Stataca, Lier, Threstfold Beach (Steph Invite)

[Michael Hobbar]

Michael looked up at the moons. He could never get over how there were two moons orbiting the planet. Growing up on his homeworld , Hyarkin there was only one moon, and he always loved to look at these two late at night. The sound of the waves were always relaxing to him , and the sound of the waves tonight were beautiful. Michael wondered how he ended up on this planet of all places. It wasn’t that he didn’t expect that he would be here but rather that this place at least for him was special. The fact that he always felt at peace on this planet and had no worries. He did not know why he felt this way but he always did.

Still with Amberson not looking at him, he began to take off his flip flops. Taking them off, he had bage shorts on and a buttoned up shirt. The shirt was a plain white shirt with no logos are symbols on them. He began to walk towards the water slowly, as waves came to the beach. His feet touched the water, foamy bubbles surrounded his feet. Slowly the water went back and then arrived again. He didn’t look around at all he just looked as the water came back and forth slowly. The memory of Staff Sergeant Dwain Jones exploding came back. His body disappearing in a large red cloud and floating blood with bits of his gear. Michael closed his eyes and opened them again. How could he ever get over this…haunting memory? He would just have to make new memories is all instead.


Slowly he walked backwards away from the water. His feet leaving impressions in the sand. Amberson was still in her own little world and not responding what so ever. He started to walk on over towards one of the Terran palm trees further inland. It was cold, but he decided to do something about that. Going near the palm tree he saw four dead branches. They were a dark brown, and he picked one up. Bending it in half it broke. Hobbar then went to all the other branches and started to break them into smaller and smaller pieces. After this he gathered all the branches and placed them in the sand. He braced them all up one against each other. Getting out his lighter he held his right hand over it so the wind would not burn the fire out. He began to try and light it. The flame went out a few times but finally it stayed long enough for him to place it on the dead branches. The branches then started to smoke, and he blew into it. Then the flame finally arrived. The fire was bright, and he backed up from the heat. At least he was finally warm.


The wind began to die down and he felt less cold. Looking over at her he saw that she was still in her own little world not paying attention to anything. Against his thoughts, Michael began to walk towards her, he was actually quite far away from her. Walking towards her he didn’t want to surprise her and scare the living hell out of her. Finally getting within hearing distance of her he said “Amberson, I made us a fire.”

[Stephanie Amberson]

Amberson raised an eyebrow as she caught Hobbar out of the corner of her eye and she was thinking about opening her mouth to say something when Connor appeared again... Well at least for the moment he knew well enough not to grab her and get himself floored again. Connor stared at her. "Steph lets go" his voice seemed demanding and blunt. Stephanie was not going to put up with his all mightier than thou attitude at the moment. "I am going to enjoy myself Madden, and there is nothing you can say that is going to make me go anywhere." her voice was rather point. "What just like you walked out on Zach almost 9 years ago?" he seemed super upset at her for the moment. "I walked out on no one, I gave him a better life then you ever would have." she hissed back blocking Connors punches as she waited to see what he was going to do in retaliation.

Stephanie did not have to wait long. "Liar" he hissed coldly grabbing her around the wrist and getting a hold on her. "I never walked out on either of you, that decision was as much yours as it was mine" Stephanie had began to wonder if Connor had gone back to drinking or something because this was totally out of line for him, but on the same front there was no alcohol on his breathe. The sergeant pushed Connor backwards "Stand down corporal"

[/color] The arctic would have loved the icy tones that dripped on her vocals at the moment and the frozen cold stare. "Now you hide behind your rank like a child Stephanie"" he bellowed. Stephanie was not convinced "You are drunk Madden, I will say it once more stand down!" Every bone in her wanted to beat the spotter to a bloody pulp now in the middle of the beach.

Quite honestly, Stephanie would probably have enjoyed the fire by the side of the beach although she was mildly amused at Hobbar and the fact he made himself cold in the water to actually need the fire to warm up. Connor landed a slap to the side of the face. "Step up and be a mother Amberson, don't you dare tell me to back down" Stephanie threw a punch to his gut, she had blocked herself enough and she had warned him. There was no more Miss nice girl. Stephanie was already extremely pissed off and he was not making matters worse. The now bloody spot under her eye caused her to close one eye as she was the one to keep the fight going. He was the one blocking as she was the one getting into his face. "You know nothing about me, you never knew me then, you never TRIED Madden so get the hell out of my face." For once Stephanie wanted something to go the right way and now here was Connor stepping into the middle of everything, him and his over protective jealous attitude for something he could never have again anyway. Plus, the fact there was nothing going on between Stephanie and Michael made it even more amusing to her that he was that insecure. Wow, okay she was glad she had made the choice to walk away that night.

[Michael Hobbar]

As Michael walked up he suddenly saw Connor come out of what seemed like nowhere. Well it was the truth. Then he began to try and urge Amberson to get away from Hobbar. Why? Why did he want her to get away from him, he hadn’t done anything at all with Amberson. He watched the two of them having an argument. Then the comment about a child. Wait……Amberson had a kid?! What the hell? And she had to put him up for adoption from what it sounded like. As Hobbar continued to watch he realized that Connor was hinting that he was the father, or rather Amberson was. ‘Good lord, this is becoming quite the night. First I learn she was in foster care…and now she had a kid with this…imbecile? Woah. No wonder she doesn’t want to really connect with anyone, he’s holding her to her past.’ he thought to himself. Then Connor started to throw punches at her.

Amberson blocked them and they continued to argue. Hobbar at the moment was just stunned that this was happening. Then he hit Amberson in the eye, and in response Amberson hit him in the gut. He was blocking her punches. Hobbar snapped out of it. “CORPORAL CONNOR, SERGEANT AMBERSON STOP!” he yelled in a great fury and walked in between the two of them. He pushed Connor away from Amberson who was still very anxious to fight. “Stand down, STAND DOWN RIGHT NOW!” he yelled again and looked between both of them. “I don’t care if you hate each other but I will not tolerate either of you getting into a fight here on the beach. Do you really want to find yourselves locked up in the brig? I will not have that happen not on my watch. Captain Jones won’t take shit from either of you and knowing him it’ll have harsh punishments. You.” He said and looking at Connor. “If you even try to come at her again you’ll have more to worry about than being kicked out. I don’t want to see you for the rest of the time either me or Amberson is at the resort. Get out of my sight right now Corporal before I decide to report you to the captain. Because if either of you ever and I mean IF EITHER OF YOU EVER COME AT EACH OTHER AGAIN, I WILL PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE KICKED OUT OF THE PLATOON ALL TOGETHER!” He raised his voice, but was not screaming at him. He didn’t want the corporal to lash out at him but at the same time he had to reign him in. Hobbar was very angry and breathing fast. He stood in front of Amberson in case the nut job wanted to come at her. He would not fight Connor at all. If he tried to he would do two things.

First off he would defend himself and secondly it’d be reported not just to the captain but to the Colonel of the Regiment. And the Colonel didn’t take it kindly when any sort of right broke out between his personnel. He’d been known to have people transferred to other regiments all together. Having been through a similar situation a few years ago he knew that the word of a Commissioned Officer against a Non Commissioned Officer was not taken lightly. And in most of those cases the Commissioned Officer won those cases, not to mention if Connor did in fact hit Hobbar it would go on his record he struck a superior officer. If Hobbar was hit, the Colonel would severely discipline Connor, and who knew what he would do. “Get out of my sight Corporal.” He told the man again, in a very cold icy voice. He turned his head towards Amberson who was very angry and extremely pissed. Quickly he winked at her, trying to tell her ‘I’m not going to do anything to you’. If looks could kill, he’d be dead. Turning back around to face Connor he just stared silently.


Michael was not upset that Connor interfered, but what he was upset about was that two of his non commissioned officers were in fact fighting with one another. From his point of view Amberson was defending herself and tried to deescalate the situation by telling Connor he was drunk and needed to leave. Connor was the one who began the altercation and eventually pushed her buttons enough that she had to do something. And bringing up personal past history was very cowardly on Connor’s part. It seemed that he was upset that Amberson and Hobbar were down on the beach together. Neither of them were doing anything and were just enjoying each other’s company. He considered her to be an associate of his, he couldn’t call her a friend. At least not yet because she was always in her shell and hard to talk to. Yet he was very slowly knowing things about her and doing his best not to upset her. Connor seemed to think that Amberson and him were more then just friends and it made him so upset that his rage came out.




And it wasn’t the fact that he was spending time with her that made Hobbar very upset. It was as much as the fact that he was beating up on a woman. Amberson or any woman being harmed by anyone in his eyes was wrong. He would do everything in his power to protect her both physically and legally. He wouldn’t fight Connor even if he did deserve to get the living daylights beaten out of him. The man was a coward, and possibly drunk at this moment. And she had a very hard life, it was unfair to her that this was brought up out into the open. She probably felt embarrassed and ashamed about what had just happened not to mention she was probably thinking of how Hobbar would react to all of this. At this point in time though he was defending her. He wouldn’t discipline her but he did not need to tell Connor that. He told Connor that both of them would be kicked out. He had no intention of kicking out Amberson for two reasons. One she was a very good sniper and two she did not adjust well to change easily. For the rest of the evening whatever she wanted to do he’d do it as well. He had hoped tonight he could see her without having some sort of confrontation but that was not possible tonight. Connor had ruined a good evening with her. She was probably so pissed that she didn’t want to spend time with Hobbar anymore and go back to her hotel room and sleep. He could understand that though.

At the same time, Hobbar hadn’t had the best day. Flying over here, some baby threw up on his shirt, he got here two hours late, and now this. If Connor left he didn’t really know what to do with the rest of the evening with her. She was probably too upset to enjoy anything on the beach. Heck probably even if they went back to the fire she wouldn’t get over what happened. Hobbar made a mental note to not ask her about her kid unless she brought it up first with him. He also would not ask about her relationship that she had with Connor, that would be a big mistake. But he would instead wait for her to bring it up. It was her own past after all and he felt like when she was ready to tell him she would. She had to make that decision, not him. He couldn’t do it for her. He didn’t want to, that was her own decision to make.

[Stephanie Amberson]

Stephanie backed down when she was pushed off of Connor but she was not pleased about it. The woman shot Connor dirty looks as if telling him she was finished. No finished was not the right word, spent and exhausted of all her time and civility was gone. "Then you are going to throw your life away and your entire military career fighting on your leave time. Swift Steph really swift" She glared, if he so much as addressed her without her title again she was going to make short work of it. Backing away she moved over behind the fire and just stared at the ocean. Closing her eyes with her back turned to the men, she did not even notice if Connor had stayed or had taken off. Right now she did not care, she could not even enjoy what time she was having this evening and nothing about today could be mended. There was an exhausted sigh from her. Not a tired exhaustion but one that indicated she was done with dealing with everything. She was spent and she wasn't even 30 yet.

Stephanie started fidgeting with her dog tags in her hand, she had not responded to either of the men standing there. Stephanie started mumbling to herself but the words were in Bulgarian, she only used the language when she was angry and upset never to calm herself like she was now. Amberson was not a very cuddly and hugging person but somewhere deep down she wished that things had gone differently. Stephanie refused to cry when anyone was looking so she would put on the straight face for now. The woman was crying on the inside, looking back at everything. She only looked back when she heard a thump and that was Connor tripping over something in the sand. Quietly she snickered... he couldn't even stand on his own two feet and manage to make it away without making a full idiot of himself. Stephanie wandered towards the ocean and scooped up some of the water and rubbed it on her face. Biting her lip she realised just how much it stung, but it would clean the wound if anything were in it. After a moment she pulled her long hair out of the pony tail it was in and rearranged it enough that one could not see the mark on her face. From the way she was acting it was evident this was not the first time in her life she had been struck in the face that hard.

Stephanie didn't feel like it was anyone's place what she had done with Zach, he was better off in a family who could love him. She was just a woman who was struggling to live each day and devoted her life to the military; that was no place for a child and she knew it. Connor had been one of her many drunken mistakes when she was younger and one thing had lead to another... but she wasn't up to explaining all of that to Hobbar. Sighing she spoke when she was sure that Connor was finally out of ear shot. "Another one of my many mistakes" she mused out. If Stephanie did not get this stuff off of her chest it was going to be a very long weekend, there was no punching bag around and for a moment she missed the gym. The gym was the one place her many frustrations could be dealt with on a punching bag instead of people. The woman did not really understand how to talk to people, or even carry on a conversation without everything feeling so... detached. Michael seemed to be catching on and maybe Connor felt threatened, who knew? She was not about to ask why everything that had just happened. The last thing she wanted however was for Michael to feel bad for her. If she could not handle a punch to the face than she was no military sergeant, that much she knew. Pity would not be welcome, pity was not something that she received well. Pity and sympathy was for the weak minded and the cowardly.

[Michael Hobbar]

Hobbar stood there for a short while watching Connor who still spoke to Amberson. He had made his point, no use in saying again what he had already said. It would be a waste of words on him. Amberson made her way over towards the fire but kept her eye on Connor. Michael didn’t say anything but made his way over to the fire as it was still brightly burning. He knelt down and warmed his hands, the coldness going away. He glanced up and still saw that Connor was there but he was keeping his distance from the two. He was glad so far that nothing was happening. Amberson got up and walked towards the shore, she knelt down and started to splash water in her face. Michael wondered how the hell he of all people ended up with her. He liked her to be sure but her baggage was just…unbeleviable. Finding out she had a kid with her spotter. And at that he was a putz who thought he was probably holier than thou and the world owed him. But from Hobbar’s point of view, Connor could go straight to hell. Amberson went through more shit then he ever did.

He didn’t know specifics but she had some how ended up in foster care, and most likely had some sort of family incident. Then she met Connor one day who got her pregnant. He was upset at her because she put the kid up for adoption? Who cares?! The kid was probably having a good childhood and had a great family. But Connor made it seem like it was Amberson that was the failure . It is better that she give him away then have him live with her, because if she currently had him in her life she might not of been able to handle it. Or Connor would do something to the kid. So no matter what, Amberson would still of been yelled at. If Connor was in fact drunk and ended up hitting Hobbar, it’d be the end of Connor’s career at least in his own platoon. As far as he was concerned, Amberson did nothing wrong. But there was something he didn’t understand. Why did she take Connor as a spotter if they had a relationship and she knew he was like this. Amberson finally came back over and sat down in front of the fire. Connor was still here much to Hobbar’s disappointment. ‘Too bad Silva isn’t here, he’d kick that kid’s ass.’ He thought to himself. Then again, rumor had it that Silva had his own family problems. He wasn’t there but Zhour told him that the Staff Sergeant had disowned his own sister because he found out she was a lesbian. He didn’t want to get in that mess!

Suddenly Amberson said something. A mistake? One of many? Everyone made multiple mistakes every single day and everyone had to live with them. If she thought that he would say something, he would. But at the moment he was going to wait until the bastard was away from the beach all together. All he did was nod very slowly. He knew she hurt right now, and knowing her she didn’t want any sort of comfort. Or maybe she did? It was hard to tell, on one hand she was a tough as nails sniper but what he was seeing right this very moment was the real Amberson. ‘Stephanie must feel awful now that her secret is out, and to no less me! Damn it I did it again.’ He thought. Hobbar didn’t know exactly how to comfort her at all, the best he could do was talk to her. Saying I’m sorry felt shallow. But he was not going to do anything until the bastard was gone.

[Stephanie Amberson]

Stephanie looked up towards Hobbar as he spoke with only his actions and Connor decided it was best to leave. She untensed a bit and looked towards Hobbar with a look that said she needed to talk about it but that she did not want to talk about. There was that look of confusion on her face, one that showed that she really did not know what to do in this situation. There was a gentle breeze blowing and she pulled her jacket came back up towards the fire. Her demeanor showed that she would stand her ground no matter what. Stephanie did not trust many people and those she did trust always seemed to be the ones in the end who hurt her. "It is a long and complicated story Michael..." Great now she was the one using first name basis.

(FAIL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[Michael Hobbar]

He was slowly watching as Connor walked off into the night. The fire crackled as the wind suddenly picked up. Wait a second did she just call him by his first name? ‘oh great.’ He thought to himself. Now he wondered why she called him by his first name. But at least it was out there, perhaps she was trusting him just a little bit more. “We’re on leave Stephanie…If you want to share you can, if you don’t you don’t have to. You just wanna sit by the fire instead, that’s fine with me.” He told her in a soothing voice. He wanted to say more but he was beginning to understand that she didn’t like long drawn out conversations. She looked quite different from the light of the fire. Her light brown skin glowing from the might. He really couldn’t describe it but right now she looked…not like herself. She looked beautiful. Hobbar had no reason why he thought that but he couldn’t deny it she did look beautiful. Her dark black hair was also attractive to him. He never noticed it but her brown eyes looked like they were jewels almost, glowing a light brown. Almost like some sort of stone.

The wind began to pick up and she put pulled on her jacket. She got closer to the fire. He wasn’t going to fill the air with useless talk, right now it was good. Why did people feel that they had to talk about useless stuff. You knew you found someone special when you could share a silent moment and not say anything, but just enjoying each other’s company.

[Stephanie Amberson]

Stephanie turned towards Hobbar and decided she needed to explain. What got into her? Even she didnt know. "I was orphaned at 3, spent years in and out of different foster homes, more homes than there were years before I turned 18. When I was 16 I ended up in trouble with that asshole. Only years later, when he joined the military after I did; we were still friends but nothing more. Only he was one of the very few people I trusted. He had been there before Bulgaria and was willing to handle me, but his drunken rage... it was something I learned to live with over the years. Trusting is hard for me, its not just something I can freely give to anyone." she paused a moment and she looked up towards Michael. There was more she could say but she was trying to cut it as short as she could. There was no need to get into the stampede or why she had been abandoned or the pain she felt and he already knew about Bulgaria, so really most of the gaps were filled in.

(and i lost the post so this is the general gist of what i had which was like 8 miles long before >.<)

[Michael Hobbar]

Michael listened with intent. Not making any sort of face while he listened he was shocked about her past. Geez having to of been in a foster home since she was that young and then finding that douchebag? On top of that, winding up pregnant, giving her child away, and having to go through what she went through in Bulgaria. He was shocked but didn’t really know what to say. What could he say ‘I’m sorry’? It seemed very shallow and weak at the moment. But he had to respond, if he did not Michael would regret it for the rest of the night…perhaps for the rest of his life. He could try to say something to comfort her but he decided to think it through. He looked at the flames of the fire still go, licking at the air. Finally he had something to say.

“You never should have had to go through any of that. No one should. You’re a good person Amberson. Don’t let that guy get you down. You’ve gotten this far in life even with all of that stuff and look where you are today. A Sergeant in the Corps, one of the best snipers in the platoon. You’ve come out on top through it all.” He paused for a moment trying to think of anything else he could say but decided not to. She didn’t like his long winded speeches and it was really hard not to go on about it. But hopefully she would like what he said, it was sweet and short. But he wanted to wait for her reaction before continuing.

[Stephanie Amberson]

Stephanie more or less simply nodded and stepped closer to Hobbar. Honestly right now she felt like a scared sheltered puppy dog, but she was not going to admit or show it to Hobbar or anyone. She sighed and decided to lay down in the beach and just look up at the stars. There was a soft but gentle sigh as she was trying to think what her next move was going to be. She would make it a point to file for a new spotter in the morning, or the next chance she got. The moons were overhead now and she was just watching them. They made her miss earth, as much as everything was pretty; part of her just wanted to go home. Not that home was any particular dwelling, but she decided against it in case it would dredge up too many memories and hence she came here. She looked towards Hobbar and then back up at the moons. There was not much more on her mind really.Sooner rather than later she was soon asleep by the fire in the sand.

[Michael Hobbar]

Hobbar watched her get closer to him. What was going on with her ? He watched as she suddenly laid down on the beach and looked up a the two moons. Perhaps she was finally relaxing tonight in a long long very long time. As he watched the heard the waves crash against the shore line he saw that she had fallen asleep in the sand. “Great.” He whispered to himself and wondered what to do about it. Well he couldn’t just leave her here….or could he? ‘Wait.’ He thought to himself and remembered how she punched him when she was royally pissed after they moved her early in the morning. Having a better idea, he slowly and quietly got up walking back to the path. Going back to his hotel room he grabbed both the bed cover and the quilt. Going back down to the beach he went over towards her.

Slowly and very quietly he placed the quilt over her, covering her entire body. The quilt covered her up to her neck and he himself went on the other side of the slowly dying fire and covered himself with the light blanket. Pulling the covers over himself and placing his head in the sand he began to wonder how the hell she’d react to this in the morning. Hopefully she wouldn’t sock him in the fact. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep as well.

[Stephanie Amberson]

Great... there was a bird on her face as she woke up to a bird laying on her neck pecking at her hair. "Get away you fucking bird" she hissed coldly as she shooed it off her face and rolled over and looked to see if Hobbar had woken up or if he slept like a log. The woman realised a moment that he had made some sort of make shift bed and it brought a small smile to her face. If there were not rules against officers and enlisted personnel she might have pushed the envelope but she didn't do much more than nudge him awake if her yelling had not already woken him. "Thanks to you I now have sand in my ass" she informed him with a matter of factly smirk on her face.

Hobbar was one of the very few people that she trusted. But then she found herself wondering why he hadn't left the beach, or why they were even still sleeping here. She waited to see if she was going to get a response out of Hobbar or if he was going to be snoring up a storm still. Wait?? did he even snore.

[Michael Hobbar]

Hancock System, Stataca, Lier Contenient, Threstfold Beach
October 13, 3358
0845 Hours



“Get down!” Hobbar heard as the mortars pounded the position. Staff Sergeant Clarke was up above the building. The damn building was on fire and mortars had them locked in. Geez only his second mission and most of the platoon was already dead. He was looking out of a wall that had been blown away, as he turned around he saw the fire ripping through the door. He suddenly saw Amberson standing above him. He hated those nightmares , especially his second mission which he barely got out of alive. Her hair was a mess but he couldn’t say any better about himself. He had sand in his ears, slowly he got up not really saying anything. Because he couldn’t think of what to say . He got up slowly and then stood up straight and yawned a little. “I didn’t want to move you at all last night and so I decided it’d be best to cover you up.” He said. He saw the fire was out, and the quilt was on the ground, he walked over to it and got it up, dusting the sand of what he could off of it. Grabbing the blanket he slept on and putting it under his arm he looked at her again. “I’m going to go and shower and then get a bite to eat…that and give these to the hotel service to wash. I dunno where I’ll go to eat.” He said to her.

[Stephanie Amberson]

"You do realise that I woke up with a pelican bird thing on my face, pecking at my hair" she interjected as she grabbed the other blanket. The woman was like this every morning, sarcastic and a downright twit. The woman quickly looked to Hobbar as he spoke about food. She didn't know about him but the sand was not the best tasting thing she had in a while. It took her a second and she quickly caught up to Hobbar and smirked just listening to him and trying to play catch up, not that it was hard she was a naturally fast walker. The woman shook her head and smirked at Hobbar as she waited to see what else he had to say.

(falling asleep fail)

[Michael Hobbar]

Hobbar couldn’t help but smirk. “No Amberson I didn’t realize you woke up with a bird on your face. Hahaha.” He felt a little bad at laughing. He had to stop and laugh a little more, his hands were on his knees and he was smiling. “Ah hahahaha ahahaha ahahahhaha! Sorry, I’m sorry” he then got back up and continued to walk towards the hotel. Noticing that she liked to walk fast, he didn’t slow down as he had always been a fast walker. It felt really good not having to slow down for people, they took forever to walk anywhere. Coming up on the hotel he opened the door for her and she went through.

Michael went up to his room and put the dirty sheets on the floor. Just then one of the cleaning people arrived. Within ten minutes he had new sheets and the old dirty ones were taken away. He grabbed himself new clothes and went to take a shower. After drying his hair and changing into new clothes, he tried to decide what he would do for the rest of the day. Exiting the hotel room he decided he’d go out and see the sights.


Walking out of the hotel room, he made a right and started to walk down the stairs. He remembered down by the beach there was a volleyball net. It was now approaching 0900 hours, so there was probably some people who were playing. He’d go down and see. But he decided to skip breakfast, not because he wasn’t hungry, but when playing any sport it was not a good idea to have food in your stomach. Or else you threw up, or got cramps. Either way he’d just wait till noon time to get himself a bite to eat. Going down to the front desk he approached the counter, where the desk clerk was behind it. “Excuse me could you please tell me if Stephanie Amberson has herself a room here?” he asked. The clerk quickly told him.

Finding room 101, he knocked on the door. Hobbar had on a buttoned up red shirt with yellow flowers. He had brown shorts and sandals on his feet. Hopefully she wouldn’t punch him in the face if he interrupted her, lord only knows what she might be doing in there.