The aircar was spacious, able to seat a dozen personnel if the need arose. Luckily they weren't tightly fit and Kaiden sat at the fore next to the driver, a man in a standard helmet and dark glasses that he'd seen once or twice transporting officers or goods across the planet. To say he felt trepidation was an understatement, and he did his best to lose himself in the notably beautiful islands passing under them. The sun was hot and bright, making the water look like liquid crystal from this altitude. 

He had brought with him Bosun Higgs, a squat man with a penchant for chewing tobacco no matter how many times Kaiden had reprimanded him for it. Ensign Bushman, an ambitious man as old as Kaiden but not as successful, though the prince never suspected any treachery from him due to his old fashioned nature. Along with them were reliable cadet Enrique, and spacer/mates Randals and Harwen who were apparently friends off duty from before the service. 

None seemed particularly happy to be here save Higgs who likely didn't care where he was, and Randals who seemed to always make the best of every situation and find the humor in things. The other three likely didn't wish to have to learn more names or get comfortable with other quarters, and Kaiden couldn't rightly blame them. He was brought out of his train of thought as a gust of wind gave the aircar a bit of turbulence. 

"So what do you think the going rate of one of these islands are?" Randals asked, trying to peek over his fellow militarymen to view the window. It was a silly question, but the man often asked silly things half facetiously to either begin a discussion or a joke. It could be amusing, Kaiden thought. He wasn't so jaded as to not appreciate the men serving under him. Harwen looked positively bored gazing into the blue nothingness of the scene below. If Kaiden remembered correctly, he was very learned in finance, but that in turn led him to be a bit benumbed on the current economy of the Cinnibar Republic. 

"Probably a lot." Spacer Harwen said tiredly. 

"Even on a backwater planet like this one?" Randals asked. 

"Herculaneum's in the middle of nowhere but a lot of rich people get homes here. The prices began to rise around a century ago, and I think they've been steadily going up since." The mate replied. "You'd probably need to find someone desperate for money and do a background check on the family to see if they'd be willing to sell at a lower price. But we'd never be rich enough to buy one even then." 

As the two conversed, Kaiden recalled that it was for that reason the planet had even a modicum of defenses. No large anti-orbital missile batteries, but a few small streakers to help harass enemy landing craft if need be. Many of the privately owned resorts and industry buildings had local defense systems and anti-air batteries. What he was most impressed with were the orbital minefields set and ready to deploy above them. Only ones with the right coordinates could get past them without priming the explosives, and only a very few people knew them. Their existence was even speculated upon, with Kaiden being on the lowest rung of officer to even be aware of such preparations. They had only been deployed and set the last two years by Commodore Wilken's orders. 

They began to descend, much like Kaiden's stomach as the pilot told them they were five minutes away from the RCS Vicount and it's station island. Kaiden got a good look at it as the aircar turned, and he could see it was a star shaped island with five points, with a vast landing pad at its center where the Corvette was station, just beside a basic compound that had the trappings of leisure, though he knew as much as the rest of them that it was likely for show. 

"Think we'll get better beds?" Enrique asked. He always seemed to be the one that voiced his dreams for a life after the service, and somehow that made him work all the harder (when needed to). 

"Doubtful. It was probably bought off some aristocrat and fashioned to be just like home for us." Kaiden grinned, suddenly happy that the base looked large enough to lose himself in. His good mood was shattered when the aircar dropped down at a small pad off to the eastern coast, just beside what looked to be a broken down gig, to which to Kaiden's horror he recognized it as Commodore Wilken's, with his crest upon the bow of it. Kaiden shook his head, seeing the men and what looked to be a woman covered in grease and mud and celebrating. "How did it get like that?" 

"Looks like these fellas fixed it up." Higgs all but grunted, and looking once again the Bosun was right as usual. The aircar wobbled into what felt like a 'plop' and the light turned on that it was safe to exit the vehicle. Kaiden and his men stepped out into the open sun, and the Prince called to the mates who'd fixed it with an easy grin. "Looks like you lot made the best of a shit situation," He told them heartily, walking up to inspect the work. The sun was in his eyes, and he couldn't quite see the fellow's faces as he approached. "Just give it a small shine to it and the Commodore will be none the wiser-" 

One of the lads, a slim and rather attractive man he noted, turned and looked at him. They had their long hair in a messy bun and they looked to have gotten the worst of the grime from jerry-rigging the machine back to health. As his eyes got used to the sun and the mud dripped from the soldier's face, he recognized Sabatine almost immediately, and his grin disappeared to be replaced by a look that seemed both tired and tense all at once. "Eh fuck." He breathed.
[@Penny]