He was very grateful that at least he was stationed on the far side of the planet. Although he quite enjoyed the Academy back in the days, it was still way enough.
Marcus Rienar, captain of the Imperial Navy made his way through well-lit night streets, the snow cracking under his boots. He was a very dedicated and firm, yet fair officer, the whole crew liked him. During service he was one of those soldiers who gave all their talents and strength. But this time he was not hurrying to report to his superiors, or to his star-destroyer, the Sovereign, stationed at the naval base.
Marcus, along with a group of other officers was at the beginning of a two months leave, something that happened very rarely to any officers of the Empire. Not as if he didn't deserve it. Following the battle of Yavin his fleet was cruising up and down in the Outer Rim, fighting pirates, insurrections and most of all, searching after all those bloody rebels.
"If only they could just give up." he silently wished, taking a deep breath of the freezing air, then shook his head. No, do not think about it now, this is the time of relaxation and fun now. He shood all these annoying thoughts away, and as he did that, he arrived at his destination, the town's popular bar on the main street.
As soon as the brown-haired officer entered the building, he let out a sigh of relief as he felt the warm air inside. For a while now he was stationed on the frozen planet of Raithal, securing the Inner Rim and the trade routes against any pirate or rebel raids. Inside there were already multiple of his fellow officers from the Navy and the Army, drinking, chatting and laughing.
"Hey Marcus, there you are! What's up?" an officer approached him with a grim, full cup in his hand.
"Evening Yanes!" greeted us his old acquaintance, Yanes Meron, artillery officer of another Star Destroyer with a shoulder bump. They weren't in duty now; they didn't need formalities. "Everything's fine, what about you?"
"I just can't believe I'm finally free for a while! It's soooooo great!" It seemed that Yanes was already tipsy.
"Same here friend. May I join your freedom?"
"It wouldn't be a true party without you! Come on!" invited him warmly Yanes.
The two officers headed for a table where two other officers were sitting.
"Hey hey! There's our favourite careerist captain!" one of them waved.
"Love you too Gis." grinned Marcus as he sat down and accompanied Gis Lazen and Mendel Omerri. "Say, will you ever get over my rank?"
"Say, for how long do I have to peg away to become a Destroyer captain?" raised the first lieutenant an eyebrow.
"Well, with a little bit of luck you can achieve that within a couple of more decades." teased him Mendel, who was a second officer.
"Thanks very much colleague..."
"Come on, who gives a damn about this right now?" said Yanes. "We came to have fun, drink our minds away and enjoy our well-deserved leave."
"Agree with that." said Marcus. "So without further ado..." he took one of the empty glasses and filled it with Ardees. "Cheers!"
"Cheers!" replied the other three in union. After only one or two sips, Marcus could already feel the lightness in his head. It felt very nice, he couldn't remember the last time he could drink even a little bit.
An hour later everyone forgot all the jealousness, tiredness and everything linked with duty. All they cared about was the fact that they could finally relax for two whole months.
At one point however, Mendel still mentioned one thing about the ongoing war. "Did you hear about Zaloris?" he asked.
"Of course." nodded Marcus. "That was a rough one as I heard."
"Rough or not, the Death Squadron handled it of course." said Gis.
"You bet they did. And."
"And?" asked Marcus.
"Allegedly Veers found documents stating that the Rebel base might be somewhere around the Elrood." said Mendel.
"Out of the way place for sure." said Marcus. "How I wish we could finally find those sneaky bastards and get rid of them for good!"
"Only a matter of time if you ask me." commented Yanes. "Once we know where they are, there will no be a second Yavin."
"Heck no." added Gis. "We learned. The next round will be ours!"
"Next and final round." said Marcus and stared down at his empty glass. "A next one anyone? You are all my guests."
"You already paid about three times."
"Trust me, I can handle it." waved off Marcus the objection.
"Yeah, I know..."
Stepping to the bar counter, the captain asked for four more Ebla beers.
"You surely got stamina Sir." nodded the aged bartender with a smile.
"Guess I've got one good liver." joked back Marcus. "Plus, my stamina benefits you a lot I think."
"Oh, do you know how much these leaves of yours increase my income?" laughed the old man.
"I can imagine that. But... are you doing this all alone?" asked Marcus as he realised that there was no one else behind the counter.
"Well, you see Sir. I wasn't lucky enough to have a chance to start a family. I have an assistant but he has been sick for a week now."
"I see. Then take this for your efforts." said Marcus reaching inside his pocket and giving the bartender a very nice tip.
"Thank you very much Sir." said the old man. Though he tried to hide it, it was clear that he was moved by the gesture. "I'll bring your beer in a minute." and he left.
How could this be even better?
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Marcus Rienar himself." said a female voice from behind suddenly. A voice, very familiar to Marcus.
Turning around, his suspicion was confirmed. "Oh my. Maybe this galaxy isn't that big after all, right Lena?" he said grinning.
Standing before him with crossed arms and with a teasing smile was Lena Barani, lieutenant colonel of the Imperial Army. She was just as he remembered her with her tall figure, narrow brown eyes and raven black hair. The two were classmates back at the Academy, but the nature of their relationship was quite questionable. What was common in them was how high they got on the ladder of ranks at such a young age thanks to their capabilities, but that was basically all. Marcus came from Carida, from one of the richest families in the galaxy, his father was a senator and a great supporter of the Empire. On the other hand, Lena was born into a much lower class. Marcus was rather prim, while she was impulsive.
During their school years they were neither friends nor enemies; most of their interactions consisted of Lena teasing and mocking him constantly, but never too rudely. He never really minded it; to be honest, their little fights were rather fun.
"It's been a while, right mister moneybag?" she asked back.
"The good old Lena. Never fails to remind me what she thinks about me." he said leaning back against the counter.
"Because you deserve it." she replied. She was always convinced that Marcus bought his status into the Navy like those Ozzels, another rich family from Carida did. For her part she truly worked hard to achieve where she was now.
"You think so?" raised Marcus an eyebrow.
"Without question."
"In this case let me invite you for a drink."
"Very well. But not some weak stuff. Let it be the strongest, hell like thing this place has. And you're joining me." she pointed at him.
"If that is your wish." he smirked. "I'm sorry, could we have two Settov Hammers too." he turned back to the bartender.
"Of course." he said, handing them the beverages.
"Thank you. Then cheers."
"Cheers." replied Lena as they clinked their glasses.
The drink was brutal, Marcus felt as if he was drinking lava, though he managed to hold back his grimace. Lena must have felt the same, he couldn't imagine that it was nothing for her, but she didn't show any signs of wavering either.
"You endure the training?" she teased him.
"Don't even dream about breaking me." he grinned back.
"Then what about a second one? It's on my account now."
"Let it rip."
Though the burning feeling was now spreading all over his body he still didn't get dizzy.
"Hey, don't we want to watch them?" asked Lena gesturing with her head toward the back corner where some of the younger officers began a boxing match in their high spirits.
A minute later they were both standing in the circle around an empty place where two men were fighting each other. One of them was a major, named Teon Bohmer, a two meters tall man and probably the strongest person in the bar that night. He already knocked out two challengers and he was about to finish the third one. He raised his fist and a strike on the forehead almost sent his opponent flying.
His newest victory was celebrated by huge ovations from the crowd. "Is there someone else?" he asked smugly.
"Here I am." said Lena confidently, without any hesitation.
Marcus couldn't believe his ears. He knew she was nothing to joke with, but seriously? She wants to fight this literal giant? "Ehm... Did you think this through?"
"Aw, how sweet is someone." she joked with him, pulling her fingers along his chin. "No need to be worry about me." she winked.
Before he could say anything, she was on the middle of the ring.
"You are brave Miss, but not wise." laughed Bohmer conceitedly.
"Thanks for the advice Mister. Remember it when you hit the ground." replied Lena as she took down her overcoat, handing it to Marcus and tucked up the sleeves of her shirt.
As soon as she readied herself, Bohmer swung forward but Lena evaded the strike with leaning away and a blink of an eye later she was behind him and landed a strike on his nape. The enormous man staggered for a moment, visibly surprised. He didn't wait with the counter strike however and charged furiously. Blocking a hit from Lena with his arm he managed to deliver a massive slap on the side of her head which made her to make an unintentional 180-degree turn. Exploiting her disadvantage, he grabbed her from behind, folding his thick arms around her.
She recovered quickly however and using her womanly flexibility she swung her leg up and kicked Bohmer on the face with her heavy boots. He immediately released her which she thanked with a hit on his stomach. It was effective but way not enough to finish him off as she punched solid abdominal muscle.
She avoided two more hits of the angry Bohmer before knocking him strongly on the chin from below. This was the point when he lost control giving her the chance to deliver the final blow. She literally pirouetted and knocked him on the head with her boots again, sending him onto the floor.
The spectators were silent for a moment, staring in awe at the scene before cheering loudly for her.
"Is there someone else?" she asked grinning, wiping the narrow stream of blood from her temple. "You." she pointed once again at Marcus.
"Are you damn serious?" he frowned in disbelief.
"Why? I guess you want revenge for many things." she laughed. "Here's the perfect chance. Or are you afraid perhaps after what you just saw?"
"Never." he replied annoyed, taking down his own overcoat. "Bring it on." he said as he entered the circle.
Not even replying she readied herself again with a teasing smile. For nearly a minute they were just circling around each other before she took a sudden step forward, trying to hit him but he leaned away, getting behind her.
"Hm. Not so bad." she said. By the look on Marcus' face she was certain that he had a plan, but she was sure she could defeat him.
Once again she moved forward but when she tried to punch him again, he suddenly grabbed her wrist with his left hand, his right hand reaching under her armpit. He turned around, knelt down and threw her over himself. Before she had even a second to react, he was on top of her, pinning her to the ground, disabling both of her arms. She tried to free herself, but in this situation it couldn't be helped that she was a woman and he was a heavier man.
Seeing that she lost this round Lena finally stopped writhing under him. "Feeling good?" she asked with a sigh, trying not to think about the awkward fact that their faces were mere centimetres from each other.
"Taking revenge? Definitely." replied Marcus and helped her up. "Another bottle of beer?"
"Would be nice I admit." she said dusting herself off.
And with that everyone went on to enjoy the evening in all sorts of ways.