'So, Mr Rick Meyer, will you marry me?' Rick was dumbfounded hearing these words, he could not believe his ears.
It's not that Rick does not have enough confidence in himself, the other part is a level 33 Gemini Rider, Just one word and a queue of world's most eligible bachelors would form to court her.
A single Gemini Rider is comparable to a battleship, they are so strong that they can single handedly turn the tides of war and lay waste to enemy troops. In front of such existence anybody would feel incompetent, much less a Online Steamer.
Swallowing his saliva Rick asked "Before I answer Ms Tanya, may I know which qualities of mine interest you the most?"
Rick never believed that he was the smartest person in the room but he was smart enough to know that If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
"Since our conversation up till now was straight forward I will continue to answer without any falsehood, As you know I do not lack strength, money or power these are not the qualities I am searching for in my life partner.
Knowing that I am also not willing to marry a useless husband, I want a partner with expertise in fields other than my field of expertise. I think there should be no ego between partners, that is only possible when the both partners have separate roles to play in the relationship. I think you know what I am trying to say."
Yes, Rick understands what she is trying to say, Loud and clear. She literally asked him to be the wife in their marriage.
According to the federal family law, if a couple has children one of them can choose to stay behind to care for the young ones bypassing the federal military law.
No warrior would choose to stay behind to take care of their young ones instead of going to battlefront, their years of training would be wasted. If Tanya marries a warrior then this would be a concern but marrying a civilian like Rick, did not arise this concern.
Rick's parents are clear examples of this, both of them are high ranking officers in Starfleet, when Rick and his sister were born they both were unwilling to stay behind to take care of their young ones. Thankfully Rick and his sister had good grandparents who offered to take care of the siblings.
Since the beginning warriors are taught that dying in the battlefield is the greatest honor they can ever earn, no wonder they would rather choose to die on the battlefield rather than stay behind to take care of their young ones.
During this warring period capable civilians like Rick were hard to find. Even if Rick were to join the military in accordance with the federal military law, he would still not be sent to the battlefront he would be recruited as analyst or a desk warmer.
Dictionary, publishing year 3020, in here there are no such words as feminism or chauvinists or other discriminative words, both genders are treated equally in current times. Now it is a universal rule that one who is capable will lead the family.
In the battlefront enemy does not discriminate between men and women, they don't dare to because women are not less than men in any way. Over the years women have proven that women can have it all, giving rise to various powerful female leaders and bosses.
Similarly Rick did not care about this, but he still hesitated because why him? A Gemini Rider can easily find many capable civilians. So, why him?
Seeing Rick hesitate, Tanya continued "To be completely truthful I am one of your subscribers. I try to watch most of your federal battlefront simulator streams because unlike other steamers you analyze the complete battlefield, pointing out available strategies, and explaining the why to? and why not to?
Especially your interpretation of the battle in the Gulf of Burr galaxy, I loved it. My teacher participated in that battle, he said that if they had followed your strategy they could have won the war with far less casualties."
Rick was astonished to see the fangirl side of solemn heroic warrior beauty. Shaking his head he said "anybody can come up with a better strategy after seeing the complete battle."
In order to increase young people's awareness regarding battlefront the federation had produced many simulator games based on real battles. This not only gave the young ones a vague picture of a war but also prepared them to be capable future leaders.
In real battle the allies do not know about the enemy's endgame, making it difficult for the commander in charge to come up with the most optimum battleplan unlike in games where all the variables are quantified so it is easy to come up with a better strategy.
"Hearing you say that I am more impressed. You are both smart and handsome, together our children will be smart, beautiful and strong. If by chance something were to happen to me on the battlefield, I can rest in peace knowing that my children are in capable hands.
Like you said, unlike me you do not have to risk your life to earn money, you can make decent money as an online steamer. I think there should be a stable factor in our relationship for the young ones. These are the two most important reasons I decided on you as my life partner." Tanya was being realistic during war not even the commanders and general dare to say that they will not die.
'Wait! Hold up "our children" I have yet to accept your proposal. Don't go deciding things by yourself!!!' though Rick.
'Our children indeed will be beautiful, smart and strong' nodded Rick scanning the beauty setting in front of him, she is indeed very beautiful especially in battlesuit Rick felt that one of his fantasies will soon come true if married Tanya.
'Decent money tsk! tsk! maybe for you, It takes people months to save what I earn in a single stream but I heard Mecha pilots spend nearly 1 million union credits just on one round of ammunition similarly earn 10 times of what they spend. how can a little online steamer compare to you guys.' Rick shook his head accepting the reality.
In conclusion Rick felt that what Tanya said made sense, moreover battlefield is not the only place where you can contribute to humanity's survival, he is inspiring millions of youths to become a warrior with his online stream every day.
Marrying Tanya, Rick would get a beautiful, powerful and rich wife and would escape from enlisting in the military and could continue to be an online streamer. As for the Children their grandparents would take care of them, they did not care for the children at least they could make up for it by taking care of their grandchildren.
Most importantly if something unfortunate were to happen in battlefront then all their combined property and wealth would belong to him alone. come on who are we kidding this marriage is not out of love its out of mutual benefit what's wrong in being a little more practical.
Seeing the overall benefits of marrying Tanya, Rick finally decided to accept her proposal. Putting on his most charming smile he said "Ms Reyes our thoughts are alike, I also would love to have someone as beautiful and heroic as you as my life partner."
Seeing her flattery work like a charm Tanya gave out a beautiful smile and said "we have less than a month, I think we should decide on the dates."
"No hurry we can decide on the dates when we introduce our parents. Now let's enjoy our dinner. waite..." before Rick could finish his sentence the door of the private room opened and two middle aged couples along with two teenage girls stormed the room.
For some reason Tanya did not seem surprised by the uninvited guests, she leaned back into her chair comfortably. Unlike her Rick was flabbergasted he shouted "Mom, Dad what are you doing here? No, How are you guys here?" he moved to planet Abe to escape from them.