Arriving back on the Isaribi, I was a bit disappointed I couldn't really earn more lest I wanted to earn the eyes of unwanted people and organisations.
Couldn't even rob the place either. The protests hadn't begun in earnest so any such acts would be met with quick police response. I could have stayed but I didn't wanna be in Dort when it would be surrounded.
If we survived and escaped, the headlines would write themselves:
Tekkadan spotted fueling Dort rebellion.
Tekkadan loots stores during civil unrest.
Only disaster would follow.
Exiting the ship that landed in one of the docking bays, I wasn't surprised at the crowd around. I just pointed at a few boys. " You guys, help unload the weapons Gjallarhorn graciously gave us. "
I got a few nods and they came on board. Mr Navona allowed us to keep the weapons and the armour from the fallen soldiers we gunned down. Kind man. I almost felt bad that he was gonna die.
Maybe he wouldn't though. Just need to cross my fingers and hope they didn't do anything stupid.
Walking up to Orga, I sent him a happy grin but he didn't seem to match my mood.
Weird guy.
One moment, he's wishing for my return, the next, he looked unhappy to see me. No smile. No relief. Just a tight jaw and narrowed eyes.
"What the hell happened down there?"
I raised an eyebrow. So that's the welcome I get?
Fine, if he wanted to be like that...
"Business."
Orga's brow twitched at that.
"You were supposed to be making a delivery, not collecting new toys," Orga shot back, gesturing toward the weapons. "And what's with the stuff left behind? You were supposed to deliver all the inventory we were given."
Why's he getting mad that I got us weapons? Whatever. I just sighed. I was a bit tired. Even though I hadn't done much, my nerves were on alert throughout my time on Dort so it made my time a lot more stressful.
"Give a man a break. I just got back. I'll meet you in the command room in an hour, yeah."
I walked past the boy, patting him on the back. Kudelia also came to check up on me with Fumitan. I sent the girl a brief smile and Fumitan a brief nod, promising to talk to them later before heading to my room.
Andre wasn't there. Apparently he, Mikazuki and the rest of the pilots were on standby in the mobile suit bay just in case anything happened. Along the way to my room, I gained a human backpack in the form of a Harley who jumped me. " Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Nothing much," she drawled playfully, resting her chin on my shoulder. "I was a perfect angel while you were gone. Lounged around, made some of the guys blush, terrorized a noble girl."
I could see her smile widen from the corner of my eye. "Oh, and I might've gotten myself bribed with piloting time if I behaved, which I totally did."
"Wait, terrorised a noble girl? What did you do to Kudelia?"
Harley's smile turned mischievous. "Oh, nothing too bad," she purred, tightening her hold around my neck. "She was all polite and sweet, washing dishes like some commoner instead of a fancy noble, so I may have teased her a bit. I'm surprised this was the first time we actually chatted since I came on board."
She leaned closer, her breath warm against my ear. "Turns out she's easy to fluster, especially when you come up in conversation. Pretty sure she likes you, y'know. Went all pink when I pushed her buttons about it. Too bad she ran off before I could have more fun with it."
Hmm, well I guess that isn't that bad. The Kudelia liking me thing wasn't too hard a thing to figure out. I mean, she fell for Mikazuki of all people, and he wasn't even trying.
"You sure you don't wanna go after her, pretty boy? I hear noble girls are real classy."
For a second, I wondered why she wanted me to go after Kudelia but I then remembered that I was dealing with a previous member of Naze's harem. It could be possible she wanted to sleep with the girl.
She wasn't opposed to girl on girl action. Suprise suprise, when one man has a harem of a hundred plus women, more than a few are willing to go les to scratch that itch.
Or she wanted me to use her for money or something. I could see It.
Well, why wonder when she was right here. She could be surprisingly honest when it didn't come to her past or money.
" Is this your way of telling me to sleep with her for her money or is this your way of putting a noble girl under you and in proxy, my belt."
"Well, I do like my girls obedient," she sultrily purred. "But if you're asking whether I'd let you have a go at her without me, you're gonna be disappointed, pretty boy."
She nipped at my ear like the weirdo she was, though it was more ticklish than anything else. "If she's gonna be under anyone, it's me first. And if you behave, maybe I'll let you join in."
We made it to my room where I dropped her on the bed and began taking off my gear. "Sound like someone is full of themselves again."
When my gear was off, I turned to face the smirking girl who was propping herself up on her elbows. " Don't worry, I know a way to put your ego back in place."
"You talk a big game, Darius," she mused. "But if I remember right, last time, you were the one tapping out first."
What a fuckin lie and she knew it. She's just getting me riled up now but she would pay for it.
For the hour I allocated for rest, I didn't get much of it which wouldn't do me any favours for when I had to drag myself to the command room.
*****
"You could've told me first," Orga said finally after a tense silence. "Before making deals, before jumping into a fight with Gjallarhorn."
"Didn't have time." I said simply, twirling one of the new army knives I looted. "Look, I get it. You don't like that I make calls on my own. But you also can't argue with results. We walked away with more than we had going in. We didn't lose a single guy. And now we have better weapons for whatever comes next."
I threw the knife up and caught it before finally looking at Orga. "Plus, even if I hadn't made the deal, we were gonna get involved anyway. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have allowed the weapon smugglers off the hook either. So I just technically got us paid for doing something we would have had to do anyway."
"It's not just about the outcome," Orga said, leaning forward, his hands flat on the table. "Yeah, we got paid. Yeah, we got better weapons. But this isn't just some back-alley deal. We're talking about Gjallarhorn. They don't forget things like this. It could earn more of their ire so I'd like to be there when you're making such decisions."
" More of their ire? Come on, Orga, we both know that ship sailed a long time ago. They are already on our asses, this won't change that fact."
Orga's fingers curled into fists against the table. "That's not the point! The point is, I don't need surprises from my own people! You made a decision for Tekkadan without telling me, without giving me a chance to say yes or no!"
I leaned back, resting my hands behind my head. "I made a decision that kept us alive and got us something for our trouble. This was something that needed direct decision making and critical thinking for an inevitable situation which I made good use of. That's called initiative, Orga. You should try it sometime."
Orga slammed his fist down. The room went dead silent. A glance around the room showed how uncomfortable and tense everyone was. Eugene was for once silent, his hands balling into fists in his pockets, Biscuit looking nervous as all hell, Merribit looking worried and Andre, the dumb bastard just yawned with a half interested look on.
Orga took a slow breath and straightened. "I don't need you going off and making decisions behind my back. You wanna take initiative? Fine. But we talk about it first. We plan together. We lead together."
I see. The deal wasn't the problem. This was his own insecurities about leadership coming in. He was just trying to exert some sort of power or influence In front of everyone so everyone knew he wasn't playing second fiddle to me.
I regarded him for a long moment before finally sighing. "Alright, alright. I get it. I'll keep you in the loop next time, not that I could do much of that in the first place." I said, muttering the last part before standing.
Orga held my gaze. "You better."
I'll admit that I was slightly in the wrong. Only slightly and even that's a stretch but I think the results of my actions brought me back into the green. Even if I was fully in the wrong, which I wasn't, I didn't like the way he spoke to me and I needed to end such disrespect here and now, even if it hurt his ego more.
Walking up to the lavender haired boy, I held my smile the entire way but it felt more strained. I placed a hand on his shoulder to make my next words clearer." One thing to note though. Don't you fuckin raise your voice against me. I aint your fuckin dog or servant else you'll find that I can be more...disagreeable, alright?"
Patting his shoulder, I walked out of the command room. I heard a pair of footsteps following but I didn't need to look back to guess who it was. "Damn, I feel like I missed a lot. "
" Yeah, well you have decided to fuck off and be all lovey dovey on my ass."
Andre caught up to me, walking beside me. "It's not like that man. I still stand with your sorry ass anyday."
Despite myself, I couldn't help but smile. " I shall forever cherish your undying love, my sweet love."
" Fuck off and die."
*****
By the next day cycle, we were back in space long gone, leaving Dort behind us.
With us leaving early and with no speech from Kudelia, we were still hidden from prying eyes. Though, Dort would likely be worse off, but who cared about that.
It also meant that that blond prick would be unlikely to find us. So no extra weapons and spare parts but it was a trade off I was willing to make. As we did make some up with the stuff we got from the pirates and Dort workers.
Another problem however has arisen. The ship has gotten rather tense. I don't know how, but the recent spat between me and Orga had gotten out which has resulted in some of the older guys splitting off into two factions.
Well, no, these two factions always existed but with the recent tensions in leadership, it has become more prominent. Those who support Orga and those who support me. This began when I and the guys who decided to follow me joined CGS.
Different mindsets, different experiences, different views on life, all that and more along with the simple fact that each group had been following said person from the beginning had resulted in these factions forming and staying.
Nothing happened however since, one, we had a bigger enemy at the time and two, I was more passive in my own leadership, rather taking time to build my foundation in the company and suck up to that coward, Maruba.
Once Tekkaden formed however, things began changing for obvious reasons but things are beginning to reach a melting point. This was likely going to happen in one way or another, it was just a matter of when and how.
When I wasn't in a power struggle, I had other thoughts in mind. Like Kudelia. With the whole Dort situation and the death of Fumitan not happening to harden her up, I took it upon myself to do so. After all, I did in fact like Kudelia. I wouldn't want her to get tricked or worse because she was too soft.
Plus, if her campaign becomes successful, there's likely a lot of business in Tekkaden's future but that's merely an afterthought.
So after a day or so, I asked to meet her in my office. When she came, I was mid-documentanning the martian situation.
We suffered our first string of deaths back on Mars. Apparently, a warehouse they attacked was a trap. It was a miracle only six people died in it, but guess not considering Pete's men suffered way more casualties.
Anyway, back on topic. " Ah, Kudelia."
I got up and stretched, then walked over to my mini fridge and got some water. I really had to thank those pirates for pimping up my office among other personal things I added to my coffers and personal inventory.
Just like the mini fridge I got from the pirate captain's office, I got a sweet ass chair, a bookcase, globe of Mars and desk lamp just to name a few.
" Would you like something to drink?"
"No, thank you."
She cleared her throat. "You called for me?"
I hummed, setting the bottle down on my desk. "I did. We've got a lot coming up, and I wanted to check in on you."
"Check in...?" she echoed.
"Yeah," I continued easily. "You're about to take a pretty big step, heading to Earth. Just wanted to see if you're ready for what's coming."
Kudelia stiffened slightly. "Of course," she replied in some haste. "This is what I've been working toward. I have to be ready."
I hummed again.
It was clear she was a bit stressed. Too bad I'm gonna add to that. " I know this is not my business. Not really nor do I wanna scare you but I have to say this. "
I took a deep breath in, schooling my face into one of seriousness. " I don't have to tell you this but a reminder never hurt." I paused to take a sip of water. " What you're doing here is huge. It not only affects your family but the entirety of Mars if not history. This shall set a precedent so I need you to know that. This is not a child's game."
I stood up and circled the table, standing in front of her. " You would think space pirates are bad but the people you're about to meet are true monsters. Politicians, diplomats and businessmen. At least with pirates, you know they are undoubtedly your enemy, you know who to attack and have an idea how to do so, you know you need to avoid their mechs, guns and any other weapons, but the people you're about to meet..."
I paused for dramatic effect and to gather my thoughts.
Even with all I've said, I'm pretty sure I'm still sugarcoating it. Just look at me for example and I'm one of the kinder ones.
" They are liars, backstabbers, sweet talkers, and those are the kind words I can call them. Just cause you're young doesn't mean a thing. Just cause what you're fighting for is noble and good doesn't mean they will care. These people are ready to kill thousands for an extra buck, for a little bit more power and influence."
When a tense silence followed, I wondered if I laid it on a bit too thick.
No, I had to.
After all, nothing I say will reach the level of losing someone close to you for a cause so I can only try to get as close with words.
"I know," she finally said. "I understand the risks, and I understand what kind of people I'll be up against."
I raised an eyebrow. "Do you? Because understanding and being ready are two different things."
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"I…" She hesitated but met my eyes. "I have to face them anyway. If I don't, then who will?"
Her voice didn't waver this time.
"Maybe they don't care about what's right," she continued, jaw tightening. "Maybe they'll try to deceive me, manipulate me, or even kill me. But if I back down now, nothing will change. And that would be far worse."
I could see her gulp then take in a sharp breath.
"I know what I'm up against," she said. "And I will be ready."
I held her gaze for a long moment before nodding. " I hope you are. I'm not trying to scare you or deter you but..."
I leaned down so we were eye level and placed a hand on hers. " I know we haven't gotten as much time as I would want together but I have come to care for you throughout our time. I would hate to see what could become of you if you fall into the traps of those who seek to do you or your cause harm."
Her fingers trembled slightly beneath mine and I thought I went too far again but I ruthlessly crushed that thought. No time for second guesses."Darius…" she started, her voice softer now.
"I don't intend to fail," she finally said. "I know this path is dangerous, but if I let myself be afraid of what I might become… then I'll never be able to stand against them."
She exhaled softly, her eyes searching my face. "But… thank you. For caring."
A small, genuine smile touched her lips.
I stayed there, gazes holding onto each other before breaking the trance and standing up. "Well, I'll try to help for as long as we're with you and even when we eventually leave. I may not be the best diplomat or therapist but if you ever want to talk, I'll always be available."
"…Thank you," she said after a pause. "I'll keep that in mind."
She paused again, looking to the ground then back up at me with a warm smile. "I'm glad I met you."
" I'm also glad to have met me."
We both chuckled at that but my mind was elsewhere. Things were going too well but if there was a place where anything could go wrong, it was Earth.
I also needed to prepare for anything. My little
changes were adding up and they would show themselves on Earth.
I can only hope it shows itself in a positive light.