Chapter 10

 TEN

Trigger walked briskly out of the flight equipment shop. He was surprised how excited he was, a few months prior, the whole process was fairly dull, but today he felt like a brand-new nugget, still fresh in the F-16 training program over the deserts of Osea. He had done the mental math and by his count, the months following his promotion he had only logged around eight hours of actual flight time, Now acting more as a backup or alert pilot rather than on a regular CAP detail. Today’s flight was mundane, a two ship of Trigger and Lanza would be patrolling the airspace around Selatapura for around two and a half hours. Walking into the maintenance hut, Trigger could see he beat his wingman in getting ready for the flight. He walked up to the desk where a Lieutenant was eagerly awaiting him

“Beat your wingman here again today Major?” The Lieutenant asked

“Yep, but I think he’s still figuring out how all the clips work on his flight suit” Trigger joked.

“Well since you’re here sir, I’ll let you at least get the paperwork started.” The Lieutenant explained, turning behind him to grab the folders.

Trigger opened his and furrowed his brow

“So, care to tell me why the Aircraft is blank?” Trigger asked

“Yeah, one of the Crew chiefs called, I guess the plane they had you attached to for this flight had some last minute bugs in the FMS, They have another one ready, and all the docs are updated, Guess I didn’t get the plane number updated. Whoops” The officer explained

Trigger shook his head and continued to read the documentation. “Go figure, let me figure out everything your guys didn’t do right” he said jokingly

“Yes sir, figured you’d like to take the Boyington approach to these things” the Lieutenant said, Trigger raised an eyebrow at the reference. The Lieutenant started to speak before cutting himself off, letting the unexplained joke die where it stood.

As Trigger continued reading, he was surprised how pristine the paperwork was, especially considering most of the LRSSG’s fighters had been put through the wringer multiple times in the past year. By Triggers math the aircraft were probably due for major overhauls the moment they returned to Osea, whenever that would be.

As Trigger continued reading, he heard someone slam into the door, turning his attention he saw Lanza sheepishly open the door and walk in.

“Ow” he mumbled, causing some of the sergeants behind the counter to snicker at the young pilot.

“Glad of you to join us, here you go” Trigger said, handing Lanza his aircraft folder.

After both men signed off for their airplanes they walked out towards the ramp. Lanza immediately made his way towards his fighter 307, while Trigger looked for the plane he had been using 306. Since both Trigger and Count’s Eagles had been trashed in the desperate fight against the Arsenal Bird Justice; they had taken over piloting both Jeager’s and Skald’s aircraft in their absence. Trigger thought back on how 306 was behaving the last time he flew it, a month prior, as he walked out to greet his crew chief.

His mind had been drawing a blank on what could have happened. Probably something stupid like a terminal oil leak or shitty sensor Trigger thought to himself.

“Afternoon sir!” Trigger’s crew chief, Staff Sergeant True shouted

“Hey, how’s it going?” Trigger asked, looking around the usual spot for his airplane and seeing an empty ramp in its place “Any idea where my plane is?”

“Sorry Major, something came up on the first plane but, I really don’t think you’ll mind the wait on the replacement” Sergeant True replied, grinning widely

Trigger stared at the NCO for a moment. He looked over anxiously towards Lanza, who was already climbing up the ladder to the cockpit.

The squawking from Sergeant True’s radio caught Triggers attention, he strained to hear what was being said over the shrill noises of the airports ramp.

“Major, your birds being towed out now, but its on the other side of the ramp, we’ll take the golf cart out if you’ll follow me” Sergeant True reported, motioning for Trigger to follow towards an awaiting Golf cart. Trigger couldn’t help but notice the large black spray paint marks over the logo of the Selatapura Airport Authority. Its just ‘liberated’ Trigger reminded himself.

Trigger threw his helmet bag in the back and piled into the cart, The Sergeant behind the wheel gunned the gas and the cart sped off at an uncomfortably high speed.

As the cart neared the hangar, Trigger strained to see the F-15 sitting on the ramp.

“Major, remember when you fucked up your airplane?” True asked

“Your going to have to be more specific than that” Trigger responded

“You know, that pristine F-15 you trashed when you fucked away the landing on the Anderson?” True continued, slightly annoying Trigger with the brusque vulgarity, no matter how true it was.

“Yes, I rode it to the scene of the accident, why?”

“Well you see, us Mechanics kinda were hurt by that, and at the insistence of that scary woman, we have been slightly busy” True explained.  

Trigger was floored by what he saw, to any other person, it looked like any other F-15 Osea flew, but to Trigger.

“Yeah, we made a deal with one of the CH-47 crews that passed by to get her slung off of the Carrier and over here. You should have been here to see it!” True excitedly explained, driving around the perimeter of the aircraft,

Trigger sat mesmerized at the sight. The plane looked to him almost brand new, the large claw marks on the vertical stabilizer looked freshly painted.

Trigger motioned for True to stop the cart, not even waiting for the cart to fully slow down Trigger stepped off and ran to the airplane. He did a thorough walk around, everything looked sound.

“Welcome back girl” Trigger said softly, patting the nose of the fighter gently, before turning his attention back to his crew chief.

“How long have you all been working on this thing?” Trigger asked

“two months straight, give or take a few days, That Scrap Queen that took charge on the Anderson came by around late December and asked why we hadn’t gotten your plane flying yet, she raised so much hell with the brass on that” True explained

Trigger was taken aback “I honestly didn’t know” he said truthfully

“Well it helps you never paid us a visit out here” True started “Besides, it wasn’t that easy to get it back in shape either, we pretty much ripped one of the spare aircraft being ferried on the Anderson down to the rivets and put everything on here. That means you sir have two cherry new engines, brand new AESA radar, Landing gear and we even had to trade out the wings since you managed to bang those up too. But that being said we tried to keep her as stock 015 as we could. Scrap Queen gave us some guidance on the mods that she did to her. She should fly just as you remembered it” True explained

“Sergeant, if I wasn’t already taken, I could hug you” Trigger said smiling ear to ear.

“That’s fine sir, just don’t forget to drop a few kegs off for us next time” True said laughing

Taking a second to compose himself, “We ready to go or do we need to do the full maintenance pre-flight?” Trigger asked

“No Sir, everything is ready to go on my end, once you get your walk around complete you can go rock and roll” True replied.

***
Trigger taxied to the hold short line of the active runway

“Strider One-One, Strider Four” Trigger heard Lanza break the radio silence

Trigger keyed the mic “Go”

“Looking good today Trigger, did they polish the wheels as well?” Lanza complimented

Trigger chuckled “Yeah, ol’ Cal even put in the free complimentary load of chaff and flares for me”

“Solid copy” Lanza said laughing

***

Trigger looked at his watch and cross referenced to his fuel gauge, By his count Lanza and him had been airborne for a little over two hours, Having departed with full fuel and only sipping around 3000 pounds per hour at this altitude, he looked down as was pleasantly greeted with the total quantity sitting at a little less than 6000 pounds. Perfect he thought to himself.

Trigger keyed his mic “Strider Four, Strider One, Status?”

A second later, Lanza’s tinny voice came back over the radio “Strider Four, Status is bored”

“Understood Strider Four, nobody but us up here today” Trigger replied

“I think I caught an Airliner at angels 40, but, that’s about it. Who knew I’d miss getting my ass shot off by the Eruseans”

Trigger looked out over the landscape, The two had been patrolling along the coast of Gunther for any indication of Radical forces, but the airspace had been quiet ever since late December with Twisters death.

Trigger checked his watch again, 1703. He furrowed his brow in annoyance relief should have checked in by now, he thought to himself.

Trigger cycled through the Radar and data link computer, The only target he had was Lanza’s F-15, which was a few miles ahead of his own.

“Strider Four, Strider One, do you have our relief on Data Link yet?” Trigger asked

“Negative Strider One, Four’s scope is clean” Lanza replied.

“Well bright side is we still have another hour before joker” Trigger said.

He heard the mic click twice as in acknowledgement.

Trigger pulled out his kneeboard to the frequency the AWACS would be sitting on.

“Strider One, Sunrise?” Trigger called out, asking if any of the bases two AWACS were on frequency

“Long Caster is Sunrise” a familiar voice replied

“Long Caster, Strider One, any idea where our relief is?” Trigger asked

“Standby Strider” the Air Battle Manager replied.

After a pregnant pause, the AWACS came back

“Affirmative Strider One, Flight of two F-35’s from Salamander just went wheels up about eight minutes ago, en-route to the rendezvous point and ahead by three zero miles. ETA six minutes” Long Caster reported.

“Strider One copies a flight of two Fat Amy’s en-route, six minutes.”  Trigger replied, switching back to the CAP frequency.

“Strider Four, Strider One, we have two Fat Amy’s inbound, should be about six minutes late.” Trigger replied to his wingman.

“Strider Four copies all. Its supposed to be FOD and Logo right?” Lanza asked

Lieutenant ‘FOD’ Christensen and Captain ‘Logo’ Albright were some of the original Salamander Squadron members. Both having survived the chaos of Operation Daredevil and helping to provide air support during Operation Hush, Trigger was more than familiar with their flying abilities.

Trigger had been impressed with Logo’s ability to take charge of the squadron after Twisters death, it reminded him painfully of the same thing he went through following Farbanti when the Long Range Strategic Strike Groups’ own leader was killed, and the LRSSG looked to Trigger for guidance.

“That’s affirmative, should be the OG lizardmen” Trigger replied.

A Scratchy voice came on over the radio “How many time’s do I have to explain that Salamander’s aren’t lizards! They’re Reptiles!” It was that of FOD

“Well maybe if you showed up on time, we wouldn’t have to call you that!” Lanza taunted

Before the banter could continue, a different voice crackled over the frequency

“Strider One, Salamander One, Flight of two F-35s making best speed to be on station in three minutes, Sorry for the wait” Logo replied.

Trigger noticed the flight appear his radar scope, he had no illusions it was thanks more to their shared Data Link rather than the AESA finding the fighter.

“Strider One has you on the scope, You boy’s have a fun flight.” Trigger replied.

“Salamander on Station, ETA One Minute. Strider cleared off” Logo called

“Strider RTB” Trigger said, completing the handoff.

He watched as the two F-35 Lightnings passed underneath His and Lanza’s own. He noticed the lead, probably Logo, wag his wings. Trigger in kind rocked His Eagle’s wings.

Pilots were weird like that.

 

Nearing the city of Selatapura, Trigger checked his watch again, 1715

Cossette should be home by now, Trigger thought to himself, He pulled out the chart and tablet and quickly jotted the path and descent angle.

“Strider Four, Strider One, how’s your fuel?” Trigger asked

“Strider Four currently at three thousand five hundred pounds” Lanza reported

Trigger checked his own fuel quantity it was now hovering closer to five thousand pounds.

 

“Strider Four, how do you feel about doing a fly-by of the city? You know, show the people of Selatapura that the OADF is still here.” Trigger asked

“Strider One, Four, I’m not sure, my birds been a bit of a fuel hog, if its all the same to you I might bingo out if we try that.

“Understood Four, get back to base, I’ll be a few minutes behind.” Trigger responded.

“Strider Four Copies”

Trigger checked his cheat sheet and plugged in the frequency for the Selatapura Approach control.

The frequency wasn’t as busy as Trigger was used to.

“Selatapura Approach, Strider One, four zero miles out, single ship, would like to do the city fly-by if able” Trigger called

“Strider One, state requested altitude?” The Approach Controller replied.

“Strider One looking for Angels two if able” He reported,

He waited for a moment before the controller replied.

“Strider one, cleared for the fly-by and through the ISEV Restricted area at two thousand, Squawk fife-tree-fife-zero” the Controller directed

“Five-Three-Five Zero, cleared down to Two thousand” Trigger repeated, pulling his throttles to idle and pushing the nose forward, He watched the number on the VSI in his HUD increase as the altitude tape started falling rapidly. He watched as he was keeping the Mach number at less than 1.  

After a few moments in the descent, he started to arrest the descent at just above six thousand feet and still a few miles away from the city, he could still see the Elevator dominating the skyline even this far away.

He continued to slow the Eagle down as it approached the city, he began his pass over the industrial region at just above Two-hundred fifty knots. As he neared the city center, he slammed the throttle forward, he felt a kick as the after burners engaged, and he watched his Airspeed tape rapidly climb passed three hundred and quickly approaching four hundred knots.

He started a turn at four hundred knots above the city, He looked over to see that he was abeam to the building Cossette was staying in.

He hoped she enjoyed the show.

Peeling back towards the Airport he checked back at his fuel quantity gauge. He had burned nearly one thousand pounds of fuel in the quick time and was now only sitting at less than three thousand, plenty to return to base but not much else.

“That was worth it” he said to himself.  

***
Cossette had just closed the door and fell into her chair. The Politics of dealing with just the city leadership had been a surprisingly tiresome affair, especially for someone who wasn’t yet old enough to drink. She was beginning to understand why her father loathed being a king. It was a constant struggle to keep the peace between the Selatapuran government, along with the remnants of her own monarchy. She conceded that their concerns were valid considering Erusea’s history with the Gunther region, but it still hadn’t made her life any less frustrating.

She sighed defeated by yet another tiresome day. She was just beginning to doze off when she heard the sound. One all too familiar to her the past year. Getting up, she rushed to the balcony to see where the roar was emanating from. Along the shoreline, she spotted a lone dot rushing along the coast. Suddenly Cossette could hear a loud boom echo as the dot started to take form. As it got nearer, she could see the bright orange afterburners of the jet, it rolled slightly and began a turn, passing straight over her building.

Time seemed to stop for Cossette as she studied the aircraft. She remembered seeing a picture of this plane once in Triggers apartment, an Eagle? She thought to herself. She took notice to the tail, A talon with three claw marks adorning it.

Her thoughts flashed back to when she first saw those marks. Anchorhead bay being torn apart in the opening days of the civil war. Little did she know at the time how much her and Trigger’s paths would intertwine.

before going to bed that night, she looked at her phone and noticed a text

T: How was the show?

***
Trigger walked into the ready-room and slouched into one of the many recliners scattered around the room. He looked around and noticed Count sitting across from him playing one of the few video-games they had found.

“Which one is that?” Trigger asked,

“I think its called ‘Assault Horizon’ or something, not really realistic and everything is in Erusean so I cant tell what’s happening anyways.” Count replied.

Trigger nodded and started absently scrolling through his phone.   

“So, Trigger, any idea’s when we may rotate back to Osea?” Count asked, Trigger noticed Lanza, who had been sitting behind the bar perk up at the question.

“Honestly no, since we are a bit of a niche unit, Command hasn’t figured out what to do with us yet. Besides the LRSSG’s current AO is Usea so it would make sense we get sent back to New Arrows before that.” Trigger responded, much to the disappointment of the two pilots.

“Why, what are you so keen to get back to Osea for?” Trigger asked

“Family” Lanza replied disappointed.

“Well It would be nice to stop living as a criminal, hell I might even try to stick to the right side of the law this time” Count said, jerking the controller as he made the fighter jet in the videogame do a complex maneuver. Trigger watched in bemusement.

“Any other big plans then that?” Trigger asked

“Yeah actually. Huxian and I are planning on taking leave together to go see her parents”

“Wait, Huxian has parents?” Trigger asked legitimately surprised, setting down his phone and sitting up

“News to me” Lanza replied, stirring a drink he had made.

“Yeah. For all that shit she speaks about herself she really was that goody two shoes perfect daughter.” Count said with a hint of bemusement at the revelation.

“Huh, just based off how she talks about it you would think she was homeless or something” Trigger said

“Nope. Turns out daddy Huxian is a big-time investment banker In Oured and Mom is the senior member of some big law firm down there, even defended some of the Osean defectors after the Belkan war in the nineties.” Count explained

“Hmm” Trigger responded in amusement.

“Well I guess she couldn’t be the perfect daughter. She did end up with you” Trigger added.

Count leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head
“well what can I say. Every girl has their ‘bad boy’ phase; And to be honest I think she just didn’t want everyone to think she made it in because of her parents. So, she distanced herself and tried to do it all the hard way. Can’t say I would be disappointed if my kid did that”

The three pilots sat and thought of the subject.

“So, Trigger, when are you gonna introduce us to that girl you have been seeing?” Count asked, turning his chair towards Trigger and leaning forward waiting for the response

The question caught Trigger off guard, he stammered for a moment

“Dude. We all know you’ve been seeing someone. I even heard the other Group commanders talking about it the other day. You’re the one who moved furthest out in town and is off base the most-” Lanza pressed

“-And there’s only so many places open in town that you can afford to be on your salary, and to be entirely honest you’re a bit of a nerd so I doubt you’re out at the clubs. So, who is she?” Count concluded.

Trigger took a second to formulate his answer

“No idea what you’re talking about” Trigger said flatly.

“Yeah… Bullshit. I just told you a bunch of stuff about my girl, tell me a bit about yours.”

“Again. No Idea what you’re talking about” Trigger lied, quickly grabbing his phone as a distraction. He could feel his face become hot and out of the corner of his eye he saw Count scowl and felt Lanza’s gaze bore into him.

“Hey guys what are you talking about?” Huxian asked, walking in with two cups of Coffee.

“Eh, nothing.” Count replied.

“Whats up Huxian?” Trigger asked.

“Nothing, except the Base commander needs to see you tomorrow morning.” Huxian explained, walking over and handing Count a cup of coffee.

Lanza smirked and took a sip of his drink

“Told ya so” he said in a smarmy tone

“Fuck” Trigger groaned.
***
Trigger sat uncomfortably in the still waiting room chair. Despite his status as a field grade officer, he had yet to acclimate meeting with the base’s colonel as often as he was. No matter how he adjusted himself, he couldn’t quite find a position to sit that put him at ease.

Trigger noticed the duty NCO at the desk pick up the phone, after a brief and hushed conversation that Trigger couldn’t quite hear, the sergeant stood up and walked into the Colonel’s office, allowing the door to shut behind her.

The entire situation reminded Trigger of his time as a ROTC cadet, waiting to speak to the detachments Cadre. He hated the feeling of not knowing what was coming next.

A moment later the Sergeant returned and approached Trigger.

“Major, the Colonel will see you now” She softly said.

Trigger stood up and quickly walked into the office and stood at attention in front of the Colonel’s desk. He felt under-dressed for the occasion wearing just his ABU’s instead of his Class B’s. The Colonel, not taking his attention away from his computer screen waived for Trigger to take a seat. Sitting in silence Trigger looked around the office. The last time he had been in the Colonel’s office was when he had been promoted at the end of December, almost four months prior. On one bookshelf in the room, he noticed a large collection of airplane models. From what he could see it was small airplanes from the Beechcraft Bonanza, all the way to the turboprop King Air and some larger business jets. On the far ends of the collection Trigger noticed a handful of military models as well, to include an MV-22, Osean C-17, and an Erusean MiG-28. Considering the buildings history as an FBO, Trigger wasn’t sure how many of the models might have belonged to the Colonel, and how many belonged to the prior occupants.

“Trigger-“ the Colonel spoke up, still focusing on his computer screen, “How was your flight yesterday?”

“Fine sir, CAVU the entire ride” Trigger reported, The Colonel turned to Trigger, laughed and steepled his hands on the desk. “Glad to hear it, Can I get you anything, Water? Coffee?” The Colonel asked. “No Sir” Trigger said, starting to feel the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand. The Colonel’s mood shifted

“So, I just got a call from some very upset bureaucrats, about us breaking the sound barrier during a city fly-by or something? Does that sound familiar Trigger?” he interrogated, the smile disappearing from his face.   

Trigger thought back to yesterdays flight. At no point did he see the Mach meter climb above one.

Trigger shook his head “No sir, my tapes should reflect as much, I think We, I, Topped out at only around five-hundred knots”

The Colonel nodded and then a smirk reappeared on his face “Figured as much. Honestly, I don’t personally care if you did or not. But these whiney-asses are going to bitch no matter what we do. I think most people enjoy those shows of force, Fighter jets are cool goddammit. City doesn’t see it that way however” he explained,

“Since when do we actually care what they think? Sir.” Trigger asked,

“Since they sent a strongly worded message to our higher ups wanted to evict us from the airport.”

“Can they even do that sir?”

“Probably not, we have more guns and equipment scattered around here than they do. Even if they wanted to remove us by force it won’t happen. But Oured wants us to be ‘good neighbors’ I guess” The Colonel said, making air quotes with his hands.

“And Since you are not only the fighter group commander, and the responsible party for the other days incident, your coming with me tomorrow night to smooth this out with the City” The Colonel continued

“Don’t we have a public affairs officer for that kind of stuff?”

“My PAO died back in October, haven’t really gotten around to getting a new one yet”

“I see” Trigger said

“We will be meeting them at 1800 tomorrow, be sure to be here with service dress at 1600 so we can get there on time. Hopefully it’s not going to be too much whining” The Colonel said unenthused

“Wouldn’t this be better handled by the diplomat’s sir?”

The Colonel snorted “Ha, I wish, They’re still trying to figure out who the leadership is of Erusea so they don’t have to speak to that little girl”, Trigger felt his pulse rise with the insult, but composed himself and said nothing.

“Will that be all sir?”

“Nope, you’re free to leave Major”

Trigger stood up and briskly exited the room.

***
Trigger and the Colonel stepped out of the back of the staff car in front of the Selatapura Opera House.

“Well they certainly don’t lack for style” Trigger noted, putting on his borrowed service cap and adjusting his service coat. At least this coat is mine this time Trigger thought to himself.

“Well, I guess we can see this as their answer to your show of force the other day Trigger”.

Walking into the main hall, He could see it was mostly empty, save for a few personnel in suits milling about.

“Are you the OADF Representatives?” A young woman walked up and asked the two Officers

“Yes Ma’am, We were not told where the meeting was to take place” The Colonel replied

“I understand, right this way gentlemen” She said, Guiding them through the back hallways and onto the Main stage. There Trigger could see multiple politicians sitting around a large table located at the center of the stage.

The man at the head of the table stood up

“Gentlemen, nice for you to join us” he said in a slick voice that made Trigger’s skin crawl

“Are we expecting an audience?” The Colonel asked motioning towards the empty seats, sidestepping the insult.

The man made a humorless laugh. Everything about him just seemed wrong to Trigger.

“Of course not! We as the City leaders thought it would be appropriate to have this in one of our more iconic locations” the man said walking up and shaking the hands of both Trigger and the Colonel.

“Can we get this talk over and done with?” The Colonel asked brusquely.

“Of course, Colonel! We know you and your man here are busy people, but we are awaiting one other person to attend before we start this, dialog. So please, take a seat” the man directed.

The more the man spoke, the more Trigger hated him.  

Both men taking a seat, Trigger taking the seat left of the Colonel. He started to read the agenda in front of him before realizing it was entirely written in Erusean.

“Jesus Christ, they can’t even be bothered to write it in Common” the Colonel hissed in a hush tone.

The two men sat under the harsh lights, Trigger studied the members of the City Council, some he had seen in the news as they were moguls of industry, one middle aged woman Trigger recognized as the current executive overseeing the ISEV.

There was a brief commotion that caught both Osean’s attention. He turned to see a young woman, of slender build, wearing a blue dress business suit, her blond hair tied in a bun, Trigger was taken aback by her striking features.

“What the hell?” The Colonel said in annoyance. Trigger was just as shocked to see Cossette as his commander was.

The Lead man walked back to the table, motioning for the place the Princess to sit.

Taking his seat at the head of the table, the Man began to speak

“Thank you all for gathering here today on such a short notice, I would like to think both the Princess of Erusea, and the officers from the Osean Military for attending todays meeting”

“If I may ask, what is this meeting for?” Cossette interjected,

The man was taken aback at the interruption, but quickly composed himself

“Simply put your highness. We as the leadership of the City of Selatapura would like to discuss the further occupation of this city by either the forces of Erusea or Osea.” He said.

“What do you mean occupation?” The Colonel growled

“Colonel, you have been living rent free on our property for over six months, best we can tell the only service you have provided was causing constant disruptions with your military operations out of our Airport” the man spat.

“So why exactly am I here?” Cossette asked

“Your highness, we requested your presence today in hope to get your support to have the Erusean military continue the security of the Elevator in lieu of the Osean military, furthermore, if we could have your support in evicting the-“

“Not going to happen” Cossette said bluntly

“Im sorry but what?” The man said dumbfounded

“Simply put, this area is under the control of the IUN is it not Councilman Troy?” Cossette asked

“Yes but” The man, Councilman Troy, stammered

“The Oseans are one of the largest military member states of the IUN and have been providing security to this region ever since the end of the war.” Cossette started.

Trigger looked over and saw a bemused look on the Colonels face, before returning his attention towards Cossette.

“That being said, while I do hope to one day help in the security of the Elevator and Selatapura, I simply do not have the manpower to spare. My People have come as occupiers twice to this region, we do hope to come as friends but now is not that time. You’re an Idiot for expecting otherwise Councilman” Cossette reprimanded.

“What gives you the right?” Troy Growled, standing up and slamming his fist on the table, Cossette sat unfazed at the threat.

“Troy is it? I think the Princess just told you her position on this. And as for ours? Osea will not be leaving until the IUN asks us too, Unless you really want to strike out on your own surrounded by enemies while sitting on one of the most important strategic resources our planet has at the moment” the Colonel explained condescendingly.

Councilman Troy exhaled sharply and took a seat. “So be it.” He hissed.

“Is there anything for us left to discuss then?” one of the council members asked

After a pause of answers, the ISEV executive spoke up

“With that out of the way, we do have a small buffet set up if you all would care to join us”

The Colonel clapped his hands together, standing up and grabbing his service hat “Gladly!”

 

Trigger followed the group into a small rehearsal hall, there were small tables laid out and multiple staff waiting aside buffet tables. Trigger stood in line behind the Colonel and grabbed a small finger sandwich and drink.

“Man, I bet Long Caster wished he was here right now” Trigger said jokingly

“Heh, I don’t see how the man can eat that much, and still make the weight limit every time” the Colonel sighed.

“He has the Metabolism of a blast furnace I’m convinced” Trigger said

Trigger felt a tap on his shoulder

“Trigger?” He heard a voice say, he turned around and saw Cossette standing there smiling.

“Ah, Hello your highness!” Trigger said awkwardly

“How are you doing Captain?” She asked nonchalantly

The Colonel turned to see her

“Its actually Major now your Highness.” The Colonel explained, shaking Cossette’s hand

“Ah, Congratulations Major, and Colonel-“Her voice waivered off

“It’s Colonel Byrns Ma’am” He politely reminded her

“Ah yes! I apologize Colonel Byrns, my memory is awful when it comes to names” She explained apologetically

“Not a problem ma’am, besides after the show you just gave? I think that is acceptable” Colonel Byrns laughed “So have you and the Major already met?” he asked

“Yes Sir, Princess D’Elies and the LRSSG’s paths have crossed a few times. I think our first meeting in person was last November however” Trigger explained,

“Indeed, I understand it was Trigger who was at Tyler Island where I was rescued, and was that you flying the other day Major?” Cossette continued, smirking at Trigger.

“Yes Ma’am it was” Trigger replied

“Well, I quite liked it, It would be nice if the other pilots did that as well Colonel” She continued

“Well Ma’am, we can definitely see about that” Byrns replied.

The three continued to chat as the night went on, Byrns quickly excusing himself for a moment to refill his plate.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming tonight dear” Cossette whispered to Trigger

“Last minute addition, We were kinda in the dark about the whole shindig” He explained

“That was really impressive how you shut that Councilman down” Trigger complimented

“Yes, that. Austin Troy has been a prick for as long as I’ve known of him. Even before the war he was constantly trying to start shit.” Cossette said disgusted.

“Well I am not going to lie and say it wasn’t hot to see you rip into him” Trigger flirted.

Cossette brushed his hand gently

“Oh don’t make me blush, remember, we don’t know each other technically” she winked.

“Well maybe one day we could actually go to a nice restaurant like this without the worry of being recognized” Trigger said longingly, Cossette pursed her lips. “One day dear” she replied

The moment was interrupted by Colonel Byrns returning

“Well Ma’am, it was wonderful to finally meet you in person, but we will have to get back to base. I hope you understand” Colonel Byrns explained

“Of course, It was wonderful talking to both of you!” Cossette said cheerfully

The two men said their goodbyes and started making their way back to the vehicle.

 

The pair stood in front of the Opera house waiting for the staff car.

“I forgot you and the Princess had a history Trigger” Byrns said

“Yes sir, small world isn’t it” Trigger noted, partially avoiding the question

“Well it’s a good thing. From what I’m hearing from the brass, the future between Oured and Farbanti may very well ride on any good impressions we can make with her. It was D’Elise who got her country in a furor to fight against us, it may very well be D’Elise who decides how Erusea will act the next time something comes up” Byrns explained, staring out towards the Elevator.

Trigger could see the multiple red anti-collision lights adorning the wind break and strands reaching up towards the void.

“We can only hope sir” Trigger said remotely