Tales From The Space Force Pt. 02

"Now I'm afraid I have to embarrass you once more. Because of him and his help, we've also strengthened our ties with our Vagan allies, finally. I've had a personal request from them to have a more day to day alliance with them because this man-made friends with his Vagan counterpart who in turn helped our people connect with theirs."

Lucas was redder than a fire truck now, and it was all he could do not to slide under the table and hide. Evelyn put her hand on his and squeezed it to stop him from running out of the room. He turned and look at her and she smiled at him which calmed him down somewhat.

The general smiled as he saw this, "I think we've embarrassed him enough for now." He laughed, "I believe the only thing keeping him from running out of the room screaming is his fiancé, Pilot Saito."

The general smiled once more, "So, I believe we're done here for now. Lunch should be ready for us, then we can all attend the awards ceremony. Then I get to embarrass a bunch of other people."

They all stood and Haruki waited for them. He grinned, "Are you alright Lucas?"

Lucas nodded, "I guess so, right now I wish I could run out the door and keep running though."

Haruki laughed, "So, how are your parents Evelyn?"

Evelyn smiled, "They're good and my father asked if you were going to be here. I told him you would be, so you'll see them later."

Haruki nodded smiling, "Good, I look forward to seeing him and your mother, along with Lucas's parents, I've never met them before. I wish I could have stopped by yesterday, but I had my own debrief to attend with our people." Then they started walking to the dining facility talking some more as they went along.

After lunch, they all went to the main auditorium, and Lucas, Evelyn and a few others from the moon-base, were met by their relatives. Evelyn's father and mother greeted Haruki warmly, and then Lucas introduced him to his parents. They all talked for bit, then everyone was requested to be seated. They were in the front row of seats and watched as the Space Force general walked up to the podium and the buzz of the crowd died down.

The general smiled as he greeted them all, then said, "Thank you all for attending the ceremony today. I'd also like to welcome the various relatives of those being honored."

There was a slight applause, then he smiled once more, "Before we start, I'd like to introduce some of our people and allies. First, the commanding officer and his second in command of Moon-Base, Colonel Thorson and Major Harris."

There was more applause as they walked onto the stage, then the general smiled and said continuing, "Now, I'd like to introduce some of our Vagan allies who, without their aid and help, we wouldn't be having this today."

"First, allow me to introduce, Commander Kylian who was the leader of our combined response, Security Officer Kalyke, who was instrumental in helping us set this all up and last, but not least, Pilot Saibai, one of the many of their pilots who partnered with ours."

The three of them walked out and joined the colonel and major as the crowd applauded once again. Most there had never really seen one of the Vagan's except on vid.

The general smiled at the crowd, "We are here today to honor and award a few of the people involved. Since we couldn't have everyone here," He smiled. "That would fill up this base if we did, we have brought together a few of the major players who exemplified themselves. So, to begin, will pilots Saito and Saibai please join me."

Evelyn and Saibai both came up and over to him and stood at attention. The general smiled, "This team of Earth and Vagan pilots took on and either disabled or destroyed thirty-five Phoban spacecraft and, severely damaged the command-ship. This goes to prove just how well our two peoples can work together. All the combined teams did well, but this pair helped convince the Phoban's to surrender."

He picked up a box, "Pilot Saito, front and center please."

Evelyn walked up and stood at attention once more. The general smiled, "Pilot Saito, for your performance and what you accomplished, I'm please to award you the following medals, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Combat Action Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air and Space Campaign Medal." He pinned them on one at a time and if Evelyn had still been able to blush, she would have.

He saluted her and the crowd applauded.

The general nodded, "Yes, she deserves all your accolades."

He smiled once more, "Vagan Pilot Saibai."

Saibai walked forward to stand near Evelyn. The general nodded, "Pilot Saibai, unfortunately, rules don't allow me to award you all the same medals, as much as you have earned them and I want to. However, for your performance and what you accomplished, I'm please to award you the following medals that I can, the Combat Action Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air and Space Campaign Medal. But I want you to know, that in our minds, you deserve all the same as Pilot Saito received."

He pinned them on one at a time on a very happy and proud Saibai. The crowd's applause was the same.

They sat back down and Lucas took Evelyn's hand to give it a squeeze. Then the general called up various others who had distinguished themselves and handed out the appropriate medals.

Once he was done, he led the crowd in an applause for them, then said, "As I said at the beginning, many more will also be honored, but since we were limited in space and time, they will be awarded by their commands."

He smiled once more, "Many things were accomplished and almost perfectly from start to finish. From the people actually on the front lines, to the ones figuring out things here and other places. I'm so very proud of all of them, we stopped what could have been disaster for us and our allies on both the moon-base and here on earth. The Vagan's informed us that the Phoban fleet, that turned and retreated, main objective was to attack this facility, our three capitols, the Triumvirate facility, and targets of our allies in Europe and Asia."

Then he smiled, "But that didn't happen due to the plan though up by a onetime Space Force Sergeant, now Captain and a few others from moon-base, here and of course the Vagan's. "

The crowd applauded once more, then the general said, "Yes, yes, he is worthy of applause, because not only was it his idea, he and his crew were the ones who found the problem with our new fighters and saved countless other lives because of it. This man's name, is Captain Torson."

Lucas turned bright red once more as the crowd clapped and he might have run out if Evie's arm wasn't wrapped in his.

The general smiled, and as he said in the meeting prior, "As you can all see, we've embarrassed him, but captain, it is people like you that I have always enjoyed commanding, you do your job well, and when you think you can help, you do. People like you never want or expect honors and accolades, your service is your reward along with hopefully saving lives. You have done all this and more. Captain Torson, front and center please."

Lucas stood and still blushing, walked up on stage to stand near the general.

The general smiled, "Captain Torson, it is my pride and pleasure to award you the following medal for all that you've done or assisted in, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal."

The general pinned it on him, the shook his hand. Then said to the crowd, "For those that don't know, this is our countries second highest decoration, only surpassed by the Medal of Honor."

"Because of him and his help, we've also strengthened our ties with our Vagan allies. I've had a personal request from them to have a more day to day alliance with them because this man here, made friends with his Vagan counterpart who in turn helped our people connect with theirs. This is why they are here with us today."

The applause was thunderous and Lucas turned redder and redder.

The general saw and grinned slightly as he said quietly, "Almost done son, then you can hide."

The general held his hand up, then said, "It was my pleasure to make this one-time Senior Sergeant a Captain. Now it's my pleasure to promote him to Major. Colonel Thorson and Pilot Saito, who is also Captain's Torson's fiancé by the way, would you please do the honors?"

Evelyn stood and walked back up smiling as the colonel walked over from where he was sitting. The general handed the colonel a box and he opened it handing Evelyn one of the collar insignia. They pinned them on him, then they saluted him. The colonel smiled as he shook his hand and Evelyn held his hand and mouthed, "I love you."

The general smiled, "Pilot Saito, I believe I can grant you special dispensation to congratulate your fiancé."

Evelyn smiled, "Thank you sir." Then she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him to the applause of the crowd.

Lucas had gotten a bit weak in the knees from her kiss, but smiled at her, then mouthed, "I love you."

Once the applause had died down, the general smiled. "Major Torson, I'm afraid we have to embarrass you one more time, but I promise, this is the last. Commander Kylian."

Commander Kylian smiled as he stood and walked up to join them. "Thank you General. Major Torson, while our world doesn't have medals like you have here, I've been requested to offer our gratitude and thanks from our leadership and ruling body for all that you have done. If we did have things like that, we would also award you."

He turned to the audience, "As most of you all know now, our people have known of each other for a very long time. We had decided to help your planet for this exact reason and so we could one day join forces and also welcome you all into the Combined Planetary Alliance. We are very happy this worked so well."

The crowd applauded once again, then Kylian smiled, "So, since it did, I would also like to add at this time, that we've been approached by the Phoban's to attend a peace conference so this does not happen ever again and we can all put our efforts into making things better for all of us, than to have to plan for a war."

The applause was deafening this time.

He shook Lucas's hand, then saluted him.

Lucas smiled and saluted him back, then the general said, "This is marvelous news Commander Kylian, I for one look forward to it."

Then Lucas asked him, "General, may I have permission to say something?"

The general nodded and motioned him to the podium.

Lucas stood there for a moment collecting his thoughts, then said, "First, thank you all for all this. As the general said, I don't particularly like accolades or honors. All I ever wanted to do, was my job and help where I could."

"I'm very glad we have a chance at peace, I think that's what all of us want. Especially those of us that have to be in the middle of it. We've been honored today, but most of us were more upset that people had to die or be hurt. When I told them of my idea, I had hoped that they'd all retreat like the one fleet did. Unfortunately, they didn't and made us do the things that most people don't like or want to do even if we are of the warriors and trained for it."

"I was upset that this happened, after all, it was my sort of my idea. But the man that taught me, Doctor Haruki Nakamura reminded me of a quote he told me once and it goes like this;

"The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter -- it is the Art of Peace, the power of love."

Lucas smiled, "Truer words have never been said. That is what we do and should always do."

Then he looked across the room at all the people there, and then smiled as he got to Evelyn, "And, something else I read once, also comes to mind;

"A Master and his disciple walked side by side through a beautiful garden. The disciple suddenly stops and asks: "Master, you talk about and preach to me the ways of peace. Yet I have learned from you deadly techniques of combat and the tactics of war. How do you reconcile the two?"

"The master gracefully squats, chooses a flower and plucks it. "My disciple: it is better to be a warrior tending to his garden than a gardener in a war."

Lucas looked out over the crowd of silent people, then saw Evelyn looking up at him smiling. "I hope and pray, that we all find a big garden to tend when everything is over. There's so many better things our time can be spent on."

He turned and saluted the general and the rest and walked back to his seat. As he did, the applause started and didn't end even after he sat down, then he leaned over to kiss Evelyn.

Once everything was over, Haruki came over and smiled, then hugged his one-time student. "Lucas, that was a beautiful sentiment and story. I also hope we can all attend our gardens."

Lucas nodded, "So do I Haruki, so do I. As I said, there's so many better things our time can be spent on."

Colonel Thorson and Commander Kylian walked up to them. Then the Colonel said to him, "Major Torson, unfortunately we both have some bad news for you. When we return, you'll need to apologize to Sergeant's Stevens and Jones, plus Tech-specialist Oberon."

Lucas looked confused, "For what sir?"

Then Colonel Thorson and Commander Kylian smiled, and the colonel said, "Because all three have been promoted to officer rank."

Lucas looked at them and shook his head turning to Evelyn saying sadly, "Well, I guess I just lost three friends."

Evelyn wound her arm in his and hugged it. "That's alright dear, I still love you."

Colonel Thorson and Commander Kylian laughed at the look on his face, then Kylian said, "Excuse me Pilot Saito, can I borrow the major for a short moment?"

Evelyn smiled and patted Lucas's arm, "Certainly sir."

Kylian guided Lucas over away from the others, "Major, I just wanted to give you a piece of information in private. We've heard from our contacts that there has been a horrible accident on the Phoban home-world. It seems that a few of the old leaders and others have been killed in a vehicle crash and a new set of leaders have taken over. Including an acquaintance of ours, Commander Napien. It's our understanding, he pushed for the peace conference."

Kylian smiled, "I guess your little, shall we say, talk with him has made him see the light of day."

Kylian grinned, "You really need to get me copies of your books major, including ones that brought on that wonderful speech you made today." He reached out his hand and Lucas took it smiling. "I'd be more than happy to, and perhaps if you'll be around a bit longer, I can introduce you to my teacher, who is here with us. I think you'll find him interesting. Tell me, have you ever heard of a drink from here called Saki?"

A year and a half later

A treaty between the Phoban's and the Alliance had been agreed to and the universe was once again at peace. After the deliberations, Earth had also been accepted as a permanent member of the Alliance of Planets.

Things returned to normal at the Moon-base, though Lucas had to apologize to Ellie, Jonesy, and Oberon profusely. However, they finally forgave him for his part in it.

Lucas and Evelyn had transferred to Space Command once their tour on moon-base was up and once there, they got married. Lucas was assigned as head of the Cyber-lab there and Evelyn had split her time between flying and training the newer pilots.

Ellie had taken over his spot and ran the lab on moon-base. She and Steve were still together and had finally decided to make it permanent. They had also transferred to back to earth once their tour was up and worked at the command also.

Then once their enlistment was up with Space Force a year later, they both went to work for Yamato, Lucas in cybernetics and Evelyn as an engineer and test pilot with the spacecraft division. The Yamato company had opened a new division in the independent states, and they had moved there buying a house near the new plant. Once the new plant was fully established, Haruki had transferred to it and it had become the main branch for the Cybernetics division in the states. He and Lucas finally got to work together as they came up with new and improved ways of repairing and upgrading cyborgs and other cybernetic components.

Lucas was finally put in charge of the new repair department/ clinic and did what he loved best, helping the various people who came to see them for help and repairs both on cyborgs and the cyber-enhanced. Due to his influence, the whole department was run more like a doctor's office and their cyborg patients were treated like flesh and blood humans.

Vagan's were also seen more often on earth as some decided to move to earth. Much like had happened on the moon, they were now seen more often as some settled there and took jobs on earth, or came to visit.

Lucas had convinced Oberon to come and work with him and Haruki at their plant. He had agreed and immigrated to earth along with one of the females Lucas had met, the one called Elara who had helped Talos on the check point.

Evelyn had laughed when they met her, "Oberon, I thought you said it was frowned upon to be involved with people at the base."

Oberon had grinned as Elara had hugged his arm much like Evelyn did to Lucas, "I said it was frowned upon, not that it didn't happen on occasion. It just wasn't something we could be overt about like you two."

Two months later.

Haruki pushed the call button on the front door and Evelyn smiled as she saw who it was. They hugged one another and she said, "Welcome back. How was Japan?"

Haruki smiled; he had spent the last two months there. "Wonderful my dear. Though it is nice to come back here, it's not as crowded and noisy."

Evelyn grinned, "Yes, we love it here. The town is nice and so are the people."

Haruki smiled, "So, how are you two enjoying married life?"

She smiled, "It's also wonderful. But it really isn't all that much different than we were before. Come on in and I'll make some tea. Lucas is out back tending the garden; I'll tell him you're here."

Haruki grinned, "Now that sounds wonderful and I'll be glad to see him." He smiled, "I have some wonderful news for you both."

They walked inside and Haruki looked around. "I love what you've done to the house Evelyn, it looks very nice."

Evelyn grinned, "Yes, Lucas did a marvelous job. Though he had some help from his father."

He nodded, "How are your parents dear? I haven't seen them in a while."

She grinned again, "They are both well, they were here visiting about three weeks ago. Dad had a meeting at the plant and mom came with him. They're also thinking about relocating here, they fell in love with the town also. They've never been all that comfortable in the conservative states. But now with this plant fully open, they're trying to get transferred." She plugged in the water kettle and filled the tea pot with loose tea leaves.

Haruki smiled, "That would nice, I always liked working with them."

She nodded and said, "So did they. Sit and relax and I'll get Lucas."

He smiled, "No, that's alright, I'll get him for you. I want to see how his garden is anyhow."

Evelyn grinned, "It's beautiful, though he spends about an hour or so a day on it when we get home, but it relaxes him, I think you'll be impressed. I'll bring the tea out once it's done and we can have it out on the patio since it's so nice out."

Haruki smiled and walked out of the kitchen to the patio. He stopped and gaped slightly, they had three small gardens really, one was a vegetable patch and one was for flowers, all bright with a myriad of colors and as he watched, butterflies flitted about. But the third one was a masterpiece of a Zen garden.