After she'd left the Imperial standing near the wall, anger seething below the surface at the man's comments, Melina made her way to the buffet, picking up a plate and depositing a little bit of whatever food she came in contact with, not even looking at what she picked up, then glancing around. Among the many faceless people attending the banquet, only a few stood out to the Mercenary. A small girl with blue hair that may as well have been styled in an arrow pointing right to her was talking with a man with a large prosthetic arm, seated at a table in the corner of the room. Elsewhere, that same woman who's eyes had followed Melina outside the Bridge was talking with a woman in a little black dress. Seeing all these women in their formal dresses, dancing gracefully made Melina look on with contempt, but deep down, her inner child grew jealous, wishing she owned more than her combat suit and pilot outfit.<br/><br/>Dismissing the thoughts, Melina made her way over to a corner of the room, situated near the raised dias of the high command, stopping and leaning against it just in time to hear Graves make some speech she hardly paid any attention to. The Merc glanced at her food for the first time and almost laughed when she saw nothing but pasta on her plate.<i>At least it's something I like</i>, she thought, slowly beginning to eat. After the man stopped talking the words he spoke disappeared from the young woman's mind and she glanced around again. A small amount of people were beginning to leave, but other than that, things stayed relatively the same. Most had ceased to hear Graves' speech and some looked proud, others delighted. Melina just gazed at them all expressionlessly, slowly eating the pasta she'd dished up on to her plate.<br/><br/>She was utterly bored, but would not leave yet. The hunger that gnawed at her stomach was slow in fading. Melina toyed with the idea of slipping some of her herbs in to drinks, but quickly dismissed it. Those needed to be saved until they were actually needed and were not to simply quench her boredom. When her fork found no more pasta, the Merc glanced down to see her plate empty. She placed it on a nearby table and decided she'd go check on her ships. With a quick but unhurried step, Melina left the banquet, making her way through the large ship.<br/><br/>It didn't take her long to get to the Hangar, and this time she went the right way. Melina walked past countless other ships until she spotted her own two, side by side as she'd requested. Nothing seemed out of order at a glance, so the young Merc opened the cockpit of her Raptor and climbed up in to it, leaving it open as she sat down, closing her eyes. Her ships always left her with a feeling of calm serenity, and this time was no different. The anger she'd held for the Imperial dissipated as the young Merc sat in her Raptor, both lost in her own world and listening for anyone who may have followed her. Past experiences had taught her caution in this matter...<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>