1. Lester Tourville

What just happened!? I figured we were going to be dead or arrested, and next thing I know, my sweet, somewhat traumatized ops officer does something to blow up the StateSec ships. Javier, she was supposed to be friendly, shy, and somewhat traumatized, not a bloodthirsty tac witch (okay, I already knew about her… special talents)!

Somehow, whenever she makes a sudden move, even for her coffee mug, my eyes still dart to her, several hours later. I knew she was a chaos nightmare, but this?

2. Javier Giscard

I thought I was next in line, behind my old friend, to be arrested or shot. Then, that ops officer I gave Les, saved us, from what I've heard (I'm glad to hear she's smiling again, after all that she's been through).

I slowly start typing out a message to Les. For your information, Lester, I sent you her, because I knew you would take good care of her. She deserves a promotion, to at least Captain (that's not even counting her work in… unofficial areas.

3. Eloise Pritchart

It all happened so quickly. One moment, I was on the flag bridge, trying to edit a report to help Javier. Then, the next thing I know, a Marine squad (for whatever reason, commanded by a Navy officer I didn't recognize) from Count Tilly, apparently with orders from Commander Foraker (because Admiral Tourville knows about Javier and me being Javier and me) shows up to arrest me. I ended up bruised up, still in cuffs, in the brig, as I heard the painful noises of the naval celebrations outside, and the officers letting their friends gawk at me.

"Look alive, bitch." some navy officer yells in, while I'm trying to sleep. I clumsily wave an arm in his direction, while trying to squeeze my eyes shut to sleep with the bright light in my face.

4. Berjouhi Lafontaine

So, that's what the Commander's "emergency ops plan" was. She'd told me what to do in the event she wasn't on the bridge for whatever reason (she suspected she might get arrested and "disappeared" by StateSec, or need to sleep). I didn't suspect its scale, though. She obviously, being a woman of secrets, didn't tell me everything about it.

At least she let me command the Marine squad that arrested Pritchart (because the Admiral wouldn't let her do it herself, for some reason). While I appreciate the opportunity to get experience with the Marines, I think Admiral Tourville was right to keep her from arresting Commissioner Pritchart, given how much bad history the Commissioner and Commander Foraker have, and because I know how much of her off duty time she spent on the anti-StateSec plan.

5. Yuri Bogdanovich

So, Admiral Tourville's Dochen'ka had a card up her sleeve. More like a couple, if I think more about a couple of her comments.

She might barely be taller than my shoulder, but she's got a warrior's spirit. And she's sneaky.

And, while we don't know about the situation on Haven, tonight's dinner will have plenty of good vodka, because Admiral Tourville has now made it my job to host his parties. After all, St-Just must have purged someone decent. Was it Theisman or L'Anglais? Whoever it is, we should toast their memory. And, if the rumor I've heard from several people is correct, Commander Foraker will be becoming Captain Foraker tonight. That's all the more reason to pull out the vodka and the last of her shared stash of poitín to celebrate.

So, a toast to someone's memory, a toast to the Navy, a toast to Commander Foraker and her promotion, and am I expected to bring back Citizen Admiral Theisman's toast to the Republic, now that we're likely to be dead, and don't have to worry about Commissioners anymore, because he's Admiral Giscard's CO, or should I skip it in the interest of safety?

But given that some people need more drinks to deal with what just happened, we should toast the ladies, too. And given how recently we got the ceasefire, I'll have to bring back some toasts my uncle, a former Marine officer, taught me as a boy. All those good spacers and officers we've lost over the years deserve it.