The Green Stuff

Posted on Thu Aug 13th, 2026 @ 4:35am by Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake' & Lieutenant JG Grace MacKenzie 'Sabre'
Edited on on Thu Aug 13th, 2026 @ 4:39am

2,088 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries
Location: Pilots Lounge
Timeline: March 24th 2397

The Tokyo had spent the last few days limping back to Starbase forty three. The majority of the crew whom had survived the battle had been busy with repairs to the ship, and assisting the overworked medical staff with the injured. Only now was the back log of injured actually starting to thing out across the ship, and life on board was starting to return to somewhat normal.

The pilots lounge had recently been restored back to its normal configuration. Up until last night the Tokyo's medical staff had commandeered it for use as an emergency triage centre. Now, the tables and chairs had returned, and even though there was still signs of damage, it had mostly been cleaned up. Several of the Tokyo Pilots were gathered, sitting around tables talking whilst engineers and operations officers worked on open panels in various places.

Fubuki walked into the lounge, she had just finished with her 'head-count' of how many pilots had been lost in the line of duty. Out of the sixty pilots on the Tokyo, only forty seven had returned, and the total count three hundred and sixty, only a mere one hundred and two had returned to their carriers.

She hated those numbers. The Herald Starbase had wiped out over seventy-one percent of their Starfighter pilots. Two hundred and fifty eight names of the intrepid men and women would be joining the many thousands, if not millions on the 'memorial wall' that Captain Aisaka had installed on the ships flight deck. She felt like crying, and it wouldn't be a lie to say she had shed a few tears in private earlier.

However, she spotted the one pilot that she needed to talk with. Ensign Grace MacKenzie, call sign Sabre.

Grace had been released from sickbay after an overnight stay for observation and sent back to her quarters to rest. Apparently the burns had been minimal, despite how her fighter had looked, and the reduced oxygen hadn't done any permanent harm. Now, well-rested, she was ready to get back to flying... If she could find a new fighter to replace hers. That one? Not even good for parts, she knew.

And of course, she knew that someone would probably want to check in on her, which was why she noticed when Fubuki, also known as Snowflake, started her way and she waved to her.

Fubuki made her way over to Grace. She was wearing an obvious fake smile as she approached. "Hey..." she said to her gently. "Got a moment?"

Grace wouldn't have been a very good pilot if she didn't have an instinct for when something was wrong and the hairs on the back of her neck rose as she gauged any escape vector. She couldn't tell Fubuki she had to check out her fighter, because she didn't have one. Amu had checked her back out, so she couldn't claim she had to see the doctor and Zach was on duty, so that was out to. She was boxed in and she felt the target sights settle on her, "Sure, I've got nothing really planned for a bit."

Nodding, Fubuki led her way over to the bar that ran along the back wall of the lounge. Usually it would be well stocked and neatly arranged. However the shelves behind the bar were now unorganised chaos. Several bottles had smashed, and glass was littered on the floor and shelves. It had not been a priority for it to be cleaned up yet, and it looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. The bar itself, once made of smooth metal with a glass top now sported dents, scratches and shattered panels in places.

Regardless of it, Fubuki made her way around the bar. She looked down as she tapped a bottle out of her path with her foot. Its contents now stained the carpet. She didn't seem too bothered about the shards of glass that were scattered over the carpet like glitter. She found a relatively intact spot, and used her sleeve to brush away the debris and pooling liquid on the bar top.

"What can I get'cha?" she asked with smirk. "I seem to be running low on... well... everything. Plus, the replicator is currently busted so..." she looked down and dropped to her knee's. She returned with a bottle, it was luminous green. "So, its this or nothing I guess."

Grace gave the bottle a side-eye, the green color was interesting, but if she were being lined up for a killing shot from behind, why would she be being offered a drink, "Ah'm not one to drink alcohol much, ma'am, Ah never really have been and it does deaden the senses." No, wait a second, if she refused, that would be an insult, "But given what all happened, Ah suppose that one drink wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Nodding Fubuki opened the bottle. It had a very strong smell. She then looked around, every single glass her eyes located was smashed or broken. "No glasses..." she said with a sigh. "Oh well, guess we're doing this like we're teenagers." With that said she put the bottle top to her lips and took a swig. "Jesus... thats strong. Why is the green stuff always so strong..." she passed the bottle to Grace. "Your turn."

Taking the bottle, Grace stared at it for a few seconds for anywhere to dodge that could keep her from taking a drink of it, but she'd painted herself into this corner, time to just deal with it. As she took a swig of it and swallowed, it burned down her throat and she barely had time to put the bottle back on the counter before she started hacking from the unfamiliar feeling, "Christ, is that some sort of paint thinner?" She glared at the bottle, "It'd work for that, certainly!"

"So..." Fubuki said as she took the bottle, and lifted it to her lips again. She took another swig, her face scrunched a little. It seemed to get better the more you drank. At least the burning sensation in the back of her throat was starting to ease. The liquid no longer caused fiery chaos as she swallowed it, and its flavour was actually quite pleasant, if not a little sharp. "That absolute bullshit manoeuvrer you pulled out there. I told you not to do it. So..."

"It worked, didn't it?" Grace replied as she reluctantly accepted the bottle back. Maybe she could pass the next time, though it didn't burn nearly as much on this second swallow and she only had to swallow hard twice, "And Ah was the only one in danger from it, really, but if it had gotten more shots off at the carriers, who knows how many we woulda lost? Ah woulda been a small price to pay for it and hey, Ah came out of it in one piece.. Mostly."

"Damn right it worked." Fubuki replied as she took the bottle back and instead of taking a sip, she placed it directly between them. "Quite frankly, it was a stupid thing to do. However..." she paused as she looked down at the bottle of green liquid. "It saved a lot of lives. You put your own life on the line for those other pilots. More would not have come back if you hadn't been so reckless."

She leant back slightly, placing both hands on the bar. "Quite frankly, you opened an opportunity for us. One we didn't have, one that we needed to actually do some damage out there." she picked up the bottle again, and spun it around in her hands. "Many people on this ship, and the others owe you their lives today. So... thank you."

"Ah was in the right place at the right time and just... Did it." Grace said softly, "If one of y'all had been there and thought of it, Ah've got no doubt y'all would have done the same thing. Hell, it was a long-shot and Ah knew it, Ah just got lucky. As you said back when Ah came aboard, Snowflake, we're family here. You had my back when Ah needed it, Ah'll have yours, and theirs, always."

Fubuki let out a long sigh as she placed the bottle back on the bar. "Oh and this..." she said as she reached over and lightly punched Grace on the left shoulder. "Is for being a total jerk and not following my orders! Do you realise how worried I was thinking that I had lost you out there after what you did? That starfighter was one hair away from exploding. Quite frankly, I'm amazed that you got it back in that condition!" she told her sternly, a few tears starting to surface in the corner of her brown eyes. "Don't you ever do anything stupid like that again! you got that?!"

She grabbed the bottle and swiftly raised it to her mouth. This time she took a long big swig of the green liquid inside. "Got that?!"

When the bottle was held out to her, "If Ah promise that Ah'll never do something like that again, can I pass on takin' another drink?" Grace asked, but the bottle was shoved at her again she knew she had to take at least one more drink and did so, grimacing at the taste, "But Ah got it, Ah won't be that stupid ever again, at least, not willingly!"

"Good." Fubuki said. "Now. How about we have a little toast, to our fallen comrades. What do you say to that; Lieutenant?"

"Do we have-" Grace stopped herself as the final word hit her brain like a ton of bricks, "Wait, what?"

"Look. I don't have a half pip on me right now. I know its not fancy or anything. No little silk felted red box, but right now we can't afford the power for such things. So. I'll get it to you as soon as I can." Fubuki said with a shrug. "But, I put you forward for promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade. Commander Johnson approved it only a few minutes ago, its why I came out here."

She took the bottle. "Now. Lets do the right thing." she said as she held the bottle up. "To the pilots who now rest amongst the stars. May their course be true and their wings always be intact." she took a swig from the bottle and the held it out to Grace.

Grace took the bottle and looked at it for a moment before taking a long swig from it, then placed it tenderly back on the bar, "Ah never thought Ah'd..." She looked back up at Fubuki, "Ah didn't ever think Ah'd live to make a Lieutenant of any sort, especially not since..." She reached out and grabbed Fubuki's hand, squeezing it gently, "Thank you.. Ah can't tell you just how much this means to me."

Fubuki nodded. "I'll take that." she said as she took the bottle. She looked down at it, a sickening look spreading across her face. "Actually, I think that's enough of bulkhead paint stripper for one day." She lazily simply tossed it over her shoulder. The bottle smashed against the shelves behind her, the green liquid oozing out down and onto the carpet.

She looked at Grace, giving her a smile. "What? They're replacing the carpet anyways... Probably..." she said with a small chuckle.

That was funny to Grace's rapidly inebriating mind. As a general rule, she didn't drink. She had nothing against it, just didn't indulge in it. "So long as Ah don't have to be the one to clean it up, Ah'll ignore it! So... Let's get outta here before someone thinks we did it, why don't we?"

"One of your better ideas." Fubuki said giving her a cheeky wink before she looked around as if watching for security. "Now, go and tell the others what I said. I still have a lot of work to do..." she said as she stepped back from the bar. She wobbled a bit, her legs feeling like jelly. "Actually... I need to lie down first..."

Grace took a hold of Fubuki and let her lean against her, which almost threw her off balance, so they leaned against each other, "Tell you what, let's get you somewhere away from here and Ah'll see what Ah can do."

Posting by:

Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake'
Commander Air Group
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant JG Grace MacKenzie 'Sabre'
Starfighter Pilot
USS Tokyo

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