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Chapter Text

   Pabu, 8 weeks after the Tantiss mission.

Date: 12/06/2241 Pabu Year (PY)

 It’s obvious that Phee Genoa had the hots for Tech as soon as she met him.  That fact has always been clear to everyone.

  Except Tech himself.  

Now I’m not gonna pretend that I’m an expert in human behavior.  I myself find it very confusing, but I recognize flirting when I see it.  And Phee’s flirting is anything but subtle.  

  I’m sure Tech knows Phee likes him, but I don’t think he understands why or what to do about it.  But Tech thinks about everything logically, and rarely considers the emotional side of the picture.  Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a bad thing, but there are a few downsides.  

  Not that Phee seems to mind.  She appears to enjoy flirting with him and listening to his rambling.  When Tech starts talking, she pays attention and gazes into his eyes.  But he seldom notices this because he rarely makes or maintains eye contact while conversing.  

  I’m fairly certain that Tech also is attracted to Phee.  But, again I don’t think he knows why, and I think he’s afraid to admit those feelings to himself.  

  I don’t think I can be much help to him.   Being raised as a jedi means that I have little knowledge or experience in romantic relationships.  

  So I’m taking a lesson from Tech’s book.  I’m going to observe and record their interactions.  

  Omega has offered to help me with this.  She’s much better at reading people than me.  She also thinks it will be quite entertaining.     

 Tech will be out of the Polis Massa medcenter next cycle.  I’ll write a separate memoir for that.  This file is just focusing on Tech and Phee’s relationship.   

Date: 30/06/2241 PY

Location: Pabu island

  Tech has been back on Pabu for a few cycles.  Phee was overjoyed to see him again, greeting him with a rather wet looking kiss to the cheek.  His reaction was predictable.  He froze for a few moments and his cheeks turned “a brighter pink than Sami’s new beach dress” as Omega put it.  

  Phee hasn’t been as flirty with Tech since he came back.  I think she’s letting him get himself settled back into life with his squad.  There are a lot of emotions that everyone needs to sort out right now.  

  Omega and I are sitting in Phee’s living room as we’re writing this.  We’ve finished building the roof for the batch’s new house.  Most of the batch is currently living with Shep and Lyana.  But Tech and I have been residing at Phee’s house.  

  Having all of us living with Shep wasn’t practical.  Tech needs his own space to aid his healing, as does Crosshair.  Tech had taken up Phee’s offer of her house,  “Simply because her domicile is more accommodating to my medical needs,” Tech insisted.  

  Phee is very happy to have Tech and I (and often Omega) residing with her.  Her interactions with Tech have so far been more caring than flirty.  Though Omega and I have frequently observed Phee stealing glances at him.  Omega says it's very cute to watch.  

  All being well, the batch and I should move into our new house in about 2 cycles.  

2 cycles later.  

We’re now living in our new house domicile.  Omega has named it “Base Havoc.” 

  We moved in yesterday.  I have my own section of the house which is semi-separate from the rest.  But it still feels very much like one house.  

  Omega has her own room.  (Where the two of us are now)  Crosshair and Tech share a room, as does Wrecker, Hunter and Echo.  

  We had dinner with Shep, Lyana, Emerie and Phee last night.  It wasn't a formal event in any way shape or form.  Thus we all dressed casually.  

  Though Phee did something slightly different with her clothing choice.           Instead of her normal attire of jeans, a casual tunic and light sweater, Phee showed up for dinner in a sand blue, short sleeve, knee length dress.  

  I didn’t think much of it when she walked in, other than I’ve never seen her wear something like that.  Omega thinks Phee was wearing it to catch Tech’s attention.  

  (The following is an excerpt from Omega’s journal entry)

Phee arrived soon after Emerie.  Jonah answered the door and greeted her, along with Batcher of course.  Tech was with Crosshair in their room when she arrived.  

  I gave Phee a hug, which was tricky with Batcher jumping all around us.  I liked her dress.  It was a flowy, sand blue, knee- length dress with short sleeves.  I’ve never seen her wear a dress before, but it looks very pretty on her.  

…

Tech came back from helping Crosshair soon after Phee arrived.  She was quick to greet him as he came out.  Tech definitely did a double-take when he saw her dress, and I think he stumbled on his words a little bit when he greeted her.  

 I’ll talk about this with Jonah tomorrow. 

 Ὠmega

(end of excerpt)

During dinner, Phee and Tech sat side by side.  That has been normal since she first took us to Pabu.  Though I noticed that Tech’s chair seemed to move slightly closer to Phee’s over the course of dinner.  

  Omega said that they sat next to each other on the couch after dinner as well, but Tech seemed nervous about Phee getting too close.

   Omega is right, this will be entertaining.  

Date: 15/07/2241 PY, mid afternoon.

Location: Eastern docks.

  So, Phee tried to use a pickup line on Tech earlier today. 

“Do you have a map? Because I got lost in your eyes.” 

The result was as expected.  Tech proceeded to give Phee a 45 minute long lecture on the anatomy of the human eye.  

  I’m not certain, but my guess is that Phee just wanted to listen to Tech giving an info dump, rather than flatter him.  If so, mission success.  

Date: 18/07/2241 PY

Location: our living room.

(excerpt from Omega’s journal)

Phee stopped by to visit this morning.  She was asking Tech for some information about the Gorse system.  

  Tech talked to Phee for an hour and a half about Gorse and its moon, Cynda.  Even though I think she is only going to be landing on Cynda, Tech unloaded more info than the galactic atlas on the system.  It was hard to see from where I was at, but I think she was gazing into Tech’s eyes the whole time.  

Ὠmega

(end of excerpt)

Chapter Text

Date 22/07/2241 PY

Location: Upper Pabu.  

  Phee left for Gorse this morning.  Tech reminded her several times to take care of herself.  Phee gave him a quick but close hug before she left.  I think Tech might have returned the embrace if it had lasted a few seconds longer.   

  Tech watched Phee’s ship until it was out of sight.  He then stared at that spot in the sky for a few seconds too long to be innocuous.  Fortunately Crosshair didn’t notice.  

Next morning, at Base Havoc.

Omega found Tech’s comlink on the kitchen counter just after breakfast.  Neither of us recognized the frequency it was set to, but it doesn’t take a deep thinker to know who it belongs to.

   Tech’s gonna owe me for finding his comlink before Crosshair or Wrecker did! 

Ὠmega

That evening.  

 Tech was the last to show up at the table for dinner.  This is completely normal.  

What wasn’t normal was his excuses for not coming out of his room when Hunter called.  

  Normally when dinner is announced, Tech will reply with something like “I’ll just finish this calibration, I’ll be out in 80 seconds.”  Usually stating exactly what task he’s finishing, and how long it will take.  

  All we heard tonight was “I’ll be out soon,” and “I’m almost done, Hunter.”  And when he came out, he said “I understood your request the first time you said it, Hunter.  Repeating instructions only slows me down.”  

  He was unusually quiet for the remainder of the evening.  

Omega suspects he was talking to a specific someone. 

Date: 28/07/2241 PY

Location: Upper Pabu.

  Phee is returning from Gorse today.  Tech has spent a considerable amount of time checking the scanners for approaching vessels.  

  Crosshair might have taken notice as well.  

Early afternoon.

  Tech sprung straight into action when Phee’s ship appeared on the sensors.  The time from when the ship first appeared on the display to Tech hurrying out the door was just 1 minute and 27 seconds.  

  Needless to say, Tech was the first at the landing platform.  

Tech was at the foot of the boarding ramp when Phee walked out.  

  “Nice to see you brown-eyes.”  Phee said.  

  Tech was about to reply when Phee pulled him into her arms.  Tech  awkwardly patted her shoulder after a moment's uncertainty.  

“L-likewise.”  

Phee showed us some white crystals she brought back from Gorse.  

“Technically it was from Cynda.” Tech corrected. 

Omega, Hunter and I accompanied Tech and Phee to the archium.  Hunter has now been taking an interest in the interactions between the two.  

  Tech didn’t return to Base Havoc until just after sunset.  When he walked in the door, he had a look of satisfaction that I’ve never seen from him.  

His topic of choice for the evening was, predictably, Gorse, Cynda, the orbital mechanics between the two, and thorilide.  

Lyana told me she spotted Tech and Phee twice this afternoon.  She first sighted them walking along the upper seawall.  She saw them again sitting on a wall at Lessu headland.  

…

Tech’s dinner info dump was about the orbital mechanics between Gorse and Cynda.  Even though Jonah and I were the only ones listening.     Crosshair was, as normal, concentrating on his soup.

It was actually quite interesting.  Hera would have been fascinated.  

  No prizes for guessing what he was talking about with Phee for most of the afternoon.  ;) 

Ὠmega

Chapter Text

Date: 30/07/2241 PY

Location: Nabat lagoon

The lagoon at Nabat point is the ideal place for novice swimmers.  It's clear, shallow waters are largely sheltered from waves and rip currents.  So Jax, Eva and Sami have been learning to swim here.  

  Hunter, Omega and Tech have been teaching them.  We came down here earlier this morning, where Tech gave them a lesson on buoyancy and hydrodynamics.  Hunter, Omega and Emerie have been in the water with the kids for about an hour.  Tech is sitting under a beach umbrella, working on his datapad.  Crosshair is meandering around the small beach.  

  I’m sitting on the rocks at the narrow entrance to the lagoon, keeping watch for marine animals entering.  I’m mainly doing this for Jax.  He’s had some bad experiences involving marine stingers.  Having someone watching for them helps his anxiety. 

  So far, the only marine life I’ve seen is 6 varieties of fish and a very long eel.  

  “Seen anything?”  

  I looked behind me to see Crosshair approaching.  

“Nothing much,” I replied as he sat down.  “Mostly just fish and an eel that’s been hanging around the entrance.”  

“I can take over watch if you like,” Crosshair said.  “I left the beach before anyone got any ideas about trying to get me in the water with them.”  

I nodded, his reasoning is completely valid.  “Alright,” I said, standing up.  I made my way back down the rocky outcrop to the beach.  

Soon afterwards, Phee showed up.  

“Heya,” she called out as she approached.  

  I have never seen Tech spin his head around so fast.  

She waved to everyone in the water and then sat down next to Tech.

“What do you think of the spot, brown-eyes?” She asked.  

“Shep is correct in his reasoning that this is a good beach for novice swimmers.”  Tech stated, looking towards the group in the water.  “They seem to be enjoying themselves.”  

Phee nodded, smiling at him.  “Is the water nice?”  

“The water quality is very good, ph is 8.2, the salinity is 3.44%, temperature is 24 degrees celsius.”

“Have you been in?” Phee asked.  

“No, not at this time… I can’t go in until the synthskin on my legs fully sets.” 

  Phee put a hand on his shoulder.  “You’ll love the water here as soon as you’re healed.”  She said sympathetically.  

  Tech was silent for a moment, nervously focused on Phee’s touch.  

“I…I do hope so,” he mumbled.  

Phee smiled and squeezed his shoulder.  “I know you will,” she said confidently.  “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna join the crew in the water.”  

“I have no objections,” Tech said, returning his attention to his datapad.  

“I know you don’t.”  Phee said, getting to her feet and slipping her shoes off.  

   ‘This is where the fun begins.’ I thought, knowing what was coming.  

Phee gathered her tunic in her hands and pulled it off over her head.  

  Tech recoiled as she confidently stepped out of her shorts.  

He became distinctly pink in the face as he took in the sight.  

  Phee was wearing a pale blue one-piece swimsuit.  It elegantly outlined her graceful curves without being too revealing.  

  And Tech couldn’t take his eyes off her.  

Phee bent down and put her clothes in her beach bag.  

“Have a good time.”  She said to Tech, flashing a warm smile and winking at him.  Tech mumbled something unintelligible.  

  Smiling, Phee stood up and ran into the water.  

Tech’s focus remained fixed on her swimming with the others.  

  Looking towards the lagoon entrance, I saw Crosshair watching the scene through the macrobinoculars I left with him.  I could practically hear him smirking.

Phee is here.  She had a brief chat with Tech before joining us in the water.

Of course, that meant she took off her clothes she wore over her swimsuit.  And she did that right in front of Tech.  

 I didn’t really know what to expect regarding her choice of swimsuit, (I’ve never seen her wear one before) but her’s is similar to mine.  

  Tech appeared to keep his focus on us for the rest of our swim.

Ὠmega

50 minutes later, at Base Havoc.

  Swimming makes you hungry.  So Echo kindly made lunch for all of us.

 Nabat lagoon is accessed by a 400 meter long walkway/staircase that goes down the rocky slopes.  

  Phee hadn’t bothered putting her clothes back on over her swimsuit for the walk back.  Which might have been distracting Tech as they walked side by side, Phee talking about Pabu’s coastal marine life.  

“I don’t go down to that beach enough.” I heard Phee say at one point.  “It’s a lovely spot to go when you just need to have some quiet time.”  

  Tech was obviously trying to figure out if there was any hidden meaning to her words.

  “Quite right,” he eventually said.  “The lagoon’s sheltered location means that very little of the urban sound reaches the beach.  The noises of nature drown out all that’s left.”  

  “That’s not the only nice thing about it.”  Phee said, smiling at him.

 I’ll leave it open to interpretation about what that means.

1 hour later, at Base Havoc.

Phee went home after lunch.  

“Well brown-eyes,” she had said to Tech just before she left.  “I’ll see ya ‘round.  I’ve gotta wash all this sand off of me.  It’s good to see you.”  

 With that, she blew him a kiss and departed.  

 Come to think of it, I don’t think Tech has ever been blown a kiss.  I’ve never done it, so I doubt he’s had any exposure to it.  

Maybe this is something I can explain to him.  

  Ὠmega

Chapter Text

Date: 4/08/2241 PY

Location: Archium plaza (top of the island) early evening.

Wrecker is currently the happiest being in the galaxy.  Bar none.  

  Pabu’s annual seafood festival is in full swing at the top of the island.  The majority of the residents are there, wandering amongst the different stalls and vendors displaying a massive variety of seafood products.   

  Wrecker is with Shep (and Batcher), trying anything and everything on offer.  I’m wandering around with Omega, Lyana, and Echo.  We’ve been trying things here and there.  Lyana is giving us recommendations.

  Hunter has retreated to a quieter spot around the archium, sensory overload no doubt.  And Crosshair is… somewhere where he doesn’t have to talk to anyone (so who knows?).  

  “C’mon, brown-eyes, you of all people should know that seafood is good for your brain.”  

  I spotted Phee with Tech at one of the stalls.  She was holding a small plate in front of him.  

  Tech stuttered a little.  He’s never been a foodie by anyone’s definition.  Phee, very much a foodie, was trying to convince him to try some new dishes.  

  “Technically, it is only a specific fat that is beneficial for neurological sustenance.  A fat that isn’t contained in all seafood dishes.” Tech stated.     Phee rolled her eyes, smiling impishly.  She playfully slapped him on the shoulder.  “Loosen up, Techy!” she said.  “Give your life some variety!”

  That made the girls dissolve into giggles.  (Both Omega and Lyana are extremely giggly!)  I couldn’t help joining in.

Tech was silent, I think he was sweating.  

“Or do I need to make that an order?” She asked, smiling playfully at him.  

  Tech hesitated, (he was definitely sweating).  “We’ve never been big on f-”

  Echo interrupted him.  “Try it Tech,” he said.  He was smiling, but it was a do-it-or-I’ll-never-let-you-hear-the-end-of-it type of smile.  (another expression unique to ARC Troopers)

“...Must…must I?” Tech asked.

Omega nodded earnestly while deploying the tooka-eyes.  

“Very well…”

Tech took a bite of the fried lobster.  The cringe on his face turned to one of pleasant surprise.  

“This dish is rather appealing,” he said as he finished it.  

“I told you you’d love it!” Phee said, beaming.  

“I should have anticipated that you’d be correct,” he replied.  

“C’mon, there’s some more food I know you’ll love,” she said.  She ran her hand down his arm before grabbing his hand and leading him to another vendor.  

  Omega high-fived Lyana, looking extremely satisfied with herself.  

 I looked at Echo.   “Why don’t you give it a try?” I suggested.

Echo’s face fell instantly.  “Uhh…” 

“C’mon Echo!” Omega piped up.  “Give your life some variety!”

Next morning, at Base Havoc.

  Wrecker is still sleeping off all the food from last night.  Nevertheless, he’s still going to want breakfast when he wakes up.  

  Several important things happened last evening that we should update you on.

First thing: Wrecker now has a girlfriend.  Miona Dolpho, she’s a human originally from Gloucesteon.  She works at the tiki bar on Taria beach.  (My favorite restaurant.)  

 I thought she’d be a lovely match for Wrecker as soon as I met her.  Like Wrecker, she’s energetic, outgoing, friendly, and funny.  

  And her food is kriffing amazing!  

  Second thing: Phee got Tech to try 8 new dishes last night, and apparently he loved every single one.  Throughout the evening, they seemed to get closer together.  

  Third thing: Tech didn’t get home until about 2330 hrs last night.  (The festival packed up just after 2100 hrs.)  None of us know where he was or what he was doing between those times.  Crosshair has a few ideas, but Hunter won’t let him share them for some reason.  (sounds fishy) 

Tech, like Wrecker, is also having a long sleep-in.

  This is so exciting!  Now we’ll have two love stories to watch!  :)  

Ὠmega

Chapter Text

Date: 21/08/2214 PY

Location: Taria tiki bar, mid-evening.  

  Wrecker didn’t take long to admit that Miona and himself were in a relationship.  I’m not at all surprised.  Wrecker is very open and honest about his feelings.  By the looks of things, Miona is too.  

  We’re having dinner at the tiki bar with Miona and Phee.  Miona’s cooking has satisfied everyone, even Crosshair.  Though he would never say it, I can feel his satisfaction every time he takes a bite of his soup.  I've also introduced Omega to Meiloorun Sunset.    

  So, apparently Miona has gotten Wrecker interested in an event she’s been trying to start for a while.  

There is a total of 106 (soon to be 107) refugees from Gloucesteon living on Pabu.  Plus a further 141 living on other nearby islands.    

  It’s called the Brockward Cheese-Chase.  It’s an event held annually by Gloucests, and Miona wants to introduce it to Pabu.

  She has explained the principle of the event to us.  I still don’t really understand it, but she assured me I will when I see it.  

  With Wrecker helping Miona, we’ve also been roped into it.  Tomorrow, Phee is flying her to Siro (another island about 600 NM south of here) to get some cheese.  

 Miona is quite obviously indicating that she’d love Wrecker to join her.  Wrecker was quick to take up her offer.  Tech on the other hand, has been mostly silent for the last 10 minutes.  I think he’s trying to think of an excuse to go with Phee.  

  Miona has asked Omega and I to find a suitable hill to roll the cheese down.  A clear, grassy slope about 150-300 meters long with an incline anywhere between 30 and 60 degrees.  

  Omega has keenly embraced her new mission.  So tomorrow, we’ll find the perfect hill for rolling cheese.  

And Omega says the best way to test a hill is to roll down it ourselves! 

 Both Hunter and Wrecker looked sick at the very thought.  

Next morning, at Base Havoc.

  I know I’m getting a little sidetracked from the original purpose of this memoir, but Omega has been keen to follow Wrecker and Miona’s relationship as well as Tech and Phee’s.  

  So, what the kriff?  Let’s do it!

Yaaayyyy!!!

Ὠmega

An hour later, Archium plaza.

We’ve seen off Miona, Phee, Wrecker and Tech on their cheese supply run. Now Omega, Batcher and I are off to find the perfect hill.

Chapter Text

Concord hill, south-eastern slope.  

  Concord hill has several slopes that could suit the required purpose.  We’re standing at the top of the south-eastern slope.  

“188 meters long, about 15 meters wide.”  I said as I took note of the dimensions.  “Average gradient is about 39 degrees.”  

“It looks good,” Omega chirped.  “Should we test it?”  

  “Make sure you stick to the left hand side.”  I warned her.  “It looks like there’s some rocky area about half way down.”

“Ok!”  

“And Omega,” I said.  “Please don’t hurt yourself, Hunter would kill me…slowly.”  

Omega nodded, clearly heeding my warning.  

“Nah, Crosshair would probably get to you first,” she said.

“Yeah, true.”  We both burst out laughing.  

  Omega laid down at the crest of the slope.  Batcher immediately started eagerly licking her face.

  Omega squealed as she launched herself down the hill, Batcher close behind.  Smiling, I mounted my speeder bike and started down the hill after them.  

  Omega stopped at the bottom of the hill, laying on her back.  Attempting to avoid Batcher’s efforts to keep licking her face.  

“You good?” I asked as I approached her.

  “Yep!” she replied happily, before receiving a slobbery kiss on the lips from Batcher.  

 Giggling, she went to get to her feet, only to collapse onto her stomach.  

“ ‘m dizzy,” she giggled.  “But that was a good hill.”

  I sat down beside her while we waited for head to stop spinning.  “I don’t think it’ll be very good to chase cheese down,” I said.  “It’s quite narrow, and that rocky area reduces the usable width even more.”

 Omega nodded, unfazed.  

 “Then let’s go check out the northern slope!”  She exclaimed cheerfully, attempting to return to her feet.  

I caught her as she overbalanced and fell again.  

“When you can stand.”  I said, laughing.

Yerbana hill, southern slope, 4 hours later. 

   Omega had to stop rolling after the third slope.  Even the toughest stomachs have their limits.  

  We’ve scouted a total of 5 slopes so far.  Two on Concord hill, one near Nabat point, one on Pabu’s north-east slopes and one on Sundari hill.  

  Yerbana hill’s southern slope looks promising.  It’s 241 meters long, 20 meters wide, and has an average gradient of 47 degrees.  It’s also completely covered in thick grass, which will make it safer to run down.  

  We (carefully) checked the slope out for about half an hour.  Omega rolled down the last 20 meters.  

“This hill looks perfect.”  She said as we stood at the bottom of the slope.  

I nodded in agreement.  “Thank you for not hurting yourself,” I said.  

  I looked down at her.  She was unscathed, but a mess.  Her clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains.  And her hair full of seeds and burrs.

  I chuckled.  “We should head back home so you can get cleaned up.”  

Base Havoc, 3 hours later.

Hunter gasped as I walked in the door after testing the hills.  He checked me over twice before he calmed down, despite Jonah and I repeatedly assuring him I was fine.  

  Having a shower was harder than it should be.  It took about 10 minutes to find some normal soap, shampoo and conditioner among Hunter’s 29 different products!

  Rolling down hills is fun, but I’m not sure if the clean up is worth it.  Hunter has been trying to brush the seeds and burrs out of my hair for almost 30 minutes now.  

Still, Jonah, Batcher and I had lots of fun!

…

Miona was with Wrecker and Tech when they returned.  Jonah and I gave her our recommendation for a hill.  (She was very happy when she heard I tested them myself!)  Sadly, she couldn’t stay for dinner.

  The date has been set.  The first Pabu cheese-roll race will take place next cycle.  I can’t wait!

Ὠmega