6 Chapter Four: Captain Aurora

It was in the evening, and Ren was sitting across from the woman he had met in front of the boys dorm. Captain Aurora of the ship UNS Eternity, Ren, was trying to read what this woman wanted but couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

Aurora was also staring into Ren's eyes, and Ren felt as if she was trying to do the same thing he was.

The two stared at each other for awhile in awkward silence.

"Uhm sir, maam, your orders, please?"

Ren turned his head and saw the waitress of the café they were sitting in holding a digital notepad, asking for their orders.

"Just a coffee for me, black." Aurora ordered.

"And you, sir?" the waitress asked.

"I'll take a peppermint tea if you don't mind." Ren ordered.

"Alright, your orders should be out in a few minutes." the waitress said with a smile on her face before she walked back behind the counter.

"Peppermint tea?" Aurora asked Ren, confused.

"I like mint." Ren said.

Aurora had a little laugh after that comment and said "You are just like your mother."

Ren nearly jumped out of his seat when she said that.

"You know my mother?" Ren asked.

"I knew her very well; in fact, we used to be roommates at the same academy you attend now." Aurora said. "You even have her black hair and green eyes."

"I do?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, wait, don't tell me you've never seen her picture before?" Aurora asked.

"I haven't; my useless douche of a father never talked about her or even showed me a photo." Ren said.

"Ugh, I never liked David; I really hope he's suffering wherever he is. Let me find a picture for you." Aurora said.

"Last I heard, he was homeless on the streets of Vegas, but that was over five months ago, so who knows?" Ren said.

"Well, honestly, I hope the worst." Aurora said.

"Agreed." Ren responded.

"Oh! here's a good one." Aurora said as she handed a picture to Ren.

The picture was taken at a bowling alley, with a younger Aurora standing next to a beautiful woman with long black hair and green eyes.

"She was beautiful." Ren said, looking at the picture that showed him his mother for the first time.

"She was, and me and her ran the academy. She was like a sister to me; it broke my heart when I heard what happened." Aurora said.

Shortly after Ren was born, his mother passed away due to complications from giving birth. Making his father fall into depression, alcoholism, and gambling. Ren didn't have an easy childhood, but he battled through it and managed to become one of the top students at a famous academy.

"Where were you when you heard the news?" Ren asked Aurora.

"I was stationed above the moon of Io; we were preparing for an attack from the Centauri Empire. I didn't even know until a week after she passed." Aurora said. "I tried reaching out to find you, but you went off the grid, and I didn't have any luck until your name appeared in the recruit registries. While you didn't use a last name, I still managed to pull some strings to match your DNA, and that's when I learned. Ever since I've been learning about how you've performed in school over the years, today is the first time we've met face-to-face."

Ren heard every word she said, but he still needed to know her purpose in inviting him out to the cafe.

"What do you want then? I understand you and my mother had a close friendship, but I have nothing to do with it." Ren said.

"Wrong, you are your mother's child. She was family to me, which makes you my family, but you also have great talents as a strategist and sentinel pilot, and as much as I wish to keep you from the battlefield, I know there's nothing I could do in the end, so I have an offer." Aurora explained.

"A offer?" Ren asked.

"Sign up with my ship, the Eternity, as a sentinel pilot. If you agree, I promise to pull some strings to take any people you want with me, and I also promise to tell you more about your mother. Even if you don't agree, I'll tell you as any way; I owe you that." Aurora said.

"I'll think about it." Ren responded simply.

Ren grabbed his peppermint tea from the waitress, who was walking near him. "I'll take this to go; also here, today's meal was my treat; call it a thank you for telling me about my mother." Ren said as he swiped his digital card across her sensor.

"Also, Aurora, one last question. What was my mother's name?"

Aurora smiled and said "Emilia, Emilia Rose.

"Emilia Rose...." Ren said as he left the cafe.

Aurora sipped her coffee and started to think to herself.

"Emilia, I promise you, he will live up to his dreams, and I will help him get there by any means necessary."

*Later*

Ren walked into his dorm room and saw Tyler sitting at his desk.

"Yo Ren? Where have you been?" Tyler asked Ren.

"Talking with someone; anyway, what are you doing?" Ren asked Tyler, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, you were on a date, huh? Lily and Scarlet would love to hear about this." Tyler teased.

"Wasn't a date, just a meeting." Ren said.

"Sure..." Tyler said, putting his phone away.

"Anyways, you didn't answer my question; what are you doing? Schools over." Ren asked Tyler.

"Oh, I'm finishing an essay for Mr. Salters class; I never submitted it, and he gave me until the end of the day to submit it." Tyler said.

"You do know it's like 7 at night now, right?" Ren asked.

"IT IS?! I haven't even gotten the first page done; this is a three thousand word essay?!" Tyler panicked.

"You're screwed." Ren commentated.

"I shouldn't have wasted time talking to Dana! Nooooo!" Tyler said in emotional agony.

"Dana?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, she's a good friend of mine, but I'm trying to get out of the friend zone, if you catch my drift." Tyler said.

"You do realize that more than likely she will be on a different ship than you, right?" Ren said.

"Crap..." Tyler said sighing.

Nothing could ever go Tyler's way. Destined for failure.

Ren decided to take a nap after talking to Tyler a little bit until his door was busted down.

"So Ren, you were on a date, huh?" Scarlet said angry.

Ren looked up and saw Scarlet and Lily standing in the hallway, with Scarlet being angry and Lily staying behind her.

"Tyler...you bastard." Ren spoke while sighing. "It wasn't a date!"

"Then what was it?" Scarlet asked.

"It was a recruitment; the person I was with made me an offer to accept joining her ship, that's all." Ren told everyone.

It was the truth after all—just not all of it.

"And what was the offer?" Lily asked.

"I get to choose a select squad to join me on the ship." Ren said. "So how about it, guys? Want to stick together and serve on a space ship?"

Everyone in the room was surprised to hear this.

"Is that allowed?" Lily asked.

"Who knows, but that's the offer I was given." Ren answered.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"I'm game." Tyler said.

"Someone needs to keep you two out of trouble; I'm in." Scarlet said.

"Of course I'm coming with." Lily said.

"Well, there you have it; tomorrow I choose to serve on the Eternity; I'll get in contact with the captain when I can."

*Elsewhere*

Aurora was back in her hotel room, staring at the photo of her and Emilia.

She had finally done what she set out to accomplish; she found Emilia's son alive and well.

"I hope he accepts the deal, or else most of the groundwork I had would be for naught." Aurora thought to herself.

Aurora broke out her phone to make a call.

* Ring Ring Ring*

"Captain? What's up?" The female voice on the phone said.

"Hey Zoe, is Project Reaper ready?" Aurora asked.

Nearly. We still have some material to gather, but it should be ready by the end of the season." Zoe responded.

"Good, thank you for the help, and tell your mother something for me." Aurora said asking a favor of Zoe.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Zoe asked.

"Tell Keira, I found Ren. She'll know what that means." Aurora responded.

"Alright, I will. Is that all, Captain?" Zoe said after writing down Ren's name.

"Yes, that's all; I'll be back on board in a few days." Aurora said.

"Ren, what will you choose?" Aurora said as she prepared a bottle of wine. "Although, it's not like there are many other options, if Jessica hears about this, things may get more complicated."

Aurora sipped on her bottle of wine and watched some television. After all, it was tough being a captain.

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