Khan had a personal stash in his room, but Baoway's routine rarely allowed him to indulge in long and relaxing drinking moments. He wasn't the type to get drunk easily and let it affect his efficiency, but the situation still limited him.
However, the ship's main deck was the center of the mission. Screens showcasing vital information filled every corner of the area, and it was impossible for anyone to miss their notifications. It was a safe place that granted a certain level of freedom, and Khan finally got to experience it.
Marcus and Kirk were hard at work on the shuttle in orbit, and their status was slightly lower, so they didn't join the drinking session. Khan, Celeste, Amy, and Randall could enjoy privacy among esteemed peers, building a pleasant atmosphere that gradually evolved into friendliness.
Of course, the booze was partially to blame. As the drinks flowed, the tongues grew looser, and the laughs increased. Funny anecdotes about past experiences also resounded, and the curiosity that had been kept in check until now began to leak out.
"I never slept with her," Khan repeated, a faint chuckle mixing with his voice. Celeste, Randall, and Amy kept their curious and inquiring eyes on Khan, showing clear distrust in the statement. Still, Khan only laughed and leaned deeper into his seat, adjusting the legs on the interactive table while bringing his drink to his mouth.
"Didn't you share a room?" Randall wondered. "Multiple rooms even."
"Never slept with her in that sense," Khan corrected himself. "Jenna and I had a certain understanding."
"You raise the bar for young men," Celeste commented. "Resisting a Nele speaks for your values."
"It was complicated," Khan sighed, his eyes losing themselves in old memories. "On many levels. I don't exactly see it as praiseworthy."
"Was there something with Miss Solodrey already?" Amy inquired, her eyes almost shining due to the interesting gossip.
"No gossip about my fiancée," Khan laughed, dismissively waving his hand. "The network already speaks too much about her."
"With all due respect," Randall exclaimed, "You two aren't exactly a quiet and reserved couple."
Khan feigned ignorance, but the comment didn't need confirmation. Monica and Khan had been at the center of the network for a long time and for multiple reasons. Even people who didn't care about those matters would have heard about them.
"I'm glad it's working out for you," Amy announced. "Your relationship is keeping the dream of finding true love alive."
Khan feigned ignorance once again. His relationship probably appeared perfect, ideal, and even miraculous, but only he and Monica knew the truth. Some saw it as a fairy tale, but just thinking about it reminded Khan of all the problems he had to face to get where he was.
"Okay, enough with my love life," Khan stated. "Ninety percent of it is on the network anyway."
Khan's tone was friendly. He wasn't threatening or scolding his teammates, which surprised them. Seeing that side of Khan was strange, and he shared the feeling, although for different reasons.
It had been a long time since Khan had spent a prolonged period on the field, at least in an environment that allowed proper bonding. Lately, his only safe place had been his flat, and solely thanks to Monica, but Baoway was reawakening old habits and trends.
Soldiers on the field always bonded faster than those inside peaceful environments. Something about being together in the trenches lowered barriers and inhibitions, creating deep relationships that could last forever. Khan had experienced that multiple times, and his social paranoia finally relented and allowed him to join that event again.
After conversing and drinking for a while, Khan almost felt dumb for having waited so long. He had his reasons and completely justified himself, but the outcome had been pleasant enough to awaken a tinge of regret. If only he had allowed himself to relax, he could have spent more days like that.
"On another topic," Randall said, "I apologize for butting heads with you so often. It's nothing personal."
"Don't worry," Khan reassured. "I understand I'm difficult to work with. I actually respect your attempts to keep me in check."
"Attempts indeed," Randall laughed. "I can't understand half of the things you do. Though they are effective, so I won't complain."
"Well," Khan uttered, pointing at his hair. "I'm part alien. My techniques and training methods are alien. Not understanding is the norm."
"You are one of humankind's finest, Major," Amy chirped in. "Many expect great things from you."
"I'm just a soldier," Khan dismissed the compliment. "The best of them, but still a soldier."
"I usually despise arrogance," Celeste commented, eyeing a sleeping figure past the interactive desk, "But its absence would be worse in this case."
Khan, Randall, and Amy couldn't help but follow Celeste's gaze. Zu-Gru was sleeping on the floor behind them, using his arms as a pillow. The metal surface wasn't ideal, but the alien didn't complain.
"A series of fortunate circumstances," Khan responded. "It would have been harder with a different species."
"I won't complain," Randall exclaimed. "You are making my job easier. If everything goes well, we'll be out of here in no time, and we'll have promotions waiting for us."
"Do you think they'll make the Major a Colonel?" Celeste wondered.
"He has the requirements and achievements," Amy praised. "With his marriage, I wouldn't be surprised if he became the youngest General in history."
"I've just been promoted," Khan shook his head. "Though I'll push for the title of Ambassador."
"They should have already given it to you," Amy pointed out. "You are doing that job here already."
"The political gears move slowly," Celeste explained. "Besides, I think the Global Army is forced to let some time pass between promotions, at least to maintain a certain fa?ade."
"Politics aren't really for me," Amy sighed. "I'm happy being a scout, but my family will probably pressure me into accepting more responsibilities."
"Isn't that how things always work?" Khan asked. "You get good at something, and others start building plans around you."
"The field is better," Amy almost cursed. "A war is more peaceful than life in the big cities."
"I agree," Khan replied, emptying what was left of his drink.
"Youth sure is charming," Celeste stated. "Settling down isn't so bad."
"Aren't you here with us?" Khan laughed. "Also, your retirement would be a loss for the entire field. I've never seen anyone picking up alien languages so quickly."
"I'm confident you'll surpass me," Celeste declared. "Once you accumulate more experience, I'll read books about you."
"I think they are already writing those," Randall revealed. "Your lessons spread tall waves inside the scientific field. The Global Army might soon develop new, revolutionary training methods."
"The fine-tuning will take a while," Khan explained. "These arts are better taught when young and open-minded, which means finding a new generation of descendants willing to risk wasting important years."
"It won't be that hard," Amy responded. "With your fame, it would be stranger for people to ignore them."
"Who knows?" Randall said, coldness invading his eyes as he turned toward the screens behind him. "Maybe our mission here will revolutionize the mana training we know."
A tinge of darkness spread through the friendly atmosphere. No one had forgotten Khan's report. Completing the mission might very well lead to a genocide or enslavement of an entire species. Even the most experienced soldiers would feel dirty at that thought.
"If it weren't us," Khan exclaimed, "It would have been the next explorers or those after them. The Empire would have found that and used it as a currency anyway. It was inevitable."
"I was under the impression you would have been angrier at the idea," Celeste revealed.
"The weak die to the strong," Khan repeated Lord Exr's words. "Planets die to stars. It's the rule of the universe."
"A sad universe," Celeste added.
Khan agreed with Celeste, but the sharp scarlet eyes from the mental trip suddenly appeared in his vision. The universe seemed to contain existential threats capable of threatening more than star systems, so even the freedom to talk about sadness was a privilege.
"It's inevitable," Randall repeated Khan's words. "Differences in culture, strength, and traditions will always lead to strife. Those gaps are even bigger among different species. You can't expect everyone to put aside their greed and benefits over an ideal they might not even understand."
"One can dream," Celeste sighed. "I love my job because it allows me to fill those gaps, but I'm not blind to reality. It's just sad."
"Realistically speaking," Randall announced, "To fulfill your ideal, you'd need a leader with no biases toward each species. Not only that, but you'd need him or her to teach that perspective to others. Such a leader doesn't exist."
"Who knows?" Celeste wondered. "Maybe one day we'll see a mixed force claiming to be a single species. In the end, tight cooperations already exist."
"Let's ask the Major since he has seen them," Randall suggested. "Milia 222. Did you see an absence of biases among different species?"
"You know the answer," Khan replied. "While mixed forces and organizations do exist, a species is something entirely different."
"But you were accepted by everyone," Celeste pointed out.
"Not everyone," Khan corrected. "Actually, very few, and I had to play tricks and ploys anyway."
"And yet," Celeste continued, nodding at the sleeping Zu-Gru, "Here you are, with a Scalqa as a subordinate. You even held back with the Blood Tribe. Otherwise, we would have needed to expand our HQ."
"I have no interest in leadership," Khan shook his head. "I'll continue climbing the political ladder, but not out of interest in that kind of power."
"It won't be your decision," Celeste commented, wearing a complicated smile. "I guess I'm looking forward to who you'll become."
"Many are," Amy added.
Khan knew the two women meant that as a compliment, but his mind inevitably connected those words to his paranoia. Ideas swirled in his mind, sobering him up and killing his relaxed mood. As for the topic, that wasn't Khan's first time dealing with it. Jenna, Monica, and others had hinted at something similar, and the mental trip added some impending necessity to the whole idea. He had seen an army big enough to darken the universe's horizon. That wasn't something he could deal with on his own.
'A mixed force, huh,' Khan thought, reaching for the booze to refill his cup.
