Exule
2014-08-25 |  | OS - Calm Before the Storm |  |
Calm Before the Storm
Location: Somewhere between Terra and System LN23
Time: Two days after escaping Terra
It was getting late but Admiral Morgan and Mike Durgan were still far from turning in for the night. The two men had become frequent visitors of the officer lounge aboard the Terran flagship. For the last two nights they would share drinks at the counter and proceed to chat over a game of billiards. Morgan had grown fond of Mike over the last couple of days.
Michael Durgan was dependable, intelligent, and hardworking. Mike had always been of average height. Always popular with the ladies, he was a handsome man with dark hair, light blue eyes, and a perpetual stubble of facial hair. Mike Durgan had been born to poor factory workers in the slums of Terra but had enlisted in the Terran Navy during his late teen years in order to escape poverty. Mike showed promise early on and moved quickly up the ranks before an ill-fated bar fight put his career on hold. Durgan had witnessed a girl being harassed by two naval officers from another division. Mike was often quick to act and ask questions later, a trait that had gotten him in trouble more often than not. If there was one thing Durgan disliked, it was a group of guys that couldn’t take no for an answer. The two men were drunk and, in their inebriated mental state, did not offer much of a challenge for Mike. Unfortunately for Mike, one of the officers turned out to be the son of an influential politician who knew just the right people. Mike was transferred to a dead end job overseeing the Terran shipyards for two years before joining Morgan’s fleet. |
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AdmiralSarek
99+ day(s) ago | Keep them comming |
Exule
99+ day(s) ago | This night had started out with business, as usual. The two men had discussed the attack strategy earlier in the evening over a few drinks at the bar. Mike had convinced the admiral that the safest approach would be to enter LN23 as far away as possible from planet Exule, the site of the previous battle. This would minimize chances of detection by enemy scouts and allow the Terran scouts to sweep the LN23 with their scanners. Having agreed upon a plan, Morgan and Mike relocated to the billiards area.
Continuing the trend of the previous few nights, Durgan was once again beating Morgan at their billiard games. In fact, Mike had won all but one game since they set out for LN23. Morgan suspected that Mike had lost the one round intentionally out of pity more so than any skill on Morgan’s part.
“So tell me, Michael, do you have any family back home? A wife and kid perhaps?”
“No. Just my parents,” replied Mike. “They’re probably worried about me. By now the media has no doubt picked up the story of our encounter with Grand Admiral Lasker.”
“I wouldn’t beat yourself up. I suspect that the Terran government has already covered up the real story. So why hasn’t a strapping lad like you found a pretty girl to settle down with by now? Afraid of being tied down?”
“No, sir. Just waiting for the right kind of gal I guess.”
“You’re off the clock, son. No need to call me ‘sir’ while we’re sharing drinks over billiards. Kills the atmosphere of it all, ya know?”
“Fair enough. How about you, Morgan? Do you have any family?”
“No. Not anymore. My wife and daughters perished at the hands of Calderian slavers during a raid. This was during the Terran civil wars a while back. You were probably too young to remember those days.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Morgan.”
“It is what it is. I’ve had a long time to come to terms.” |
Exule
99+ day(s) ago | Mike decided to change topics. “So when do you think we’ll get to LN23? It seems like time has been dragging along. I might just go mad before we get there.”
“We should be arriving in the next 48 hours,” answered Morgan.
“Good. I’m starting to run out of things to keep myself preoccupied,” replied Mike as he took aim of the cue ball.
“Can you remind me again why we couldn’t just jump straight from Terra to LN23? I’m not sure how much more we can keep playing this game. You’ll have taken all of my money by the time we get to our destination!”
Though Morgan was laughing as he said this, he also thought to himself that this was probably not far from the truth.
“Normally we could make the trip with a single jump, but this dreadnought has an outdated hyperdrive. It wouldn’t be able to jump that far without sustaining damage. That is actually why it was originally not commissioned for use in Grand Admiral Lasker’s military campaign. The ship was supposed to be outfitted with a new hyperdrive next month.”
Mike paused for a moment to take his turn on the billiard table before proceeding.
“Besides, I already told you we didn’t have to keep playing for money,” he said with a laugh.
Morgan frowned, “How else am I supposed to make up the lost credits?”
Mike thought for a moment. “I’ll make you a deal. If you win the next round, you can have all of your credits back.”
“And if I lose?”
“You pay tonight’s bar tab.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” replied Morgan
Now Durgan was grinning from ear to ear. “There’s more. If you lose, I get to sit in your comfy command chair for a day.”
“I’m not sure I like that idea,” said Morgan. “I’ll cover your tab though.”
“Alright. You drive a hard bargain, admiral.”
Several minutes later, Morgan found himself at the bar paying for their drinks. |
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