“I see you’re still wearing that stupid coat.”
Niles Merrick tossed the case of drinks down on the table and tried to ignore his friend Tarrah’s stupid remark.
“It still looks better than that ugly uniform you’re going to have to wear here soon,” he retorted.
The young woman playfully sneered at him, and he wondered if her hair bun was wrenched a smidge too tight.
“Hey, we ain’t here to think about that tonight,” Philipe called out, grabbing a drink and falling back into the massive cushioned couch.
“I, for one, think the officer uniforms look very clean and professional.”
Tarrah punched Jun-Woo on the arm, “of course you would, nerd. I’d much rather wear what I want when I want.”
Niles watched Tarrah flash her Quarzite earrings at the group before taking a long chug of her drink. He looked down at his old overcoat and realized it didn’t quite stack up to the rest of his friends’ designer outfits which they were currently sporting.
“What about you, Emilito,” Tarrah said motioning to the girl sitting quietly on the far end of the oval seating alcove.
The girl shyly looked up from the drink sitting in her lap, “I don’t really know about the uniforms, but I’m very proud of the both of you. You’ve worked hard to get here, and I hate to see you go, but you’ve got a bright future ahead of you!”
She flashed the group a soft smile as she crinkled her freckled nose and Niles felt his heart skip a beat.
Emi was by far the newest member of their friend group, but she fit right in, even if she was quieter than the rest. And Niles had instantly taken a liking to her, as had Philipe. Fortunately, with Philipe shipping out with the Imperial Navy in a day’s time, Niles would have her all to himself.
The loud and wild Tarrah finally slumped down on the couch and laughed mockingly at Emilito, “you are too sweet, little miss princess. I still don’t know why you hang out with us.”
Emilito just grinned and held up her drink, “because you guys are my friends.”
“To friends?” Niles said, quickly sticking his drink up in the air as a toast.
The others started to laugh and all raised their bottles, “to friends!”
Philipe grabbed the remote and pointed it towards the massive monitor mounted on his wall. The fireplace display disappeared and was replaced by a sprawling news feed.
“If we’re heading off to war tomorrow, I’d at least like to know what’s going on in the galaxy,” the young homeowner said, flipping through the channels.
Philipe stopped on the Imperial Operations Broadcasting Network and Niles saw a sparkle in his eye as a young military officer stepped onscreen alongside an Imperial reporter.
“This is field agent Synzia Mackalay reporting to you live from Orto where the long fought planetary uprising has finally been put to rest. I am here with Captain Fitzgerald, the young man who was behind the strategic takeover of Orto’s capital city of Runmandu.”
She turned to the officer who smiled at the camera, “Captain Fitzgerald, let us know what it was like to be fighting against these insurgents, and how did you finally put an end to the struggle and bloodshed?”
“Ten credits to whoever can guess where I’m being stationed,” Tarrah spoke up, jumping in front of the screen, and Niles could tell the alcohol was already starting to get to her.
“Out of the way, Tarrah, I’m trying to listen,” Philipe said motioning for her to move to the side, but she didn’t budge.
“Tal Pi!” Niles said, but she shook her head dissent.
“Lothal?” Jun-Woo asked, adjusting his oversized glasses.
“What? No? Lothal is where they train the young officers, and I definitely don’t need anymore training.”
“What about Eriadu?” Emilito spoke up from over to the side.
Tarrah thrust her finger towards the dainty young woman, “oooh close, but no dice…”
“Corellia. Now where’s my ten credits?” Philipe said, still trying to peer around her at the Imperial news.
Tarrah punched him on the arm with an audible thud, “no fair, you already knew, you Womp Rat.”
“Where are you being station?” Emilito asked Philipe as he recovered from the blow.
He went from rubbing his clearly bruised shoulder to the top of his freshly shaven head, “that’s a fun question, actually. Because they said we’re being sent to patrol the edge of Wild Space, but I’m told that’s usually just code for some secret operation. With the Imperial Navy, you never truly know. I-“
Tarrah cut him off again with a “shush” and a wave of her arm as she was now fixated on the large telemonitor. Niles adjusted himself to get a better view from around the towering girl, and saw the young Imperial Captain motioning to rows upon rows of the local Ortolans, all in chains and marching in rudimentary lines.
“Nasty,” Tarrah said, gagging in disgust. “I’ll never know how anyone can tolerate aliens, they’re just so… strange.”
Philipe laughed, “hey, at least we’ve never had to deal with them much here on Fueller.”
Niles tried to think back to the last time he had actually seen an honest-to-goodness non-Human. “Wasn’t that girl Geni back in school like half Devaronian, half Mikkian?”
“Awww, I liked her, she was sweet,” Emilito said, smiling as she seemed to daze off in thought.
“Eh,” Tarrah snorted, “she looked enough like us to not be creepy. Well, aside from those floating things on the one side of her head.”
“I thought she was kind of hot…” Philipe said smirking under his breath, but Tarrah still caught his remark. She punched him again in the same spot and he cried out in pain.
“Owww, stop that.”
“Hot? Geni was a stick in the mud. If she was really cool, or normal, or even just rich, wouldn’t she be hanging out here with us? But she wasn’t cool, and she wasn’t normal. And you saw the house her devil of a father lived in, right? I’m glad she moved off world when she did.”
Niles thought back to the girl, and remembered how the kids used to pick on her for having red skin. She also had floating tendrils on one side of her head that she kept clipped back like regular hair, and she had even introduced herself to him, although he was going out with Melila at the time so he had turned her away. Niles wondered what it would be like to date an alien?
He was snapped out of his speculation as the mildly inebriated Tarrah threw a bottle at Jun-Woo. “Hey Jun, you’re studying to be a lawyer, right? Have you had to meet any aliens?”
The shorter man smiled, “actually, I have. And I don’t subscribe to all of that Imperial propaganda. I’ve met species far more civilized and smarter than us if I’m being honest.”
“Propaganda? Ha!” Tarrah said, grabbing the last bottle from the case, “I’m ready to get out there and take out a couple aliens myself if they ever send us down to the surface. I’ve heard the Grindalid infestation on Corellia has gotten awful.”
Jun-Woo stood up face-to-face with Tarrah, “do you not see how they’re just shoving xenophobia down your throats? That’s why I didn’t agree to both of you becoming Imps in the first place.”
Tarrah’s smile turned upside down as she stepped even closer to Jun-Woo, having almost a foot on him height-wise. “I worked my butt off to be where I’m at today, to be a Captain in the Imperial Navy, and I’m not about to let you diss my choice of profession the night before I ship out.”
Jun-Woo looked her in the eyes for a moment, before sighing and turning around to place himself back down on the lush divan.
Niles knew that Jun-Woo could destroy Tarrah in an argument any day of the galactic year, but he also knew he had self-control. Jun still cared for his friends and respected their decisions, otherwise he wouldn’t have shown up to their send off party tonight.
Niles also knew he would make a fantastic lawyer, and would almost definitely make even more money than Jun-Woo Maan Sr. did, if he didn’t run off and join this ever growing rebellion before he got the chance.
Tarrah huffed in victory, “propaganda my foot, today’s the last day I won’t have the jurisdiction to arrest you for saying that, so don’t do it again.
Jun-Woo just went back to drinking his beverage and looking past the tipsy woman towards the screen, where Niles saw the reporter and officer were now walking around the streets of the destroyed Ortolan city.
Tarrah turned and punched Philipe a third time, “and you don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m your superior officer, remember?”
Philipe threw his arms up in retaliation, “hey, I’m still a Lieutenant?”
“Pffft,” she spit, “a Junior Lieutenant. I won’t even salute you back until you’re at least a Senior.”
“If we’re ever stationed together, I’ll kill myself first,” Philipe said, instinctively recoiling, and Tarrah jumped towards him with another right hook.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jun-Woo said speaking up and quieting everyone down, “what’s going on there?”
Niles was the first to look from the commotion towards the monitor, and he realized the reporter and the captain were looking off towards the distance at an immense billow of smoke.
“It looks like we have a new development. There was a massive explosion a few blocks back that direction. Could it have been due to an accident or-“
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