The Best Damn Thing

[Sarah Tintagyl]

It was a never ending river of paper and reports and the minute that one stack was written, done, and filled away with, THERE WAS STILL ANOTHER STACK! After about three hours of papers upon papers, Sarah head literally felt like it was about to explode. Building up the city of Valkurheim had been the pet project of both her and the Prussian Kaiser, but construction was slow due to the fact that workers needed to be brought in from Brisbane and Prussia, which took a few days at least. In addition to trying to build her second capital city, Sarah, still at the beginning of each day saw the world coming closer and closer to dividing apart and this bothered her more than anything else in the world. The combined stress of solidifying Hanseatic presence in Europe again and the tensions that were rising in the world was enough to give the young girl a heart attack on the spot and as she slouched in the large leather chair in her audience room, she let her head bang against the ebony desk with extreme force.

She immediately regretted it and jumped off the chair holding her head in excruciating pain. Sarah had been sitting alone for a good six hours by this time, only interrupted by aides that seemed so foreign to her, it would take sometime to get used to living in both Europe and Australia. Walking back over to her desk, still holding her head she shifted through the papers and then came across a small card that she had been keeping with her since the evening of the German victory parade. "Evan." She said quietly, holding up the young man she had met at the cafe in Berlin, the kid that had turned her back into a little high school girl for a night. Sarah shook her head and crumbled up the card in her hands, but as she went towards the waste basket, she stopped. She had kept his number for so long and she really didn't want to get rid of it. Opening her hand back up she smiled mischievously and reached into her pocket. She could take a little time off to hang out with old friends. Taking out her cell phone she dialed the number on the card and listened for the dial tone.

"Evan. Hey, its Sarah. What's up?"

[Sargun II]

Evan was busy. There were papers everywhere, complaints, new contracts, uprisings, Nazi scum (kidding) and other things to deal with. Their assets in North America and Asia were threatened, Altin Urda was having an uprising against them, so many things. Whenever he was having brief moment of peace, someone interrupted him. He almost wanted to order him beheaded (oh, if only) but instead he ended up demoting the poor girl. He would make it up to her later, and he was sure she'd be very pleased by his efforts. Oh, how he hated his puns.

Of course, then there was his phone. He wanted to crush it. He hated phones now. Call call call beep beep ring, call cal-- they were all calls he could ignore. He classified call importance by ringtone, and all of them involved something unimportant. He'd have some else do it. Finally, one call came that was unexpected (hell he didn't even know he had that ringtone).

I got so much HP you can call me Terminator

cause these mothafuggin muscles are buffah than Schwarzenegger

"What the f--" Hiley reached across his multi-touch computer, accidentally launching several missiles in the process and answered his phone. "Evan. Hey, its Sarah. What's up?" Precisely when he was about to respond, there was a large siren and 'missiles launching in eight..' counting down in the background in a vixen voice. "Hold on!" He shouted over the uproar, and he quickly stopped the missile from firing. Someone knocked on his door. He got up from his chair and kicked the door as it opened.

Moments later, silence.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said in a loud voice. "Er, sorry. It's.. yeah, sorry. Nothi-nothing's really happening other than about two tons of paperwork and an accidental test run of billion-dollar missiles going off. You?"

GOD I'M SO LAME!

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Sorry 'bout that," he said in a loud voice. "Er, sorry. It's.. yeah, sorry. Nothi-nothing's really happening other than about two tons of paperwork and an accidental test run of billion-dollar missiles going off. You?"

She plopped back down in her seat and laughed at the chaos that was going on on the other side of the phone. "Well I'm sure nothing as interesting as what you're doing." Sarah looked at the sea of papers in front of her and shook her head. "I don't know, been busy, trying to chill out and such, but it hasn't been working. You know I've been away in Brisbane for a few days, but I just came back to Europe today..." She paused, she had to think of an excuse, he was still clueless for her being the Lady Protector of the Hansa correct? "I'm doing a report about the territorial expansion and all that, so I was lucky that I got to come over."

Leaning back further in the chair, she wrapped her hair around her fingers and sighed. "So I was wondering, that if you aren't doing anything busy if we might be able to get together or something. But I understand if you can't, you seem really busy right now with all the missiles and stuff going on." She was becoming extremely curious at what the young man did for a living, working for some corporation and missiles? Strange. "But I mean I didn't mean to bother. Maybe we can get together another time. If you're busy and all." Sarah could almost feel the let down from the other side of the phone, but she really didn't want to return to work either, so even she admitted that she was a little depressed. "But yeah, I guess I should get going. If you're busy and all...."

[Sargun II]

"Report about the territorial expansion, eh? Bet you got a lot to write about that Artemis PMc," he said with a grin. Hiley was silent as she talked again, and then when she talked about how busy he was, his heart practically froze. Nononono-- "NO!" He yelled out, the phone away from his face. "Well, uh, I mean, nah.. I can take a few days off, someone else can use diplomacy on other diplomat-- gah, just.. yeah, I'd like to get together or something. I'm in Europe too. That new Artemis property, they need some engineers to build up the place, I've been staying in this cool room and stuff. Maybe we can meet somewhere? I got a jet," he added enthusiastically, smiling to himself.

Stop thinking like a fool!

He momentarily covered the phone's microphone and let out a "whoo!" before putting it back. "So, yeah, as long as you're not busy I can.. yeah." Evan silently punched himself.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She couldn't help but smile a little bit. "Well that would be great. Uh...though I'm afraid I don't have a jet from a fancy corporation. Us media reporters are exactly lucky when it comes to transportation, I was lucky to even get a free ticket up to Valkurheim." Perfect, she had an alias now, the poor fool would never know. "The city is under construction from what I can tell, but there's a few theaters opened and a few cafes, maybe we can go see a movie or a play and then go get something to eat. Though I mean I'll keep it casual if you want that's no problem, but I mean I've been dying to give work a break for a bit and this is the perfect time."

Sarah put down the phone for a moment and looked at a few of the newspapers that were cluttering her desk. "Yeah, there's definitely a few theaters and stuff open. You want to fly into the city and meet me at New Helsinki Park, then we'll do whatever. I mean its entirely up to you, I'm pretty easy when it comes to plans and other things." She lifted her legs onto the chair and watched as an aide brought in another report. Glaring at the young man, Sarah shooed him out of the audience room as she returned to listening to the phone. "So what do you think Evan, maybe meet tomorrow evening in Valkurheim?"

[Sargun II]

"Valkurheim? Is that some kind of drug?" He muttered under his breath. "Yeah, sure! I'll meet you at.. Valkurheim airport or whatever it's called." A few moments later, he punched in a plane to fly him to Valkurheim tomorrow evening. By 'punched in a plane to fly' he meant 'freeing up his personal F-45A' - he thought he'd arrive royally. "Better yet, if you can get to a military airport with the passcode K-72X, I can meet you there without all the fuss?" He smiled.

---

Evan slowly eased off the speed. "Phantom here, you ready for a pretty landing?"

"Roger, roger."

Ignoring all normal protocol, he let out his flares, illuminating the dark sky behind him. At the same time, he fired the two mock missiles in his bay above the airport, streaming violently colorful flames behind it. They exploded in the sky above with a brillant flash. Two stars (as in five-sided) shined brilliantly as the airport spotlights were aimed up at it. Grinning, Sargun did a complete 360-degree flip in his F-45A while firing his cannons, giving an almost strobish appearance.

"Yee-haw!"

"Landing is clear, Phantom."

Laughing, he turned around again and minutes later landed.

"Let's hope she saw that, boys!"

[Sarah Tintagyl]

As soon as Evan had hung up the phone, Sarah jumped from her chair onto the marble floor of the audience room and flipped the phone shut. As she walked across the floor, the military governor of Valkurheim, Hannah Asgiersson bolted through the door with a sharp salute. "Milady. I have a few more..." Sarah stuck out her hand and laughed.

"Just put them on the desk for now Hannah, I'm taking the night off, I'm meeting with a friend I met in Berlin a few weeks ago, so I have to go change and such and meet him at the airport. I'll do all the work tomorrow morning when I get back."

Hannah bowed with a smile on her face. "Well of course Your Ladyship, that's fine. Have a good night."

Sarah blew past the Commodore and up the stairs towards her personal quarters and after fishing through her closets for about a half an hour she found another outfit that was perfect for Evan's casualty. A long sleeve shirt, underneath a pink tee shirt and a pair of khaki capris. It would be perfect, feminine, but still with the ounce of toughness that Sarah had tried to play into him to make sure that he knew which one of them was calling the shots. After changing and putting on the necessary make-up and perfume she ran back down to the limousines in the garage and found a personal BMW that she could take to meet Evan at the airport, she at least could ride in style.

The drive over was fast as Sarah whipped through the streets of her second capital as the sun continued to set, but the time she arrived at the airport, the city lights were just beginning to turn on and the sky had a murky red about it, it was beautiful. Just as she was getting out of the car, the jet flew over head creating an awing sound and light show in the heavens above. Sarah's mouth hung open as the jet landed as Evan stepped out. "Damn...He works for who?"

Walking over as he exited the plane she smiled and gave him a quick hug. "I'm glad to see you again. How have things been?" She said brushing her hair out of her face from the wind blowing from the northern hills.

[Sargun II]

Evan grinned as she walked over; he put his helmet down on the ground and received the hug. "Glad to see you too. Ah, things have been a little busy. I got super stressed over the Altin Urda-Artemis conflict, they made me ship out and oversee some construction work that was being threatened by Altin Urda soldiers. Got a little freaked out and decided to go back to desk work. By desk work I mean testing low-yield ICBMs on deserted lands on the middle of teh Sahara." He sighed and shook his head. "Crazy corporates upstairs working me like a dog." He smiled down at Sarah and chuckled.

"I'm done with the flashy lights and I'm done with taking the attention to myself. I didn't fly out here to talk you to death," he said. "Tell me.. are you afraid of heights? Fast speeds? Both, perhaps?" He thought it was a pretty bad idea to take a civilian flying, especially someone as fragile as the Lady Protector (come on, she could have had a much manlier name), but.. she looked.. damnit! Can't concentrate.

OOC: writer'sblockraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"You work for Artemis." She said her jaw still hanging open from the air show. "No that makes a lot more sense, I should have figured, missiles, planes, war. You know your company is quite the hampering to any chance of people not killing each other, but I suppose it is normal for capitalism, something that you can't effect." Sarah sighed and looked down at the ground and kicked at the ground lightly then looked back up into Evan's eyes and smiled. "So I'm taking you want to take me for a ride in that little contraption you have there?" She put her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth. "Well as long as you don't kill me, perhaps we can go for a little ride. I've never been in a jet like that, I mean I've been in...well planes. Yeah it would be a cool experience."

She walked over and touched the outside of the plane. It felt warm and she quickly pulled her hand off from the sudden heat of the engine. "So are we going to go up?"

[Sargun II]

OOC: I had a big large post but then my power went out. )):

after I get home today I'll post again >w<

[Sargun II]

OOC: Much shorter than before but at least I got one out this time.

IC: "Artemis.." He sighed. "I'll explain what kind of work I do for Artemis in the plane, aight? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," he added on. Evan knew that hindsight was a terrible thing (after all, it's called hindsight for a reason) and he thought nothing of his slip. She seemed genuinely disappointed, and he promised to make it up. "You get a cool flight suit too. I hope it fits," he said sheepishly, grabbing her hand and jogging to the air control tower. "Go to the second room to the right, lock the door if you want. I'll notify air traffic control while you get in your suit." He grinned and jogged off to the air control tower, thoughts whirling through his head.

Once Sarah got in the room, she would find (dramatically enhanced by lighting, of course) her suit.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

As soon as Sarah walked into the room she couldn't help but laugh, it was in the center of the room illuminated by bright yellow lights. The girl's imagination ran wild, this must be how people in the air force felt like before they went out on a mission and Sarah could imagine herself as a fighter pilot getting ready to defend the last remains of the Hansa from the invading barbarian hordes of the world and as nerdy and stupid as it was she felt kind of heroic. Changing out of her clothes and into the flight suit, it fit perfectly and as she let her hair down and looked in the mirror her face lit up.

"Awesome."

Looking down at her fingers and her legs she moved her body around to get a better feel for the suit and then once she felt like she could move around easy enough she walked back out to where Evan was waiting. As she walked into the room, his back was turned towards the air-traffic controllers and her sudden footsteps turned him around.

"Well what do you think?" Sarah said clasping her hands behind her back, advertising as best as possible her new fashion statement.

[Sargun II]

"I think someone's getting a raise," Evan responded with a grin.

---

Evan was in the standard Artemis H.A.W.X. flight suit - nothing real flashy about it although it gave an aura of power off. He led Sarah to the F-45A while another group of people pushed out a ladder for them to climb up. He let Sarah climb up first, and when she got to the top he laughed. "You look like an ace in that thing," he talked into a microphone inside his helmet, his voice appearing inside her helmet. It was automatically toned down to be loud enough to hear but soft enough not to make her ears bleed.

He climbed into the F-45A moments after her, gently setting himself down in the pilot's seat and closing the $@pit. The Kestrel automatically slid smooth straps across both Evan and Sarah's chests, then tightened them back. The entire world went pitch black for a few brief moments, and then crimson red and yellow flashed before their eyes. For Evan, it was a blissful moment before the glass in front of him turned clear and he could see again. The engine hummed again, the entire plane vibrated for a moment. Seconds later, the entire $@pit was being flooded with the light of the setting sun, and Evan grinned again. "We're starting up," he said smoothly into the mic as the plane started to glide forward.

"Any particular place you'd like to see?"

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She blushed as she climbed into the $@pit, though Evan couldn't see it and again she could feel her teenage youth returning to her body. "Thanks, I've never flown before." As she sat down in the sit, she could feel her whole body shaking, partly because she was nervous and partly because the engine of the plane was just beginning to hum and when the windows let in the ocean of sunshine was literally blown away by the beauty that was surrounding her. Slowly she could feel the plane begin to slide forward and the landscape around her zooming by, faster and faster. Her breathing quickened and she could feel her heart begin to race as the plane continued to move. "Oh my God! This is so awesome!" She screamed into her mouthpiece and then realizing that Evan's was connected to hers, immediately shut her mouth. "Sorry, excitement kills me."

"Any particular place you'd like to see?"

The sun was just beginning to set and with the Baltic facing the west the great fiery star would just begin to plunge into the depths of the northern waters. "Oh can we go over the Baltic, that would be awesome Evan! You think we could reach over there? We can see the sunset!" Her voice was literally quivering as she talked. "Oh my God I can't believe this!"

[Sargun II]

"Oh can we go over the Baltic, that would be awesome Evan! You think we could reach over there? We can see the sunset!" Her voice was literally quivering as she talked. "Oh my God I can't believe this!"

Evan smiled to himself, his face becoming awfully warm. "I'll do my best, Sarah." The plane lurched forward once more at the boost in speed, and they quickly passed the sound barrier. The plane rumbled with the force of breaking the sound barrier, then stabilized and continued to climb in speed and height. They'd reach the Baltic Sea in a few minutes. The sun was taking its time, almost as if it was letting Sarah get her wish by staying in the sky. Evan continued to smile as he started doing a few beginning maneuvers as they reached the Baltic; he turned the plane upside down and lost a lot of elevation, getting closer to the sea before turning right-side up again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll look to the right you'll see a beautiful European port shimmering in the sunset and if you'll look to the left you'll see one of the most beautiful sights ever beheld by man, surpassed by very few sights and by only one person - someone I've had the pleasure of meeting," he remarked in an airline pilot's tone. "If our passenger wants we can certainly take a closer look of the sea," he chuckled, dipping down again.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She was having too much fun to be scared anymore and as the plane swooped down towards the orange water of the Baltic, Sarah couldn't help but scream, a great smile over her face and as the plane began to climb back into the air gently floating over the lapping water, the sun beamed red fiery rays into her eyes shielded by the flight helmet. Yet even through the Plexiglas it was still the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. Sarah let her hands fall to her sides and then even with the force from the plane up to her helmet in utter shock of the situation. "Oh my God Evan, its amazing, its truly amazing."

The port on the right was just beginning to retire for the evening and Sarah wondered if they citizens of the city could hear the screeching sound of the plane going over the water, if grandpas and grandkids who were sitting on ancient verandas stopped their conversations for a moment to hear the sonic screech that filled the Baltic that evening. She didn't want to be a politician anymore, no ties to the Hansa, no ties to the world, Sarah wanted it they way before her family had changed, before she had changed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll look to the right you'll see a beautiful European port shimmering in the sunset and if you'll look to the left you'll see one of the most beautiful sights ever beheld by man, surpassed by very few sights and by only one person - someone I've had the pleasure of meeting,"

The girl blushed and perhaps Sarah had even let a small tear run down from her eye, she was a horrible person in hanging out with Evan, a horrible politician, a terrible wife, and an abysmal person, but she couldn't help it anymore. He was so sweet, such a gentleman, and such a good friend. But that's all it was right? They were just friends...right? She told herself that so the night wouldn't collapse on her shoulders as she lunched ahead and hugged Evan for the compliment. "You're so sweet you know that? This was absolutely amazing. Thank you for bringing me out here! I'd love to get closer to the sea!" She said answering his last question.

[Sargun II]

"I'd love to get closer to the sea!"

"Roger, roger."

Evan smiled at her words, his face turning crimson underneath his helmet. "Hold on tight." He rose into the air on a slop over the Baltic Sea, finally slamming back on the speed and the nose started to drop. STALL STALL STALL PICK UP SPEED AND LEVEL OUT STALL STALL STALL "Oh, do shut up," he muttered, flicking a switch off as the plane plummeted toward the Baltic Sea, colors flashing violently and filling the $@pit as the sea rose swiftly to meet them. As they approached sea level (see what I did there?), he accelerated sharply and leveled out, the waves now simply feet below them and churning like the contented beast it was.

"Watch this!" He rose up several hundred feet then let loose the flares, which reflected more light off the waves. Finally, he let a pulse go from his plane as he looped around, detonating a mine under the water. The spray rose hundreds of feet in the air, sparkling brilliantly in the sunset. After a moment, a small rainbow appeared. He slowed the plane down as it came into view. "For you."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Still hugging Evan as he lead the plane down to the sea, Sarah felt like she was riding a roller coaster and try as she might, she couldn't turn her face to anything but a smile and when the mist flew up into the sky from the mine and the rainbow revealed itself to her eyes, she did something that though she may regret when sleeping in her bed, couldn't stomach to passing up. Even friends deserved a reward for their show of love and friendship. Taking off her helmet, Sarah let her hair back for a moment and reach over towards the front of the $@pit and gave Evan a quick kiss on his lips. She opened her eyes from the kiss, her the red irises sparkling like rubies in the waning sunlight. "It really is beautiful, thank you for everything." She closed her eyes again and kissed him, but then retreated to the back of the $@pit and to her seat. She had done something that would have to be hidden forever in her mind, but nothing felt more right.

[Sargun II]

"Um, you sh--"

When she kissed him, his mind went blank. The plane dipped down again and he quickly worked to put it back up and put it on auto-pilot. She kissed him again, and his heart skipped a beat. This shouldn't be happening. He's kissed a lot of women. They've kissed him a lot. They've done more than kiss him a lot. He should be used to this. He should be used to all of this, he shouldn't be making her feel good with all these shenanigans! He can have them all! What is wrong with me?

His heart beat again.

Sarah Tintagyl was everything that represented the opposite of him. Married, peaceful, philosophical, a freaking Goddess in half of the worlds eyes. Maybe that's what made her so attractive to him? Sure, she was beautiful - almost beyond compare. But he needed her, he wanted her more than he ever thought he could. He didn't know what it was, and it frightened him. But what frightened him more was the high-speed blips coming in over the radar.

"Sarah, uh.. uh-uhm.." He gulped, his vision only half-working. "Put your, uh, helmet on. We've got visitors."

OOC: Just to make it interesting.

[Comrade]

2 Wings of Molakia Fighters close into visual range and take positions around the aircraft.

"Unidentified Craft, this is the Molakian Royal Squadron of the Molakian Air Force. State your reasons for being here." one of the pilots said.

Amongst the pilots was Tsar Nikolai Romanov, getting his plane flying on after several years of not doing so.

"I havnt flown since Colstream had terrorist issues..." he says, rubbing the scar where shrapnel broke his leg.

[Sargun II]

"Unidentified Craft, this is the Molakian Royal Squadron of the Molakian Air Force. State your reasons for being here." one of the pilots said.

"Excuse me? These are not Molakian waters," Evan retorted, and suddenly the plane lurched up, higher into the sky. I can't reveal my name. "My name is Evan and I'm from Artemis Global Security taking someone on a very special flight."

[Comrade]

"You are correct sir, but we are also taking someone on a very special flight. We cannot risk not following you."

The 12 F1 fighters follow in suit, with the Tsars plane taking the right side of the crafts $@pit.

[Sargun II]

"What? What does that even mean? Look, I don't know what this is but I don't like it. You will cease and desist immediately," he called out, looking back to Sarah. "I'm.. I'm so, very, sorry. I didn't think anything like this could happen.." Evan growled and rose higher in the air. "Unless you've got nefarious intentions," he called to the planes around him.

[Comrade]

"As the Tsar of Molakia has your right side, and im no dogfighting slouch, I suggest you sit tight and enjoy having 12 trained fighters around you. Think of it as a blanket of kickvox." Nikolai says over the radio, tinkering with his controls.

He looks over into the plane and sees a small figure.

"Whose the hot one in the back pilot?"

[Sargun II]

"What?" Evan looked back at Sarah and gulped. "Look, I can't.. just leave me be. I'm not gonna fight you &#33;@#&#036;%^&amp;, either disengage immediately while I go back to German airspace or backup will be called in. Do you understand?"