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CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88
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His path through the corridors of the Oneida led him to the Warp-Tail lounge at the upper aft end of the ship. The L-shaped lounge adjoined the observation deck and offered one a breathtaking view of the stars framed by the two upper warp nacelles. Logan was greeted by soft music and a man who was in the process of sorting bottles of various shapes and colors onto a shelf.
"Oh, a new face." he remarked, alerted to the newcomer by the hiss of the doors. "Welcome to the Warp-Tail Lounge. My name is Remy. What may I offer you?"
The man, his left forearm replaced by a prosthetic, leaned against the bar, and eyed the lieutenant curiously. Logan approached him and placed his helmet on the counter.
"Two shots of Andorian ale and two shots of white tequila with lemon and salt, please."
Logan pulled up one of the bar stools and sat down.
"Pilot, isn't it?"
"Excuse me?"
Remy tapped his nose. "I have a good sense of what people do for a living, and I'll take any bet that you're a pilot. More specifically, a fighter pilot, am I right?"
Logan laughed softly. "Yeah, that's right. How did you know that?"
"Like I said. I have a sense for it."
Logan looked at him in amazement, seriously thrilled at his marksmanship as far as his job was mentioned. Then he saw his helmet lying on the counter and grinned. He had gotten him. Remy winked at him, also with a smirk at the corners of his mouth.
"Busy day, huh?"
Logan nodded wearily. The bartender hauled a small bowl from under his counter and filled it with salty nibbles. He set it on the bar and then began pouring the drinks they had ordered. He took a curved bottle of a blue liquid from the shelf behind him and poured two shot glasses of Andorian ale. It turned out that Remy not only had a nose for his guests' occupations, but also possessed a damn good sense of proportion. He filled both glasses exactly the same without spilling a drop. Logan grabbed a couple of nuts from the bowl and tossed them down his throat. He eyed the bartender's act closely, admiring his precision.
"Little action today, huh?" asked Logan, chewing.
The barkeeper waved it off. "Oh, that. It's just a temporary lull. They'll be back again. I hear we're rushing to the aid of some friends. I can get over not playing first fiddle."
Remy set the next two glasses on the counter and fished another bottle off the shelf. From the rather square bottle, he poured the clear tequila into the glasses and set them down in front of Logan. He briefly moved a few feet to the side and retrieved a fresh-looking lemon from a cooler. The bartender grabbed a knife and cut it widthwise once and then sliced it. He cut the slices and then put them with the shots. Logan's face contorted at the sight alone, and he was already perversely looking forward to the sour taste.
The barkeeper had the small saltshaker quickly brought over. Putting everything together on a small tray, he then pushed it towards the pilot.
"Here you go. Two shots of Andorian ale and two shots of white tequila with lemon and salt. As ordered."
Logan examined the four small glasses in front of him. Abruptly he became aware that here was an ending in front of him, and just as quickly he wasn't sure he wanted to drink the shots anymore.

OOC: I think this is open enough for other Characters abord the Oneida to join if they can

Re: CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

Reply #1 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Nero
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Walking into the lounge on this new Federation starship she found herself upon, Sera vers Aldnoah would have come around much more quickly if she hadn't felt she needed to stick around and help the Oneida's repair team. Since the Sabine might have to be space-worthy in short order, it was imperative that the major issues in the damage reports were addressed, and no one alive knew her dear old ship like herself.

Eventually, with some help getting directions, the Câroon scavenger was heading to the bar, only to find herself coming up next to someone familiar. It was pilot in the remaining Valravn, whom she'd been involved in recruiting that fateful day in the Azure Nebula. It seemed so long ago. Especially given the present situation, in which the man had just lost another wingmate from his old pack.

Sera might not be a fighter pilot herself, but after the month spent at Aldea, in which she'd learned to know a few of the Lone Wolves - Isel Nix in particular - she had come to learn some about the pack mentality of theirs, and how they relied on each other for both survival and getting the job done. Be it protection of Thea or simple patrols.

Bitter, unknowing about what the man might be thinking when it came to the loss of Alessia Garcia, Sera made her order. "Aldebaran whiskey, neat," she said, and ran her tattooed hand through her long hair and looked over at the Lone Wolf with her yellow eyes.

"Bloody ashes, my condolences. I tried to help. To draw attention," she said quietly, shaking her head. "Rough call to make. Ives didn't like me turning the Sabine around, but... in retrospect, I am not sure I could just have left her to die without at least trying to do.... something."

Re: CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

Reply #2 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Logan sat at the counter and stared at the drinks in front of him. He watched as small bubbles rose from the water he had just been given. They formed a light foam on the surface and drifted to the rim of the glass. The pilot dried his hand with a napkin. The outside of the glass bore condensation. It formed a small puddle on the counter at the bottom of the glass. Fortunately, the excess water was prevented from staining the counter by a beer mat. Remy had set the water out for him when he noticed that the pilot was hesitant to drink his ordered drinks. Apparently, the bartender could read the pilot well and realized that he was just in a dark corner, threatening to fall into old patterns of behavior. Where was Zeke when he was needed?

Logan didn't catch the door opening behind him and someone approaching the bar. Only when she raised her voice did Logan recognize her. Sera ordered an Aldebaran whiskey and condoled with the pilot. She tried to justify that she was at least trying to help Alessia, and that Ives didn't agree with her decision.

Logan produced only a short snort. Sera had deviated from the plan. She turned around, putting the whole operation at risk.
"The bad thing is it didn't make any difference," the pilot began after a moment of silence. "There was just too much debris to somehow escape unscathed."
Logan sipped the water and picked up the combadge from Alessia. He turned it over between his fingers. The back was engraved with her name, rank and service number. His thumb stroked the engraving, scanning the ups and downs. Then he tossed it to Sera.
"She did her job. You don't have to apologize for that, Sera. That's...," Logan sniffled, close to tears. "...Occupational hazard."
He took a sip of the water and looked at the four shots in front of him.
"Still, it hurts."

Re: CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

Reply #3 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Nero
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Catching the combadge with her tattooed hand, Sera frowned in thought as she looked at it, turning it over in her fingers. Logan said it hadn't mattered what she did, turning the Sabine around, and as bitter as that seemed to Sera, she knew it was the truth. How could she have known that before she tried though? He had hoped to distract the Klingon ship and give Garcia a chance to get away, and in some parallel universe out there, she might have succeeded.

In this one, however, she hadn't, and Angel - as she believed the Lone Wolf's callsign to be - was dead.

"It is easy to be wise in hindsight. You can always see the paths of the storm, not it's heading. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. I still believe in trying, because if you never do, you never get it right," she murmured as she got her glass, filled with the green syntheol drink - a replica of the real thing. She put the combadge down on the counter and picked up the glass, downing it all in one go. Quietly, she put it down, her frown not having lessened. "Another."

Sucking the taste of the drink from her teeth, she looked over at the Lone Wolf, continuing. "Burn me, seems mistakes aren't popular with your lot, in your fancy uniforms. Ask any survivor in the deserts out there, and they'll impart some wisdom on you, though. You don’t know your way, just like the sandstorm sweeping the plains. You have no idea how you are becoming yourself day by day, changing with the terrain. You have to make mistakes to find out who you are, and who you aren’t. I find it unfair that I am judged by the terrain instead of my grit and my course, Lone Wolf. I learned today, but the lesson I got, wasn't that I should have stayed in line. If I learned that lesson, who will I forsake tomorrow out of fear of Starfleet's judgement?"

Sera shook her head. Once she got her second drink, she downed that too. "Blast your uniform. It dampens your sense of right and wrong in my eyes."

Re: CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

Reply #4 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Logan listened carefully to Sera. She shared her perspective with him and, as was to be expected, she didn't like what Captain Ives and he had to say. Logan couldn't blame her. After all, she wanted to help, wanted to draw attention to herself and the Sabine, take pressure off Alessia. He wouldn't have done it any other way. Judging her for that hadn't been fair to her. He sipped his water again. Then he sighed heavily.
"Sorry. Just had a shitty day."
Logan watched Remy set Sera down for the second drink and unceremoniously ordered one for himself. "It wasn't my intention to blame you in any way." He switched glasses. "Fuck. I think I've been with this club too long again." Logan emptied the glass in one go.
"I should have known better."
Logan thought back to Grace. Her name was Yomaura Tomi and she was a pilot like him. Together they served abord the USS Typhon after the Dominion War. There was an accident then, between her Peregrine fighter and his. She lost her life in that accident and Logan never forgave himself for it, even though Starfleet cleared him of all guilt during the investigation. Compared to the situation today, he had already been in the same position Sera was in now. Having to justify himself to everyone and everything was damn exhausting. Certainly, guilt gnawed at her conscience as well, and being punished with disregard by some hurt. Logan knew the feelings all too well and he had resolved to spare others those.
"Thank you for coming back, Sera."
It was sincere, and Logan was sure she needed to hear something like that.

Re: CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

Reply #5 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Nero
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The pilot apologised, and Sera shrugged, not overly concerned by having her sands stirred by the Starfleeters. "Burn you, it's all right. Your lot seem to forget the sentiments of the ones without uniforms."

That was when the bartender cleared his throat. "My apologies, I couldn't help but overhear, and if I may, could I offer an alternative view of what happened?"

Frowning, Sera looked at the bartender and his prostethic arm, but she nodded. The bartender, Remy, glanced towards Logan, as if to gauge whether or not he was overstepping, or if he somehow was ruining any development between him and Sera. Normally, it would have had Sera smirking, making a comment, but this time, she simply listened to what the bartender had in mind.

"I overhear things, and I like to think I have a pretty good take on the civilian viewpoint as well as the Starfleet one. From what I gathered, you tried to save someone by turning your ship around, is that right?"

"Aye, it is," said Sera, feeling a bit cautious about what may come next.

"By doing so, how many lives did you endanger aboard your ship compared to the fighter craft's number of pilots?" Remy shrugged, sighing. "I think it is a numbers game, and the fallout of Starfleet having a bigger picture in mind. Am I guessing that your ship carried someone important too? Someone who could make a big difference overall in this strange situation, where the Oneida has cut ties with Starfleet? Something about parasites?"

Frowning, Sera looked down towards the bar counter. Of course the bloody bartender would take Starfleet's side.  He was likely getting a paycheck from them.

"Just because you're right about that doesn't mean I am wrong," she said quietly, raising her yellow eyes to the man behind the counter. "Whatever those bloody mission parameters would be, I would still have to live with letting people die without doing something I could to prevent it."

"Yes, of course, and that makes you civilian. That makes you a person. It doesn't make you Starfleet, and whatever their priorities are. See, they look beyond themselves, and I think you do too, because you didn't try to save those pilots for your own sake. At least that's something I find hard to believe. You did it for their sake. Imagine then that they volunteered for their service, and sought to meet those mission parameters, and wanted you to do so as well, because it stood the chance of saving more people?"

Curling her lip, Sera knew he was right. She just wasn't used to thinking like some Starfleeter. Was she selfish? Was it her ego on the line? No, she refuted that immediately. She wanted to save those pilots because it was the right thing to do in the moment.

"I am Câroon. Of the Fire Region. I live in the moment. I burn now, and I might not tomorrow. I am a fickle flame, knowing life is like that. It might snuff out any second, and I just tried to keep the fires of those pilots burning." Sera downed her glass, slammed it down on the counter, and stepped away from the bar. "Thanks for the drinks."

She headed towards the exit, her mind in disarray.

Re: CH06: S [D03|1448 hrs] Here's to...

Reply #6 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Warp-Tail Lounge | Deck 10 | USS Oneida] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Logan sighed as he watched Sera leave the bar with a pensive look on her face. She had heard a lot from Remi, and Logan began to wonder as well. He thought back to all the missions he had participated in. He thought of the battle with the Dominion, in which he received his callsign, and of the mission during his time on board the Typhon. Thanks to the barman's words, he now began to see his decisions in a slightly different light. A slight doubt sprouted in him. Maybe he had made his decision to leave the fleet for the wrong reasons. But then he thought back to the words of the Câroon. It had been the right decision then. He was sure that he would judge differently today. That was just the way it was with experience, but at that time, he was sure, he would never have decided differently.
"And with speeches like that you keep customers here, Remi?"
The man behind the bar shrugged. "Some go to the counselor, others come to me."
The two men glanced at each other. Then they shared a small laugh. Logan raised the glass of water, "To the bartender."
Remi grabbed the combadge from the bar where Sera had set it down and placed it with the other in front of the still-untouched shots of tequila and Andorian ale. Then the man behind the bar retrieved two more glasses and filled them with the same liquids. Remi grabbed one of the small glasses of blue ale.
"Listen up. Your little sister and her co-pilot may be dead, but they're not gone." He pointed to the pilot's chest. "They're always in there, in your heart, flying by your side. To Asav."
The pilot followed the barman's movements, and on the man's face he could make out a sincere, compassionate smile. He was right. Yes, they were dead, but not gone. They were never gone as long as he thought of them.
"To Asav." he replied.
Logan grabbed the other two glasses. One he emptied in one go and the other he poured over the Andorian RIO's combadge.
"Always with us, never forgotten," Logan whispered softly as he took the slice of lemon and moistened the back of his hand. He sprinkled the salt on it and licked it off again. Remi did the same.
"To Alessia.", the Pilot said.
Logan grabbed the tequila and downed it, only to bite into the lemon slice a moment later and contort his face into an insanely funny grimace. There was an insane explosion of flavor in his mouth as the tequila mixed with the remnants of salt, lemon, and Andorian ale. He shook himself a few times. Logan laughed when he saw that Remi, despite his arguably vast experience, wasn't immune to it either. Logan poured the last of the tequila over Angel’s combadge.
"Farewell, little sister."

--- FIN ---
 
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