The Senior 1

"Well met, Kit."

"Well met, Senior. Is this seat taken?"

"Give the boy a drink," the Senior said to the bartender without looking up at the boy. "What does he want?"

"He wants you to come home, Sir. I've been told to impress upon you the group's need for you in this time of crisis."

"He hasn't moved past those days, has he? It's not going to work, his savior-from-the-bad-old-days bit. We were shocked that it worked the first time, but to try for twice..."

"Yes Sir, I agree that the group's morale might not take the same shine to it, but those are his orders.
"The group is restless, Sir. Now that the foreigners have come back, he feels that your presence is crucial. We lost two of the old guard, Sir, Ilse and Kathe. They were taken during the 238th street incident. The foreigners left markers, Sir. They want the old land back."

"The foreigners took out the two girls, did they?" He took a long, long pull off his drink. "Did we manage to get their weapons back to the Center?"

"Yes sir, two of the four blades will remain in the hold."

"The girls are gone..." he mused as he finished his drink, and reached over for Kit's. "You haven't even touched it, boy. Starting to wonder about you," and he finished the second drink. "Pay the man, and let's get going."

"Where to, Sir?" Kit said as he reached out his hand to scan-out the payment.

"To the ceremony."

"Sir, they'ven been--they passed almost six days back."

"And he'll have waited for me. He sent you after me, didn't he? With his sense of theatrics, the
Captain will have it all ready to go once he hears of our return."

"Yes sir." Kit slumped. Despite knowing that the Senior hadn't been a player for some time, it was still hard to believe his grasp on the man everyone just called "Captain."