad can be a prick sometimes." Digits reluctantly agreed with a nod from Siph. "Equal parts propaganda and delusion of grandeur make for a potent cocktail. Talk a big game, have to back it up and all that."
"Long as there has been the concept of an Invader, it's been that way." Rose commented, idly toying with the blooms as they conversed. "The rank-and-file can't stand them and Invaders act like the creator's gift to the universe. The elite training, the secret assignments, the bootlicking…if they aren't huffing their own farts it's usually their superior's. My old man's said your dad's arguably the most tolerable one he's ever spoken to."
"Well of course it'd be like that if they're boyfriends, right?" Ord chuckled, having seen the relationship his dad and Radec have with each other. "I mean, I suppose he's the only one I've ever really known; also never shut up about his record in SpecOps before he became an Invader. I don't remember meeting Sko or Kiz. Really no point of reference other than him. Speaking of, where are those two lovebirds anyhow?"
Rose shrugged.
"They were still packing all the museum stuff up when we left. Hard telling. Sure they ended up at Gers', your place, or mine. Mom doesn't let him go out unless he takes her with him otherwise."
"Talked about my dad being whipped after one date with mom but then…" He chuckled, taking the open seat in the booth next to Rose since it seemed they would be there a while. "Do I feel foolish for earlier, still."
"Imagine being proud of getting your c'hurta pushed in by VDF regulars playing make-believe." Rose ribbed with a smirk at his expense. "You sound smarter when you don't speak, you know that?"
Her remark earned snickers from across the table from Ord's friends.
"Oh, yeah, I just love getting my ass pounded into the dirt." Ord shook his head as his friends continued snickering. He was picking up the habit of using Vortian swearing as he heard the story progress. Facetious or not, he could at least laugh at himself. His attention turned as a trio walked in their direction. Professor Corr was most evident among them, though the woman and the man with him they haven't seen before.
"Cadets," Corr began, "Ord."
"Hello," Ord looked to Corr and then the other two with him. "Didn't expect to run into you here."
"Well, that's your father's doing. He wanted me to come grab the lot of you."
"What? What did we do?"
"Nothing, he just wanted us to come grab you on the way to Gers' place for a small gathering. Gratitude for helping out with his reenactment today."
"Oh…that does sound like him." Ord looked to the others, "Let's not keep them waiting lest Radec have some funny things to say to us once we get there. Not that I mind."
"As I said, careful, it's learning." Rose grinned at him as they all made to leave the table.
The group joined Corr and the other two as they headed a short distance to Gers' home. It lay right next door to the museum. A definite oddity: a two story ranch style house. Apparently Gers was taken with Kazak's 'home' on Earth to want one for himself. Despite the exterior looking entirely out of place, the interior was a weird amalgamation of Earth and Irk. Carpeting and wallpaper from Earth, the furniture clearly Irken, the light fixtures a mix of both. Clean as a whistle.
"You know I actually never saw his house." The cherry-eyed male clad in a black pinstripe suit popularized in some circles thanks to Earth finally spoke.
The others were gathered in the living room to the right of the front door. Gers had lit his fireplace for some ambiance. His attention turned to the recent arrivals.
"Corr, Calla! How are you? Been a while since we've seen the two of you here." The sniper bought over a couple of beers for them, extending a third to the suit wearing male.
"Still here, it seems." The old man commented as he accepted the offered brew next to his loving mate. "We just returned from Vort not too long ago."
"Remembrance Day?" Radec unceremoniously queried as he took a drink.
"Something of that nature, yes." Corr settled for, Calla consolingly rubbing his shoulder. "...digging up that which was long buried was salt in the open wounds….but the boys deserved to know what happened first-hand. Already violating countless agreements and security clearances, may as well make it worthwhile."
The suited man's acceptance of the brew partially revealed the arm beneath the jacket and shirt, even with the gloves the man wore covering his hand. Artificial muscle and steel…the same grade prosthetics the team had come to accept. Something clearly not unnoticed by Ord.
"And I'm grateful, definitely. I never got to know this side of my parents until now and it's been…rather eye opening and my own journey in humility."
"That's what you get for being so much like me, Ord! Why couldn't you have been a girl and been more like your mom?!"
"Dad!" Ord facepalmed as his friends laughed at his expense. "But who's this guy? He's not Amka, is he?"
"I'm offended. Do I look like the type of man who screws another man's wife because of some weird bug thing?"
"...Okay so he's not the Major." Ord summarized. "Who is he?"
"What're you? A coward? Ask him yourself, he's right there. Surely your dad taught you that much to not talk about someone in front of them like they ain't there." Radec gestured with his bottle to Ord.
Ord shook his head. Chastised by a second dad of sorts, great. "Really, who are you?"
The man looked to Corr after taking a swig from his drink. "How much do they know about Mirage?"
"Full disclosure." Corr summarized soundly. "Sure you've heard rumors about my loose lips. They're true. I'll take the fall for whatever comes but someone else other than us needs to know before it's locked up after we're dead and gone."
"Ironic your woman's job is to arrest people doin' stuff like that." Radec commented with a chuckle. "Surprised she lets you out of her sight."
"He has a lot of slack in his leash, thank you very much." Calla pointedly spoke in jest, looking to him. "...we've already had that discussion and I'm obviously not going to blindly do my job having personal bias. Can't say the same for my colleagues so keep it to a minimum around them."
"I'm not afraid of trading shots with Internal Affairs." The man said, "Done it before, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"Only shots you're tradin' these days is the one you take at the pot when you take a piss." Radec laughed at his expense.
"Still got this fist of Vortian artificial muscle that'd fit comfortably up your c'hurta." He chided back, his tone shifting from serious to more relaxed.
"Now you're speakin' my language…so Vort on Rememberance Day…you swing by and bother the Mountain Clown?"
"Yes, and he threatened to shoot me with that Italian piece of firewood he has from Earth." Corr flatly answered.
"He's doing well if that's what you're asking." Calla interjected at his less than enthused disposition. "Standoffish as always. He's been volun-told to attend the next reunion."
"Yeah? What if he refuses?" Radec queried, genuinely curious.
"Well, the lot of you aren't strangers to black-bagging people, right? Drag him by his ankles if you must."
The room erupted in laughter.
"Please, after what you people put me through picking him up? The absolute last thing I'm doing is fucking around with a sniper who has plenty of places to hide." The man shook his head as he took another swig of his drink. "By the way, it's Krad. Sergeant Major Krad. I'm told I bear a rather strong resemblance to the infamous General of yesteryear."
"Yes, and everytime you point that out, I really want to stab you in the throat that much more." Calla placated with a falsely sweet smile. "I realize you are most definitely not him but stop bringing it up."
"Right, so…" Radec diverted away from the awkward tension, looking to Gers. "Everyone here or you got any other late arrivals?"
"Only if you count my sweetpea." Gers admitted.
"Not Posa, right?" Siph asked, causing Gers to laugh.
"Posa's cute and she's a great friend, but no."
About that time, the sound of the door cycling open from the foyer around the corner could be heard. The clip of heels across hardwood floors saw the appearance of Sula, arms laden with groceries. Still in her medical smock and identification badge from one of the larger regional medical facilities pinned to its pocket, she stopped midstride as her goldenrod gaze took in the sight in the living room. So many familiar faces.
"...when you mentioned having friends over, this isn't what I was expecting." She admitted.
"When have we ever been predictable?" Radec grinned at her from across the room.
"Fair enough…" Sula sighed, looking to Gers. "I'm nowhere near the level of expertise as Aero but I'll manage to entertain. Not that it is difficult with you lot. Supply enough booze to kill a slorrbeast and it's a success."
"She knows us so well," Radec snickered.
Gers went over to take some of the groceries from Sula with a smile to bring them to the kitchen. "Hard not to with how often she had to nurse a bunch of you after some serious hangovers. At least she knows I'm not going to drink myself to death."
"Yes, you haven't drank since…I don't think I've ever seen you drink."
"I had some on Vort. Had some booze stacked up in my room too. Getting unhooked unlocked a lot of…unpleasant memories. Tried to bury them in some alcohol. Decided that wasn't the best idea, quit drinking, been sober ever since."
"Honestly for the best for both of us." Sula concurred, moving to join the small gathering of family and friends alike. "Would have been home sooner but, y'know, idiots. The curse of competency."
Her brow furrowed as she looked from Calla and Corr, to Rose, and then to Radec with a confused gesture.
"...where's your other half at?"
"My what?"
"Mom, dad."
"Oh, she's at the house."
Sula put on a pursed expression, hands to her hips.
"...didn't think to bring her with you?"
"I-"
"No, no, that's fine…" Sula interrupted with a shake of her hand, gesturing toward the door. "Knowing how madly in love you are with your mate and surely wasn't having fun without her, I took it upon myself to stop by your place and pick her up."
The violet-eyed, voluptuous woman appeared with more groceries as if on-cue.
"Where is he?" She demanded, seeing Sula point across the room. "I agreed to let you go play soldier all damn day long and then you leave me at home to drink with your buddies?"
"Hey, they're your buddies too!"
"All the more reason why you should've brought me, dumbass!"
"Well, you're here now, aren't ya?"
"No thanks to you." She scoffed, smiling as she looked to Calla and Corr. "Hey. Good to see you guys again."
"Good to see you as well, Dyb. The years are being very kind to you." Corr complimented as Gers came over to take the groceries from her. The door drew their attention once more with two Vortians walking inside. None other than Rub and Shika, coming to Irk to help put the event together.
"Get in here, dumbass." Shika spoke out the door.
"Better listen to her. You don't vant me to get involved." Rub's bass sounded from around the corner.
A loud sigh followed before an armored and cloaked silver eyed Irken came in the door. Kazak, forced out of hiding and back into the world itself. Opting for his old armor so he could at least optically cloak when he didn't want to be seen.
Radec, seeking an immediate change of subject after suffering the ire of his mate, looked to Gers. "You invite them too?"
"Is that a problem?" Rub interjected as he appeared from around the corner with a smirk.
"'Course not, big guy. I'd have brought more beer if I had known."
The vortian male reached into one of the bags he was carrying, digging out a sealed bottle of spirits from Vort to toss across the room to Radec.
"Alvays be prepared. You know better than that."
Kazak quietly retreated to a corner of the room and leaned against the wall, arms folded in front of him.
"Rub's just as gracious a guest as he is a fine friend. And, yeah, I definitely didn't invite them. Sula, you run into them while you were grabbing Dyb?"
Shika helped herself to one of the Irken beers, taking a sip. "She did. Walking to our hotel with this idiot."
The door closed and everyone settled in to what seating was available around the room. The Cadets, courteous and well-mannered as they were, gave up theirs for current company to opt for the floor. Sula, after a quick retreat upstairs to change into something more comfortable, returned to the adjacent kitchen with Dyb to prepare snacks and refreshments.
"Small universe, huh?" Radec commented, gesturing to the visiting Vortian as he took a seat in one of the chairs. "What brings you to Irk?"
"Business." He opened with as he casually leaned over to make use of the edge of the endtable to pop the top off of his drink with practice. The tabletop's edge marred and chewed with countless other makeshift bottleopener marks.
"That had better not had been my good furniture!" Sula called from the kitchen.
"It vasn't. I know better." He assured before throwing back a drink. "...can't discuss details for obvious reasons. Security clearance and all that."
Skrem grinned, "I can, somewhat," his grin turned to Ord and grew further. "He's going to be the OPFOR that tans your hide once you graduate."
"Wait, wait, I have to fight the Spectre of Vort?" Ord looked at Rub and blinked "Dad, if you wanted me to die, just shoot me now."
The young man's comments earned Rub's attention as he eyed him studiously.
"Awfully presumptuous you'll even make it past selection, aren't you?" He unceremoniously questioned. "Unless your father's grown soft and veak in his years, I know he isn't bringing you in through nepotism."
"He decided he wants to prove he can do things himself rather than have his old man hand him everything. He's going to have to prove it, and is he going to be in for a big shock." Skrem sipped on his drink.
"So you're arranging an extremely hard test…for me?"
"You've been acting a lot like an Invader recently. Going to make sure your ass can cash the check, son. Don't write 'em if you can't cash 'em."
"Confidence is all well and good, a worthy thing to have and cultivate," Krad began. "Bravado, however, is something that gets men killed and something that deserves to be culled from SpecOps."
"Vhat's the matter, boy? Scared?" Rub directed at Ord, gesturing to his friends at his flanks. "These two look like they're going to lay egg-shaped bricks."
"Just…being in this room with all of you is surreal." Siph spoke up. "Everything that we've been told and all we've learned so far…legends and the elite of the elite…hard not to be a little intimidated if I'm going to be honest."
"They recognized my greatness." Radec grinned smugly before Dybbuk all but threw herself into his lap, knocking the wind out of him with drinks in hand for them.
"Throttle back there, Zim." She teased, sneaking a kiss in as she handed him his drink. "...and you owe me for neglecting me."
"Yeah? What do I owe you?"
"You'll find out…not in front of company." Dyb spoke in a lower tone before turning her attention back to the gathering. "So these three fresh-faced little snots the chosen ones I've been hearing about?"
Corr nodded, "That they are."
"So why am I out here again?" Kazak finally spoke up from his position against the wall.
"To accent the room as a piece of modern art," Rub fired back without missing a beat facetiously. "Being sociable is part of the agreement. This is socializing. Opportunity for redemption after these three have heard nothing but how far your head is up your own ass so far."
"Maybe I don't particularly care what three nitwits think. You also knew I was even less social than your brother long ago." The sniper shrugged.
"I mean, how often do we get to see an Irken in a muscle suit?" Gers threw in, eliciting a very different response from Kazak.
"Yeah, what, jealous you couldn't get one of these so Sula could oggle your ass?"
"Maybe," Gers smirked and took a sip, looking at the three cadets. "You can see how different he is with us snipers."
"Untrue. I vill outshoot all of you and he's still a prick to me." Rub dryly spoke before taking a drink.
"Always gotta throw that one in there every chance you get, don't ya?" Radec queried in good nature, arm around Dyb's back to support her comfortably.
Rub shrugged nonchalantly.
"Vhen it's the truth, make it known so it is never forgotten. Isn't that the whole point of this little thought exercise of his?" He gestured to Corr.
Shika gently slapped Rub's arm. "Be nice to Kazak, you know every time we go up to the cabin he's sure to have a hot meal ready for us. He's nice."
"I am being nice. Don't embarrass me in front of our friends." He mock-warned in a less-than-serious tone at the several magnitudes smaller woman at his side.
Ord looked back at the sniper. The silver eyed man was rather unhappy to be there by all appearances. "You don't like talking, do you?"
"Nope. I have a small list."
"Rather be ranching?"
Silence followed before the man's expression softened as he let out a sigh.
"You have absolutely no idea." Kazak pushed himself off the corner to move closer to the group, leaning back against the wall. "I found something I was good at in life outside of this whole warfare thing. I loved it, every second of it."
"What about when Red and Purple showed up?" Digits asked, only for Kazak to stick a finger in his mouth and use his thumb as a hammer in a mock pistol in response.
"Was it really that bad?"
"The only upside was that I was able to use a whip on them." Kazak smirked, "Imagine getting a chance to take your pound of flesh at the people that made your life hell and have them be your unwilling serfs."
Ord shook his head and looked at Krad. "So, question for you, Sergeant Major."
"Yes?"
"You said before that you wouldn't mess around trying to black bag a sniper with plenty of places to hide. Why? What happened?"
Krad took several large gulps from his bottle before he looked at Corr. "How far along are you with them? Assuming you're going sequentially, you anywhere near Loorvu?"
"Actually, that's just about where we should be. Just had our going away party. Fleet showed up, we scattered with what was left of the SpecOps fleet and Mirage began chasing both the Ghost of Irk and Renown."
Krad took a deep breath. "Tuu…Tuu is one real son of a bitch…"