Surprisingly, Max woke up the next day with only the faintest trace of a hangover, but an incredibly sore body. Every muscle and joint seemed to ache from hours and hours of dancing and partying at The Pit last night.
His wrist device had a message to contact Nico when he woke up, and he saw that it was nearly noon already. Max had never slept in that late a single day in his life, but given his condition last night, he isn’t completely sure what time they got back to the ship.
The most important issue for what was left of the morning was food, so Max headed for the mess hall, where he could already hear boisterous voices talking about all the wonderful things they were going to do with their vacation days. The most popular was the Video Game Tournament, followed by something called a Hyper Luge, which seemed to be a winter sport that took place in the mountains.
There was still nearly a week until the tournament venue opened, so Max didn’t know what he was going to do for the next few days but knowing Nico she had something insane planned. He didn’t see any of the pilots who went to the club with him yesterday, but that wasn’t surprising given the state that they were in when he left. Most of them wouldn’t have come back to the ship last night anyhow. They were officially still stationed aboard Abraham Kepler, but as long as they didn’t leave the Station nobody was going to reprimand them for staying out all night.
Once he had enough food and coffee in him to function, Max started to notice the envious glances the other soldiers were giving him..
“What? Is there something on my face?”
The closest Pilot was Vincente, who only laughed at his question. “No, Commander, your face is spotless. But we heard a wild tale of your adventures last night. Did you really manage to sneak an entire wing of Pilots into The Pit to take down a dozen of the planet’s wealthiest bachelorettes?”
Max could shake his head at that interpretation. “I didn’t sneak anyone in, we passed the Doorman’s scrutiny. I’m not sure who everyone else went home with, but I came straight back to my room this morning.”
“Oh, I saw that part, you were nearly passed out over Major Nico’s shoulder singing Cabaret tunes. I checked the records, and nobody else came back, not even Breckenridge. We were worried about her, but when we contacted her some Pilot from the Noctem Regiment answered for her.” the swarthy Captain chuckled.
“We’ve all heard the rumors about The Pit, and the women who frequent the club, but to think that so many of the Pilots would luck out and we weren’t invited.” Paul sighed, joining in the conversation.
“I’ll just say this much, you got luckier than they did. Those innocents were no match for what they found in the club.” Max told him with a smirk, thinking of the ones who were grabbed up by the Aunties. They might never look at a woman the same way again.
[There is a suit in your room. Get dressed up fancy, I’ve found us somewhere to visit on the Station.] Nico sent Max’s wrist device just as he finished eating.
“Alright, Nico has plans for the day, and I’m included, so I will see you all later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and enjoy your vacation.” Max ordered his troops in a serious voice before going to get changed.
The ‘suit’ as Nico called it was a full formal military Tuxedo, mostly worn to political events and weddings. Nobody wore these for daily wear, but Nico had sent it for a reason, so Max reluctantly got it all on and tried to tame his hair, which was getting a bit shaggy, but still in regulation.
Nico has a hair styling device that will give him a perfect trim, so Max made his way to her room, finding the Major styling her hair into a half up half down style and wearing an elegant Silver ballgown that he recognized from the reception on Kepler 111 after the recruitment.
“Can you give me a haircut before you tell me what exactly you’ve got planned for today?” Max asked.
“No problem, just wrap it on your head and I’ll trim you back to regulation. Unless you want something a bit fancier, since we’re on vacation?” she asked with a smirk.
“If you’re thinking of giving me a perm like the first day we met, forget about it. Just the regulation high and tight is fine for me.”
Nico looked a little sad at the idea, but a second later, Max felt his hair being trimmed so he took the cloth-like device to the sink to shake it out. The mirror showed him the image of the perfectly trimmed blonde officer, a shining beacon of hope, straight from the Kepler propaganda videos. The stress of repeated battles had given his youthful face just enough maturity that he didn’t look like a junior officer or Cadet anymore, and Max wondered just when that had happened.
“Now Lord Max, if you will kindly accompany me, we have an appointment to keep,” Nico informed him, adding matching gloves to her outfit to hide the slightly mechanical look of her hands. The body had adjusted quite a bit, but nobody’s knuckles were that smooth, so her hands were still clearly artificial.
A round of appreciative whistles followed them down the halls as they made their way to the exit again and Nico made a point of giving sarcastic curtseys to the people she recognized.
Again they walked through the opulent halls of the Comor Station’s military wing, then Nico led him to a moving floor and they rode it to the far side of the station where the Yachts were docked and high society parties were held.
“Tell me we’re not party crashing,” Max whispered, worried that she was causing trouble.
“Of course not. This time they actually invited us without anyone asking. You will understand in a few minutes.” Nico whispered back, stepping off the conveyor in front of a grand ballroom where a large number of nobles had congregated.
There were no questions when they approached, the doormen simply held out a fingerprint scanner for them to verify their identity. Both scanners went green and a bit of data appeared on the screen.
“Sir Max, Imperial Lady Tarith, the Lord General is waiting for you inside.” The response from security immediately put Max on guard, the only ones who would call her Imperial Lady Tarith were higher nobles who were observing every bit of the formal ceremony. Everyone else would call her Lady Nico or Major Nico.
When they stepped into what was clearly a Noble Gala, Max was shocked to see Lord General Kirkland, one of the Cygnus officers that they captured on KSF129, their second deployment, where the Cygnus Army intervened. Though the two nations were again at peace, it was a bit of a shock to see the highly regarded Lord General here, on the far side of the Empire from his home territory.
“So glad you two could make it. I saw your transport come in and simply had to invite you both to come to visit. We’re having a little soiree for the titled locals in celebration of the marriage between the Imperial family and the Comor System’s ruling Chen family.” Lord General Kirkland explained.
That explains the tuxedo.