Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Five (section)

===Hi, Chuck===


Below in the lounge, Lieutenant Kines looked unhappily at the remaining stockpile of alcohol in his O-Club bar.  It looked like it had been used for target practice.

“I suppose the Royal Daughters at least are too young to drink,” he said.

One of the fighter pilots at the bar glanced over his shoulder as two familiar red points of light appeared over at the hatch.  “Say, speaking of,” he said.

Kines looked up and smiled as the five teens made their way through the room.  “Sirs, Ladies Primarch, welcome back,” he said.

“Hello, Chuck,” Remilia said.  She glanced around the room.  “Looks a bit different,” she said.  Indeed, several small pieces of carpeting had been cut out from the floor in places.

“There was a bit of damage in here from the ship rocking about in the atmosphere,” Kines said.  “I wasn’t here, I was manning one of the firefighting teams, but one of the Death Guard Terminators was, thankfully.  Or my stock would be even more depleted,” he sighed.

“What?” Jake asked.

“After the battle, we put in over the capital for quick repairs.  Mine was probably the only working bar outside the capital’s inner city,” he said with a rueful grin.  “Sold about ninety percent of the alcohol on the ship that day.”

Jake laughed, sliding into a seat.  “So I imagine.  You still have some non-alcoholic drinks left, I hope?”

“Sure, if you like cola and water,” Kines said.  Jake shrugged.

“Water works.”

“By the way,” Kines said, pouring drinks for them all, “you’ll never guess who I met.”

“Who?” Remilia asked as the others took their drinks.

“Julius Pius,” Kines said.  “He sat right there where you’re sitting, Remilia,” he said, pointing at her seat.

“Really?  Wow.  Small galaxy,” Remilia said.  “Is he all right?”

Kines hesitated.  “Not…really, no,” he said.  “He took the battle hard.”

Remilia nodded glumly. “I see.  Well…we’ll see him on Terra.  I’m sure he can talk to us then.”

The fighter pilot nodded his thanks to the bartender and stood, heading out to the hatch.  As soon as he was out of earshot, Remilia sighed into her glass with a longing air, and he struggled to keep a smile off his face.  “I’ll be around all evening, if you wish to return after dinner,” he said.  “I just opened.  It’s pretty early in the duty rotation right now.”

“I think we will,” Venus said for them all.  “But for now, you mind if we just stick around and talk?”

“Of course not, Venus,” Kines said with a professional smile.  “It’s your ship.”

The hours passed, as Kines retold his own, meager part of the battle – that is, waiting for fires to start – and the teens recounted Fenris’ many dangers.  Kines seemed particularly interested in the descriptions of King Russ’ side trips with the group, like when they had gone mammoth-watching from the back of a gunship, or when they had visited a field training camp of Great Company Tra.

When lunch rolled around, the group simply ate in, enjoying the company of the few officers who wandered in every so often, trading stories with those brave enough to speak.  By late afternoon, though, the mortal two fifths of the party were starting to feel the day’s length, and the ten hour flight to the ship was catching up to them.  They retired to their own rooms, where they could compose messages to be sent home before they left the Fenris system.
As they reached their own cabin, Jake’s slate beeped.  He opened it and smirked.  “Excellent.  Move-in dates, the RA’s name, local contact data, a map of the town, confirmation of shared residence, some coupons for nearby restaurants, a parking pass for you…just in time.”

Venus peered over his shoulder.  “Perfect.  Any messages from home?”

“One for you,” Jake said, glancing over her slate as well.  “Looks like a message from Farah.”

Venus brought it up.  “Hmm.  Looks like Johor got a job at the Embassy.  That’s cool…aaaand Farah says she’s already hyped up for her trip, and will be leaving…right after we get home.  Guess she wanted to go see her mom early.”  She paged down.  “Aww, that’s sweet.”

“What is?” Jake asked.

She showed him the slate.  “They’re having a going-away party for those of us that are headed off to school, the day after we get back.  Mom and Dad are going to ‘surprise’ me with the car.”

“Awesome,” Jake said.  He grinned at the brief message.  “Your parents are great, you know that?  Just up and giving you a car like that.”

“Well, I’m paying for part of it, but yeah.”  Venus took the slate back and switched it off.  “Listen, Roemer said we had the night, so I think I’ll just eat in.  Order something up from the kitchen and chow down here.  Sound okay?”

“Sure,” Jake said, switching his slate off.  “I suspect Remilia’s gonna want to go to the bar, though.  Alex and Freya might, too.”

“I’m not up for it, really,” Venus said evasively.  “You can.”

“Nah, I’ll just hang here,” he said idly, searching for a menu.  “Hope the kitchen survived the battle.”

Freya and Alex sat across from Remilia in the officer’s mess, watching the crew as they ate.  A few of the Naval personnel seemed downcast, even given that the battle had been a week previous.  Others, however, seemed pleased, with the kind of bare patches on their uniforms that suggested recent promotions, while others yet seemed on the verge of falling over from exhaustion.  Technicians and mechanics from the repair crews, no doubt.

“Never seen the aftermath of a battle like this before,” Remilia said quietly.

A few members of the ship’s security detail patrolled the outer parts of the room.  The lengthy tables were packed with officers, though in what was becoming a trend, not one actually stopped to talk to them.

“Wonder if anyone has a copy of that video of us sparring,” Remilia said drily.

Freya laughed.  “Probably not.  And if they did, who gives a shit?”

Alex downed his water, looking at the officers around them.  “If they’re here, I’d wager the club is pretty empty,” he said.  “You two want to whip me raw at darts after dinner?”

“Sure,” Freya said happily.  “You may even pick something up this time.  Like a dart.”

“I know, right?” Alex sighed.  “I’m so bad at that game.  How can I kick a rugby ball into a target the size of a fruitbasket, but not hit a dartboard?”

Above, Kines wiped down the bar, trying not to sweat under the appraising glare of Haarlan, who had been sitting at the counter chatting with one of the other officers for several minutes at this point.  True to Venus’ word, no sign of punishment for his affair with Remilia seemed forthcoming, and given the combat the ship had seen, it seemed a minor complaint.  Still, a traditionalist Political Officer like Haarlan could carry a grudge like it had handles and a shoulderstrap.

Relief arrived in the form of three of the teens, who made their way over to the dartboard and started playing.  Haarlan, loyal and obsequious political officer that he was, was distracted enough by their presence that Remilia was able to walk right up to the bar and sit down before he even noticed.

“Hi, Lieutenant,” she said, taking the proffered cola.

“Evening, ma’am…Remilia,” he said, adding the ‘mistake’ of referring to her formally for Haarlan’s sake.  Then, she had used his own title for the same reason.  “Will Lord Seager and Lady Venus not be joining us?”

“I suspect that they’re just tired.  Long flight from Fenris,” Remilia said.

“Sure.  We would have sent a lander of our own, of course, but, well…the hangar,” Kines explained.

“Naturally.  The Wolves were happy to accommodate.”  She sipped her drink and set it on a coaster.  “Ever worked with the Wolves before?”

“Nope, neither Space nor Luna,” Kines said.  “In fact before the dinner in Skarokk, I don’t think I’d ever even seen Astartes up close.”

“It’s memorable, isn’t it?” Haarlan put in.  “I wonder if there will be any Imperial Fist Techmarines in the team they send to repair the ship.”  He looked over to Remilia.  “Ordinarily a Salamander Legionary ship will put in at Corprus or Kar Duniash for repairs, but since our destination is Terra anyway, we’ll just put in at Mars.”

“So Captain Roemer tells me,” Remilia said.  She ran her finger along the rim of the glass, looking at the melting ice.  “I admit I was surprised the ship was called spaceworthy enough to transport us so soon after a battle.  What was the casualty count aboard the Tide?” she asked.

Haarlan shook his head.  “Minimal.  Around six crewers and one of the Space Marines we took aboard injured injured.”

“That’s too bad,” she said softly.  “Will there be a formal ceremony?”

“We already had one, ma’am,” Kines said solemnly.  “It was the first full day after we entered the Warp.”

“Oh.”  Remilia looked down into her glass.  “Sorry to turn the tone maudlin.”

Haarlan graciously dismissed her apology.  “It was kind of you to ask.”