Chapter 60: Front 30.5 – St.Aardig’s Day- Part 2/3

To call it a surprising scene would of been an understatement to Scarlet - Not just because it seemed totally out of line for Una but also because of the optics of the whole thing. Una was a small woman, someone who could plausibly pass for still being a teen - Which of course, she still was at just 17 going on 18, she had a naturally narrow frame, a short height and thin shoulders.
 Sure like all who travelled in space for an extended time, physical fitness was a must and Una was definitely in good shape but she was far from the picture of a perfect soldier.
 Kolme Nilas was, in Scarlet's opinion, even less fitting of his job description - About as tall as herself but also walking slightly hunched - A poorly kempt man with lanky arms and greying hair let grow out too far.

In stark contrast were the two they 'faced off' with. Foremost being the young man Una had clearly aimed to hit, currently with a downcast face, the boy was far more athletic looking than Una - Although not much taller then her, he had a swimmers build to him, lean rather than slim.
 His hair & uniform messy, which stood out a little to Scarlet amongst the usual TSU-s strictness, but she couldn't be sure that wasn't just a result of the party.
 And standing behind the boy, was Major Moncha, the guest of honour. Having never actually spoken face to face with the man before, Scarlet would have to admit he lived up to the rumours: A towering figure, well over 6 foot, broad shoulder, neat buzzcut hair, a moustache well maintain despite weeks as an IAFS prisoner and a muscle mass to give most body builders envy.

Honestly, after spotting the younger lean-man also had a pilot's insignia - It struck Scarlet with some degree of dismay to see such an active difference between the pilots of IAFS and TSU.
 Of course visuals meant nothing to Scarlet if either of these two had done something to Una - Unable to learn any more through observation alone, she took one step closer and made herself known to the four and the ring of two-dozen eyes all careful listening in the surrounding area;
 "Oi Una, what's up."

All eye's turned to Scarlet - Una, looking like she could well up in tears at any moment, was quick to appeal to her unofficial mentor;
 "Scarlet it's him, the guy who took my mech!"

Kolme was quick to interject - "Eh come on Una-lass, there's no way you'd bump into that one guy twice in a year, must just be a similar looking bloke."

Major Moncha stood with a stern face, but jovial smile as though amused by the interaction, "I think Mr.Nilas is quite right, just an unfortunate coincidence miss."

"No, but it is him." Una borderline shrieked. Scarlet frowned, she had seldom seen Una get this emotional-- no angry?
 Before Kolme or Moncha could speak up again, the young man at the centre finally opened his mouth;
 "Ah Major, you remember before I came to the Curadh I was held as a prisoner of war for a bit, good few months ago now?"

The Major mused on this a moment, before clasping his hands together triumphantly - "Oh now that you mention it I do, heh guess you and me have that in common now Helty!"

"Ya well, you remember how I escaped when the base was under attack, stole a mech?"

"Yes, one of those Nemos wasn't it." Moncha said back.

"....She was its pilot."

Kolme, Moncha and Scarlet all suddenly felt the urge to go 'Ah', though only Kolme actually did aloud.
 The pin had dropped and Scarlet let some of the building tension leave her - If this was all it was than there was no real reason to worry - Of course she understood Una's pain, losing her mech that day had lead to her being suspected of being a criminal, something that had only changed when she was allowed to join the Fluchtig.
 It had damaged her career and maybe more so her self-confidence - It was rotten-luck she should meet that same enemy again, but it was manageable, it wouldn't lead to a fight if they handled it properly.

At least those were the thoughts coursing through her mind until Una spoke up once more;
 "Th-That's not all you liar! You called my parents terrorists, you said the people of Station 5 deserved to die!!"

A new, larger wave of silence spread across the surrounding crowds. Kolme was quick to try intercede;
 "Wow, ah well, people say things they don't really mean in high-tension environment Una - Not that he had any right to say any of that, of course not - But he was a prisoner at the time right? Probably just wanted to look 'hard in front of his prison guards ya know?"

Major Moncha was quick to back this up, laying a firm hand on this 'Helty' person's shoulder, as though silently ordering the boy to apologise and bring this situation under smooth control;
 "That's right ain't it Helt? Just a misunderstanding."

It was the boy's turn to speak, now a few dozen eyes and ears zooned in on him;
  "Right, right - I didn't mean to offend anyone or nothing." There was a collective sigh of relief.
 In the next breath, Helt went on;
 "But I mean it is true though - We've all seen the footage right, station 5 is just fine, that story is all made up - The speical forces just arrested a few protestors is all..."

Bam.
 Few times in Scarlet's life had the jolly Aardig's day tunes blaring overhead, seemed more inappropriate.
 An 'Atrocities Denier' - It was a term that seemed ridiculous and yet among academic circles in had become common, an indication of just how much civilian blood had been spilt in the last decade.
 The name was exactly what it implied - In a time where the Union controlled all public perception, the number within the general populous who genuinely believed that TSU-s committed no crimes, was shockingly high.
 Station 5 had been a particularly successful cover up - After all Stations 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.6 and so on, were all fine and all very similar in design and population density.

So it had not been overly difficult for TSU's media team to put together footage of the inside of Station 5.5's sisters cities, to show people with the right accent, living happily - Interspliced with old footage of the real station 5.5.
 It hadn't even cost much to have a few actors play the residents of a perfectly fine station 5.5 - And they could even use current footage of the station's exterior - At the end of the day, the outside was fine, it looked like any other Nation-Satellite, a gaint grey slab of humanity floating in space.
 Unless you actually went and entered 5.5, looked at the corpses lining every street failing to properly decompose - And somehow made it back out alive, without being killed by the still present poisonous gas being automatically circulated to this very day - Unless you knew, then who was to say anything had happened.

Una stared, mouth literally agape at the young man's words - At a man who had not only humiliated her as an enemy, but now denied her trauma as a fellow human being - The crowd all around them was beginning to seethe, a fight was brewing.
 Resisting with every fibre of her being the urge to strangle the brat 'Helt' to death there and then, Scarlet instead reached out and grabbed Una's wrist, pulling her towards her, leaning down slightly and looking her straight in the eyes;
 "Una, listen to me - See over there in the crowd where Hoki is lurking ya? Go to her and head back to your room ok? Take a keg with ya for all I care, got me?"

Una blinked, then her face turned to one of genuine indignation - "But Scarlet, you heard him!"

"Ya, and will hitting him bring back your family and friends?"

Una fell silent.

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"Will hitting him change his arse-backwards mind?"

Slowly the younger girl shook her head. Scarlet did her best to smile through her scowl.
 "Good Girl, now go on, go on."

Pushing her lightly on the back, Una slightly stumbled before making her way to Hoki within the surrounding crowd and being carefully lead away, glancing back in Scarlet's direction frequently as they left.
 Cautiously Scarlet straightened back up to her full height, chest puffed out, eye ablaze.

The young man despite the myriad glares now in his direction, still managed to squeak out some more 'clarification';
 "I don't see what all the fuss is about, you'd all swear I was picking on some little school girl."

Moncha was curt in his response, "Shut up Helt."

A layer of silence stretched out from where Helt stood, out in rings around the room - While far off the party continued and music played on - The tension in the under-hanger's centre was hitting a fever pitch.
 Scarlet was breathing deeply just to stay in control, she felt an urge to pull out the Enhancer dose she always kept on her person.

Helt had made a fatal mistake, he had reminded them all.
 Reminded them of the fundamental differences between TSU and IAFS - It was one thing to bring the two together for a party - Neither side had had the proper time for vacation, and it was St.Aardig's day, even the coldest of soldiers was feeling a pang of homesickness. With a little booze to help things along, you could just about create an illusionary world, where the people next to you were just fellow humans, who happened to be in a line of work akin to murder.
 After all, your comrades are all soldiers too, your best friend is a soldier, for one night, you can all just be people, who happen to also be soldiers.

But Helt had laid it all out flat - It was entirely possible Una was the only person in the entire IAFS organisation who was a survivor of Station 5.5, there were very few after-all - But everyone had a story.
 The many members of IAFS who had come from Abhaile or fought with Remembrance before this, would probably tell you they and their ancestors had been mistreated and oppressed by TSU for 400 years - Or the people who defected from TSU, stating atrocities like Station 5 as the very reason they could no longer serve under that banner.
 Meanwhile the people of Curadh fell into that tribal mental that comes of riots - If nothing else Helt was one of theirs, he wouldn't be made a fool of - But moreover many of them believed it too, that IAFS was exaggerating, spreading a sort of 'Fake News' in an effort to undermine the sanctity of their great Union.
 But Scarlet didn't care about any of that.

Scarlet was 'mad', fuming, raging - Because this punk, arrogant, child - Had dared to belittle her young friend.

The whispers were spreading now, the circle of silence was growing, the tension becoming all consuming.
 Scarlet couldn't see any way back now, no way for either side to forget their hatred of the other - And then she realised two things, one being that right now she, Kolme and Moncha were the most important people in the world.
 It sounded ridiculous but it was quite possibly true - Those from the Curadh would follow Major Moncha's lead, the fact that the Curadh had a Marine-corp, very capable in hand to hand combat, was not lost on Scarlet.
 Meanwhile the large part of IAFS who had come from Abhaile or Remembrance would no doubt follow her - Even if she hated it, they saw her as a war hero and would take her lead anywhere.
 That just left the stragglers, who would probably come to Kolme's aid.
Whichever of the three made the first move, that would be it - The party was still young, most had only had a couple drinks, enough to get your fists up, but not enough to fall over - The perfect conditions for an all out brawl, it would last hours, there'd be no way to stop it once it started - The ship's Captains would be forced to let it fizzle out, people would no doubt die.
 Both sides would see it as an act of aggression and an appalling breach of the short-lived truce - Right now, in a fist Scarlet hadn't even realised she was clenching, was the power to end a Truce - To start a political incident.

The second thing, was that she had just sent Hoki and Una out of the room - That meant there was no one left she felt the need to look out for - No more reason to hesitate.
 A wolfish grin had formed across her face. Kolme and Moncha both looked concerned, the crowd hung on every moment.

'I wouldn't even have to hit Moncha, I could hit Kolme and that'd be enough to start things - Sides won't matter, the bar-fight of a lifetime is upon us! Ah but I think I'll go for this Helt-kid, claim a few of his milk-teeth.'
 Scarlet mused to herself - This was it, she would end a Truce agreement the same day it started, get back to the fighting, the fun part, all the faster.

And then he said it;
 "Right, well that's that then." Kolme Nilas remarked with an awkward smile.

The festive tunes came flooding back in, a few people in the crowd even laughed.  
 'No friggin way is he that dumb? He- Even he can't of read the room this badly!! The hell is he talking like that for!'

But even as such thoughts crossed Scarlet's mind unwelcomed, the sound of cheers and merriment began to rise up near-by - She couldn't believe it, how could they forget, let this go so fast?
 And then servers appeared, with trays packed full of glasses of a higher quality alcohol.

There hadn't been any servers, this was a self-service event - And yet one server apiece presented a tray to each of the trio at the centre, while others moved around making sure anyone who even looked a tad grumpy got a drink.
 The person smiling before Scarlet was familiar, after a moment she realised it was Una's roommate - 'Cally or something right?'
 She was a little older than Una, more mature, if a little unremarkable to look at - With the practised smile of an overworked office clerk.
  
Slowly, hesitantly Scarlet accepted the drink - She didn't want to, she didn't want to let the tension fall, for the event to end so anticlimactically - But it was gone.
 The crowd was back to partying, they were left at the centre, no longer anyone's focus.

She glared daggers across at Kolme, 'This couldn't of been a plan, he never gave any orders - Was this just dumb luck, a timed event happening at the perfect moment to break up the tension? No way!!'
 For his part Kolme had a dumb grin on his face that annoyed Scarlet greatly - Then she spotted it, a handheld on his wrist.
 Most everyone wore one, except Kolme Nilas, who always seemed to rely on someone else having one - Or at best stuffing the thing in his pocket. But today, just visible under his jacket sleeve, was a handheld with the words;
 'Audio Transmitting'
Scarlet was at a loss. It was a stupidly simple idea, sloppily done considering she'd managed to spot the open screen - But it had worked. Her epic bar-brawl had faded away that easily.

"I think I may have underestimated you as a leader, lieutenant Nilas." Moncha said, breaking the silence between them, his jovial smile back in full force.

Kolme smiled gloatingly like a child, "Always good to 'ave a contingency plan - Drink up, this stuff is in short supply!"

Scarlet scowled deeply, the very last of her anger dissipating - The party had truly begun at last.

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