Amarillo by Morning

[Angel Ryder]

"Well it's still something that was almost considered a lost art." Angel said and pecked his cheek. "Let your mother in law give you a compliment once in a while huh?" she chuckled. "You know I love you and I'll always back you up as if you were my own. And we're getting our girl back. In the meantime... keep the faith."

[Ethan Talon]

"So, tell me. Was there a trap planned for my mom's evil twin? I can't imagine you just handing over tech, no questions aske?" He stared down at the kliden still in his hand imagining plunging it into Bellatrix's and Dominus' chests.

[Angel Ryder]

"There was." Angel said simply and took a sip of her drink. "Well, besides something that dad would have done with the ships, so that we could retrieve them, it would also give the Alliance an excuse to stop pussy footing around and actually innovate and use some of the designs and concepts that have been sitting in committee for years and get the next generation of ships off the padds and into space. Kitea is only a half generation toward that, she's good, but she's solid and that's what I wanted." She finished her drink and closed her eyes and wiped away a tear. She was making excuses, good ideas but in reality... there was only one plan in her mind.

Angel sighed and put her mug on the desk "And I would have given anything to have her back. Anything at all. We would have her back and then... we could deal with the fallout." she glanced at an alcove in the corner. "Dad took an experimental time suit to keep him out of phase, he'd be aboard both ships at once. After some time passed, he'd activate something, disable both and send a virus to the rest of Bellatrix's ships. Part of the reason I let her have the specs to the ships, they're the repair specs, not actual build designs. There's always aspects missing and there's always coded dimensions. Make it the wrong density... it warps." she looked at Ethan. "Am I a bad mom for wanting to shield my grown daughter, a Colonel, from this life?"

[Ethan Talon]

"No, no you're a mom." He stood decision in his eyes. "Let's find my wife."

[Angel Ryder]

"But first... we figure out just where things stand." Angel said and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't say it as much as I should, but I love you Ethan. You make my daughter happy and you fit into this crazy family of our's. I'm proud to call you my son in law. I can't even complain about age differences anymore since I spent decades in cryo freeze so... technically I'm way older than anyone now."

[Ethan Talon]

"Age difference?" Ethan asked q perplexed look on his face. "Trinity and I are both the same age."

[Angel Ryder]

"I meant us son." Angel said with a laugh. "I mean I'm not THAT much older than you and Trinity, but after my cryosleep... I... kinda feel more comfortable with her being my grown daughter, even though I have the young, tiny version of her, of which I only missed maybe a few months, at least to me. But at least I came back to THIS timeline and not some other odd ball alternate of which there are a billion."

[Ethan Talon]

He cleared his throat, "Well, you outrank me, so I reckon age never matter much at all."

[Nick Ryder]

A blue and red glow emitted from the alcove as a black and grey armored figure appeared. A mechanical whirring could be heard as the armor peeled off to reveal Nick Ryder in his under suit and a face mask. "Well, I guess that didn't go as planned. That's a weird sensation, being in two places at once, coordinating with myself." he pulled the mask off and shook his head and grabbed a bottle of water and took a long drink. "No wonder why no one uses Time Crystals anymore. Ethan... I can confirm, Trinity wasn't on that ship. But... we do have a slight lead on where they're going, at least until the tracer I used stopped transmitting, but I've got a general direction we didn't have before."

[Ethan Talon]

"Good," Ethan said coldly. "I have a bullet specially made for the bitch that kidnapped my wife."