[M] Galactic Engagement (Ushima and AngelDellaNotte)

[Ushima]

Entering the kitchen he heard the women arguing. “Is this what I come home to after work? I should’ve stayed at the office. How are the kids doing honey?” Rolling his eyes he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Cracking it open he took a healthy swing. Closing the fridge he leaned back against it. Ashira approached him, asking if he lost the authorities. “Sent them running in the opposite direction. But now these two,” He pointed to Lillian and Harlow. “Are not allowed back outside. They have pictures of the two of you. They did not capture your good sides.” Chuckling, as Lillian flipped him off, Michael moved over to the living room couch. Harlow was posted up on the recliner.

Turning on the TV he set it to play soft music through it. “I was planning on a short hike after breakfast tomorrow. Seems you two will be missing out.”

“Ugh don’t rub it in. Stuck inside all day with this one.” On shaky legs Harlow stood and took a few steps forward.

“You ok there champ?” Michael asked. He didn’t get a response. Instead he watched in horror as Harlow’s cheeks puffed out. A second later a stream of bile shot out of Harlow’s mouth, covering Michael’s shirt and arms. “Fuck!” He stood up, the bottle of water strewn across the room. “Someone always pukes.” He bid a hasty retreat down the stairs. Fighting the urge to vomit himself he entered the bathroom, stripping off his clothes and tossing them aside. A CLEO would take care of them. Turning on the water to a nice warm temperature he hopped in the shower. He scrubbed himself down of vomit, along with the dirty and sweat from the night out. After washing himself, extra attention to his arms and chest, he exited the shower.

Standing in front of the mirror Michael looked himself over. He still had marks from his tryst with Ashira. Dark hickeys and bite marks on his chest, shoulders, neck. There were even three down around his hips along with an imprint of Ashira's mouth. It was something he wasn’t going to forget any time soon. Looking for his clothes he wasn’t surprised to see CLEO had come in and grabbed his things. They were in the wash right now. Grabbing a towel he sighed, wrapping it around his waist. “Anything else want to happen?” He mumbled before opening the door and entered the hallway to go back to his room.

[AngelDellaNotte]

Letting out a big sigh Ashira turned to the stairs. “Harlow get cleaned up and go to bed.” She looked to Lillian who was about to stay something more than likely to argue more. Ashira held her hand up stopping her. “We will talk more in the morning.” She stepped around Harlow's mess and picked up the stuffed Oleran before walking up the stairs. When she got there the bed hadn't been made and still showed the signs of her tryst with Michael. This morning seemed like so long ago. The CLEO must not make beds, she wished it had to erase the signs of what they did. Ashira dropped the stuffed Oleran onto the the bed then went to the shower to wash up. When she came back out she dressed then looked to the bed at hearing a soft rumbling growl. The real Oleran was sitting next to the stuffed growling at the toy. “It's not real.” Ashira said, walking around to sit down next to it. “It's just a toy.” The Oleran continued to growl then leaned over and knocked the toy off the bed. Then it pranced back to Ashira a smug pride look on its face as it plopped down in her lap snuggling up to her. “Jealous? I'm not replacing you. More like something to remember you by. Eventually I will have to leave and this is your home.”

The Oleran let out a small whimper as Ashira pulled the sheets back to lay down in the bed. It felt strange laying in the bed. The sheets smelled like Michael. She wasn't sure if she would be able to fall asleep thinking about Michael. The Oleran bounced over sliding against Ashira settling in and falling asleep. “Guess I should try to sleep too.” Ashira said, stroking the Oleran's fur before closing her eyes.

[Ushima]

Inside his room Michael discarded the towel to the floor. Now nude in privacy he stood, eyes closed, as he let the stress fade away. It was cool as he stood, dripping onto his fallen towel, central air blowing on his wet skin causing goose bumps to rise along his skin. "Nice and cool." Going through his bag he pulled on fresh clothes. Red underwear with black shorts, a grey t-shirt and black socks.

*knock**knock* "Hey Mikey you decent in there!?" Harlow's voice yelled through the door.

Lillian's followed. "Get inside and get to bed!" He heard Harlow grunt, Lillian shoved her into the room, then a door slam.

Opening the door Michael stepped out into the hallway. "Things are getting kinda heated right now huh?"

Sighing while pinching the bridge of her nose, evident of a headache coming on, Lillian replied, "Yes its quite aggravating."

"Why don't you take my room if you don't want to be around her? I'll post up on the couch." Michael ducked back inside his room and grabbed his gun.

"No I couldn't." Lillian tried waving him off but Michael was already bounding upstairs.

"Ashira would be upset if you two killed each other. Just get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning." Upstairs Michael dimmed the lights. The glass panes were still dark from when Michael and Ashira had sex. "Ugh you nearly plunged your nation back into war Michael. Get it together." Sitting down on the couch Michael placed his gun on the coffee table. The music was still playing so grabbing the remote Michael set it to Mech Fights. They were playing old matches. Something mindless he could have as background noise. He cursed to himself as he realized he didn't grab a blanket but rationalizing it was warm enough he got over it. Fixing a pillow on the end of the couch he laid down on his right side facing the TV. The couch was comfortable. He hoped the light from the TV wasn't bothering Ashira, her room was right behind him. But he figured with the tinted panes she was fine. If it was a bother she'd certainly tell him. The events of the day finally were catching up with him and Michael let out a big yawn, eyes closing and soon he was asleep.

[AngelDellaNotte]

Waking up Ashira slide the Oleran off her shoulder onto the pillow. It groaned but didn't wake up. She looked over to the clock seeing it was close to 7am. She quickly dressed putting on a pair of jeans, black shirt with a green jacket, red scarf and a pair of boots. Walking down the stairs she noticed she was the first one awake. What's more she saw Michael sleeping on the sofa. He didn't have any sheets or blankets. She wondered what led him to sleep on the sofa. He must not have seen the blanket on the arm chair across the room. Ashira picked it up and draped it over Michael being careful to wake him up. She then walked over to the kitchen and looked threw the fridge. Ashira didn't have a lot of cooking experience though the fridge was fully stocked. She reached in seeing a carton of eggs thinking cooking eggs couldn't be that hard.

She set them on the counter and saw a monitor built into the wall, thinking she could pull up a cooking tutorial. She turned it on the default setting was to a local news station. Ashira thought it would be covering the fire at the club last night but it surprised her that it wasn't on news. Hitting a few buttons she brought up a recipe from a quiche, splitting the screen between the recipe and news. She watched the news as she cooked dreading the moment it covered the club fire but it never came. The news seemed focused on a breaking story about a bridge that workers found a large crack on. Apparently it was a very popular bridge that was used nearly all the time. It had been shut down creating a traffic jam unlike anyone on the planet had seen before. The news crews keep flashing to the crack on the bridge which honestly looked nothing like a crack but rather that the beam had broken in two. The rust on the beam looked like it had broken a while ago.

Ashira put the quiche in the oven and set a timer. She started focusing on the news thinking there was nothing left in the cooking but to wait so she flipped through several different news channels on the monitor. None of them were covering the fire at the club and all of them were on the bridge story. It looked like they might be in the clear but it still wouldn't hurt if Lillian and Harlow stayed out of sight.

[Ushima]

Feeling warmth take over him Michael curled further into it. The night on the couch wasn't bad, it really was a comfy couch. Plus watching the old matches while he drifted off to sleep was entertaining. He dreamt of soft hands and tender kisses stolen away in lavish private rooms. Illicit affairs that would break two kingdoms if anyone found out. A bittersweet dream. One that he was broken out of by the small of fresh food. Michael's stomach rumbled loudly, enough to rival a drake. Sitting up he stretched, yawning. "What smells so good." The blanket pooled around his waist, surprising Michael as he didn't have it when he went to bed. Someone put it on him. Looking around he did not see Harlow and Lillian. Only Ashira at the stove. Looking very much like a young housewife. He felt his face flush as he stood up. 'Not the time for those thoughts.'

Standing up from the couch Michael stretched. "Moring." He said, groaning as he bent backwards. A satisfying series of pops was heard. "Oh yeah." Sighing he moved to the kitchen. "Something smells good." His hand was under his shirt scratching his stomach as he moved to the fridge. Reaching in he grabbed a bottle of milk. Twisting the purple cap off he closed the fridge with his hip. "So what is her majesty whipping up to treat us commoners this fine morning? For it smells divine."

[AngelDellaNotte]

“A quiche though I have to admit I've never made it before.” Ashira said, looking over to the oven were it was still cooking. The timer over the oven showed it still had several minutes. “The recipe wasn't that hard. I don't really cook much. I doubt that is surprising to you. It was enjoyable.” She said, walking to the fridge and opening it. Inside there were several options of juice. She grabbed the orange juice and the apple juice. She knew most people enjoyed orange juice with breakfast but she didn't care much for it so that is why she had the apple juice. She set both down on the counter before Michael and poured herself a glass of apple juice. He could pour his own whichever he chose. Normally she started her day with coffee but hadn't really been drinking it while on the trip. There was a pot on the counter. Michael could want some, she should have thought to make a pot. No doubt Harlow would need some coffee. She filled the pot and poured it into the coffee maker adding a couple of extra scoops to help sober Harlow up whenever she fell out of bed.

“Last night was fun until hurricane Harlow rolled in.” Ashira said.

[Ushima]

"Quiche? Never had one before. Should be good." Michael smiled and moved into the living room. "Hurricane Harlow. We have to call her that all the time now. Downsides include property damage, interrupted concerts and ruined evenings. I could take them crashing into our adventure but the puke all over me? No thanks. She's got some work to do before she's back in my good graces." He shot Ashira a smirk, obviously joking. An apology would work. "Oh hey!" Michael pointed to the news. "There they are." It was at the bottom of the screen, the little scrolling bar. It mentioned the fire last night as some drunk tourists. "Seems our little arson gets a shout out after all."

"I should've strangled her in her sleep." Lillian's voice made Michael turn around.

"Don't do that. I'm not in the mood to hide a body today." Michael chuckled. "She adds a bit of excitement though she needs to learn when to rein it in. Wonder if we should find Setsuna and Hikari to apologize. The least we could do. Maybe I should use the royal seal to pay for the damages. Charge it to the royal family. Just to spice up the expense report meeting I'm going to have to sit through and justify all my money spending decisions."

"That'd raise a few eyebrows. Flashing that thing around too much." Lillian replied, always the voice of logic.

"Fair point." Michael switched the TV to a music station, tired of the news now. And just in time as the bell for the oven went off. "Oh mother has finished breakfast. I'm starving." His stomach rumbled to emphasize his point. "This is going to be delicious."

[Ushima]

Harlow had stumbled upstairs holding her head. Hung over she sat at the table to begin getting lectured by Lillian. Now no longer drunk the Yoran Ace Pilot was being shown the error of her ways. Michael could only smile at the scene while he ate his meal, Ashira serving him a decent size portion. It was all very domestic. Like they were some dysfunctional family having their morning meal. They even had taken up positions like a family unit. Michael was at the head and Ashira sat on his right hand side. They were getting to familiar and falling into routine roles. It was enough to make his head spin with how the two of them were playing off each other without thinking about it. So Michael ate quickly. "This is really good Ashira." He complimented between bites of food. After his meal Michael did the dishes, it was only fair after Ashira did the cooking.

"That's a good house husband." Even hung over Harlow couldn't help her teasing. Michael's back was turned so the ladies couldn't see his darkening face. He heard Lillian shush the pilot. Once the dishes were rinsed and in the washing machine Michael decided it was time to get out of the unit. With Lillian and Harlow on temporary house arrest it was just Ashira and himself. "But I want to go!" Harlow whined.

"People who don't burn down nightclubs get to go on a hike." Michael wagged his finger at Harlow and left, Ashira behind him. Their Oleran friend slipped out of the door and chased after them. "We're going to the Eternal Flame Falls trail." He informed the princess. "It's a nice trail with a good payoff. There's a waterfall that has a flame behind it because natural gas come out of the ground." They had to get to the start of the trail which was on the other side of the commercial center. So Michael led the way down the path to the rail system. The car pulled up and was empty, the two passengers and their pet walked on. The Oleran hopped into Ashira's lap as they rode to the strip. Together they walked through the commercial center. It was a different atmosphere during the day than at night. Gone were the flashing lights and music from clubs and arcades. Now the regular shops were open. Restaurants and boutiques.

One of the boutiques workers was out front and waved at them. "Sir!" The woman called. "How about you bring your girlfriend in to try something on for later!"

"Pushy that one." Michael mumbled, face red. "Maybe later we're going on a hike." They were passing through a risque part of the district and the sales woman was trying to get them into what was lingerie store. He didn't need to imagine Ashira in those things. "Fate is certainly rubbing salt in the wound." Ashira gave him a quizzical look at his mumbling causing him to cough into his hand. It was a struggle to be sure, to remain civil, but he vowed to control his desire to save his, and her, people. For the greater good and all that.

They were nearing the outskirts of the district where some of the hiking trails would begin. "Just over there." Michael pointed. "It'll take about two hours to get to the waterfall." He was about to explain some of the things they'd pass along the way when a large explosion erupted behind them. Michael grabbed Ashira and pulled her behind a taxi. Gun drawn he peeked over the hood. "The fuck was that!?" Another explosion rocked a building closer to them. Followed immediately by shouting and gunfire. Two people in shoddy armor emerged from an alley brandishing old T-47 assault rifles. They weren't expecting Michael to be armed and he fired four shots, two in each chest, and they went down quickly. Not seeing any more thugs Michael went over to inspect the bodies. Tucking his hand cannon back he grabbed a rifle off one of the fallen and took a few mags. "Seems like all hell broke loose." Michael eyed the alley they came out of. Seeing something that made his blood run cold. "No." Walking down the alley, rifle raised and Ashira tucked into his side, Michael came face-to-face with a crudely graffitied emblem on the wall. Eight Pointed Arrows in a circle. "No no no no this isn't good." He looked to Ashira, anticipating her questions. "Scattered Arrows. Insurrectionists. Terrorists more than anything. They've been fighting the King's forces longer than your people have. They've been relatively quiet the last two years. Guess it was a matter of time before they popped their annoying heads out of their hole. I'm just a little concerned with the timing." Michael pulled out his comms device and tried calling Lillian. "Comms traffic is jammed. They have the signal tower. Can't call for help." Michael glanced out of the alley. It was a long walk back to the railway to get to their ship. And that was even if it's running now. "Gonna be a loooong day princess."

[AngelDellaNotte]

Instinct took over at the sound of the explosion causing Ashira to duck behind the car. It was disturbing to think how this was becoming routine for her. Dodging explosions and bullets shouldn't be a normal thing. The Oleran jumped from the ground and burrowed into her jacket. The little creature was shaking obviously not has used to chaos as Ashira was. She zipped her jacket up sealing in the little thing. It trusted her to keep it safe and she was going to do her best. Michael shot at the insurgents, Ashira hadn't even thought to bring a weapon but she supposed that was why he was the bodyguard and not her. A insurgent went down and he grabbed the rifle before dragging her into the alleyway. He tried using a comm unit but it wasn't working. They talked a bit about the long walk back which no doubt would be hampered by fighting in the streets.

A loud bang sounded through the alleyway causing Ashira to duck and look over at insurgent standing at the end of the alleyway pointing a gun at them. Lucky for them he had bad aim. The shooter looked barely old enough to drive and it was probably his first time using a gun off the range. He fired again the round hitting the wall behind them. The round didn't inbed itself in the wall like a normal bullet or scorch it like a laser round. Instead it fizzled out like a dying sparkler. Michael was quick to react and shot, his bullets much more lethal. The young man dropped to the ground. Michael grabbed her hand again and ran past the insurgent. Quickly as they past him Ashira bent down and picked up the gun he had been using and a comm device. She figured they had some kind of encryption allowing them to communicate, with it they may be able to contact Lillian and Harlow. With any luck they could pick them up in the ship and get the hell off this planet. The rifle she picked up was a laser rifle with multiple settings. A fast glance at it showed it was set to stun which seemed odd given what Micahel had told them about the group. You would think a group trying to overthrow the government wouldn't pull their punches. Maybe it was the kid not having the courage to kill.

She didn't have much time to think on it as they were running again. It seemed like they were running for some time. Ashira could feel the little Oleran's claws digging into her but was glad to know it was safe. After a mile or so of running they stopped hiding behind a van that had been flipped over by a explosion. They both needed to catch their breath and regroup. She looked down at the comm unit she had taken and was shocked by what she saw on the screen. Michael was rambling about which route would be the best to take. There seemed to be fighting everywhere but she really wasn't listening. Instead she just stared at the screen. He asked her a question but she hadn't heard him. “Uh Michael....” She said, holding up the screen showing Michael an image of herself with a large series of numbers beneath it looking very much like a wanted poster, it even had the word 'alive' written on it. Well that seemed to explain the stun gun. Things were going to get very tricky, she thought wondering who had put the bounty out on her. They certainly had no shortage of people with a grudge against them.

[Ushima]

Michael held out his hand for the device Ashira was holding. Once it was in his hand he looked at the image of the Yoran princess. "Oh you are so photogenic." This all but confirmed his suspicions that this incident wasn't just a violent extremist incident. "Someone struck a deal with the Shattered Arrows." He swiped his thumb across Ashira's photo. The image moved away and was replaced by his face. In big red bold letters was DEAD underneath his face. "Not as attractive as yours but not a bad shot of me eh?" After a few more swipes Michael shoved the device into his back pocket. "We'll use that to monitor enemy comms, maybe even trick them into moving positions. Nice grab. It also seems Lillian's and Harlow's faces aren't on it. We're clearly the main targets." Michael peeked out of the alley, seeing no one in the streets. The sound of fighting was off in the distance though. Pressing himself against the wall he took the weapon from Ashria. "Rytech Lasrifle." He inspected the weapon. "This model came out two years ago. Even for the Arrows this is too new. Someone outfitted these guys." Raising the rifle up to his eyes he looked down the scope, letting out a whistle. "Well maintained too." With his inspection complete he gave the gun back to Ashira. She was a better shot so the princess having a precision weapon wasn't a terrible idea. The spray and pray option was better for him anyway.

"Ready to move?" He asked, raising his weapon and looked back out. There was another alley a ways down with an overturned taxi. Michael looked toward the rooftops. "I see one marksman across the street. Three buildings down." He pointed to the target and Ashira's head peered around him. "We have to take him out. I'm gonna move for the car to distract him and you pop him. Otherwise he'll easily pick us off. On three." He took a deep breath as he counted on his fingertips. With a big exhale he said, "One." And sprinted out of the alley moving toward the next cover. Closer and closer he got. 'If you hear it, it wasn't meant for you.' He told himself as he ran. 'Trust her.' The pop of a laser round was heard as Michael bounced off the side of the taxi. A body crashed down onto an awning and Ashira was giving him a thumbs up back at his previous position. He waved her over and took watch, sweeping his rifle across the street. Once Ashira joined him he moved her into the alley. "Nice shot." He complimented. "Knew you wouldn't let me get shot again."

The two were posted up a little ways in the alley, by a door leading into the building. He was pretty sure it was a bowling alley. Before he could speak to Ashira the door creaked open and a pistol pressed itself to the side of Michael's head. "Well what do we have here?"

Michael blinked. "Ah shit I know that voice. Booker?"

"Hey kid. Fancy meeting you here." The door swung open and the security guard they met the night before walked out. "Seems you're on your own protection duty." Hikari's head popped up behind Booker. She waved at them.

Michael waved back. "Hey girl. Where's your sister?"

"Back at the hotel." She answered.

"More security because of all the guests there so she's ok. Along with the rest of my boys." Booker pulled out a cigarette from his jacket pocket. "Little one wanted to bowl so that's why we're out here."

"We were going to go for a hike. Then shit started exploding." Michael replied. "We're trying to get back to our unit up the mountain. We got a ship that can be ready soon."

Booker scratched his chin. "Think you can get in the air with everything going on? Their ships will blast you."

"We got defenses of our own. We'll be ok." Michael moved down the alley and peeked outside. Seeing no movement he looked back to Booker. "We just need to get to the rail."

"Mind if we tag along? Booker asked. "Getting the youngin' out of the center of this is a good idea. Security forces are no doubt trying to rally for a push and since she's untrained keeping her safe will put me at ease."

Michael nodded. "The more guns the better I say. Ashira?"