“Are you sure you need to leave so soon?” the young woman said, not-quite gripping his arm as he moved to stand from the fancy lounge chair he’d been effectively forced into when he was ‘invited’ in here. “We’ve barely touched down.”

“Apologies, ma’am.” Jason said, as he tried to delicately extricate himself. “My orders are to present myself to Captain Tisi as soon as possible.”

More than that. He wanted out of this cabin and off this ship. The civilian captain of the Grinshaw’s Maw had been… handsy. Nothing beyond the realm of decorum, but still more than he wanted. The Shil’vati noblewoman was attractive. No doubt about that. And despite Hela’s personality being a bit too… valley girl-ish for his taste, he normally wouldn’t have been against something more on principle.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling that any entanglement on that front would result in more than he bargained for.

She’d already alluded to having two husbands back home, and had made some subtle insinuations that he would be a very exotic addition to that collection. Jason wasn’t interested in being another trophy for her to parade around in the court back home though - no matter how much money she not-so-subtly implied she had.

Not that she needed to imply it. If there was a single object in this cabin that didn’t have a gold inlay, he hadn’t seen it yet. Between that, and the fact that the place was festooned with what he could only imagine were expensive cultural artifacts, it was abundantly clear that Hela was a woman of means.

“I’m the heiress of the Helrune Dynasty.” Hela smiled. “I’m sure the good captain won’t begrudge me keeping one of her handsome soldiers to myself for a little longer.”

I know you’re the heiress of the Helrune Dynasty, Jason thought struggling to maintain his smile, though he had little doubt it was looking a bit wooden by now. You’ve only mentioned it thirty times since you dragged me in here.

“I’m sorry ma’am, I really must insist-”

“You really don’t. Tisi’s also an old friend of mine,” Hela said. “I can assure you that she won’t mind.”

That actually caught Jason’s attention, and he stopped struggling quite so hard. He didn’t sit down again, but he was a little interested. It would be useful to know a little more about the woman he would be serving under before he met her.

…and wasn’t that a strange thought.

He was on active-duty now. Which was actually insane. He’d been hoping to ask the DIs about why his posting was ‘classified’ and where his vocational was going to be, but he never got the opportunity. He’d barely returned to base before two jackbooted marines had shoved him into a shuttle and flown him to the space port.

From there, they’d shoved an omni-pad into his hands and marched him onto a ship that clearly wasn’t military. Then they’d left, and he was off, roaring across space in his uniform, surrounded by dozens of civilian passengers.

“You know Captain Tisi?” he asked, back in the moment.

He was all too aware that the ‘briefing’ he’d found on the omni-pad had been all too light on details. Beyond the fact that he was to report to a ‘Captain Tisi’, and that he’d be serving on a ‘picket ship’ he knew nothing.

“Oh, yes, we used to play together as girls,” Hela said. “Old family links you see. Apparently our ancestors were part of the same family unit once. General Debas, if you can believe it?”

Jason could, on account of the fact that he had no clue whatsoever as to who Debas was. Still, he was listening as Hela prattled on.

“Of course, her line stuck to military service, while my own made the smart choice and started investing.” The woman sighed dramatically. “Even now though, they refuse to admit that it was a mistake. I mean sure, the court crowd back home eat it up, the whole ‘military tradition’ thing, but that’s only when they aren’t snickering about her family barely having two credits to rub together these days.”

She smiled up at him. “It’s part of why I keep trying to convince her to give it up and join my trading group. I’d love to have her over some of the idiot captains we have on payroll. I’d even let her into my family unit. Empress knows, I can afford to share my two men,” she looked at him significantly. “Or three.”

That was the moment, Jason remembered why he was trying to escape this situation. Once more, he made to stand straight, only for the woman to grip him tighter. At this point, there was little he could do to escape beyond simply ripping his arm away, and he wasn’t entirely sure how well that would go down for him.

It was all well and good sticking to your principles, but in the real world, more often than not, the little guy got smushed by the big one when they got uppity. As it stood, Hela was dancing on the knife edge of what he’d let her get away with. Which told him, if nothing else, that her boasting about her negotiating skills wasn’t all hot air, given how she’d directed their entire conversation thus far.

“It’s why I always try to bring her a gift when the Maw heads in this direction.” Hela smiled, as if she wasn’t currently gripping his arm. “Try and give her a little taste of what she could have. Tempt her into the high life and away from all the dreariness of military living. It just seems a shame, when she could have so much more?”

As she spoke, she eyed him, and Jason realized that she was making a fairly unsubtle comparison between him and his soon to be superior there.

He tore his arm away.

“She sounds admirable,” he said, straightening his sleeve.

Hela seemed honestly surprised, staring at her open hand, then that surprise turned to anger as she looked up at him. For just a moment though. Then it was gone, that same smile she’d been wearing all evening back in place.

She stood up, straightening her dress, and for just a moment, Jason was reminded of the height disparity between them. For all that Hela played the role of the young socialite, she was still a Shil’vati.

She leaned forward, as if to reinforce that difference in build. “Yes I suppose-”

Whatever else she was about to say was interrupted. The door behind them swung open and two women in military uniform marched in – trailed by a single flustered looking militia marine.

“Sorry ma’am, they just burst through,” the militia member, clad in the ornate purple and green livery of the Helrune Dynasty household guard, stammered.

Hela pinned the woman with a stare, none of the charming socialite he’d seen moments before present. Then, just like the earlier anger, the glare was gone, replaced by a casual smile.

“That’s fine, guardsmen. Few can stop Tisi when she sets her mind to something.” She said dismissively, a single wave sending the woman scampering from the room.

Then Hela turned with a smile to the recently identified Captain Tisi.

“Tisi,” the civilian captain said, moving forward to wrap her military counterpart in a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”

Tisi endured the hug without moving, though she was an expression of affable irritation, which quickly broke into a more genuine smile. “You too.” She glanced at Jason. “Though I’d be a bit happier to see you if you weren’t trying to poach my latest crewmember.”

“Poach?” Hela said, releasing the hug, a look of confusion on her face. “I would never. I was just keeping the young man company and the time happened to get away from us.”

Judging by the roll of Tisi’s eyes, she wasn’t fooled for a second.

Though Jason had to quickly look away from the exchange between the two women, as the final woman in the room was sidling round towards him.

“Salute, you idiot,” the woman hissed, jabbing him not too gently in the side with an elbow.

Jason felt panic shoot up his spine as he realized he’d forgotten to do so, and pulled his arm up just as Tisi finished her discussion and looked over at him.

“Recruit Jason, reporting for duty, ma’am.”

To be honest, he still wasn’t quite accustomed to the notion of Shil’vati using the first name after a title. That was how you did it though. Unless you were part of the nobility, last names just didn’t carry all that much importance, and that had bled over into a number of aspects of their society.

“At ease, recruit,” the woman said, returning the salute. “I’m glad to see you made it here in one piece.” She turned to level a slightly playful glare in Hela’s direction. “In spite of my friend’s best attempts to the contrary.”

The civilian woman feigned being wounded, but Tisi dismissed it with a roll of her eyes.

“The good captain was an able host, ma’am,” he said, not quite willing to voice his actual thoughts in front of a person whom she was clearly friends with.

“I’m sure,” Tisi murmured in a tone that said she didn’t believe a word of it. “Well, unfortunately, I’ll have to divest you from her care for now. I assume you have your kit?”

Jason nodded, gesturing to where he’d put it down when he’d initially been ‘invited’ in here.

Tisi nodded. “Good. Our car’s waiting out in the space port parking lot.”

“Ugh, a car, Tisi?” Hela piped in, sounding genuinely offended. “Give me a few minutes and I can get my personal shuttle ready for launch. Have your woman drive the ground vehicle back through the crowds. You, I, and your latest subordinate, can fly where you need to go with some class. It’ll be a good chance to catch up.”

“Thanks, but no thanks, Hela, the car will do just fine for now.” Tisi dismissed. “Our newest recruit will have to get used to roughing it at some point.”

“He needn’t,” Hela pointed out.

“Bye Hela,” Tisi said, turning to leave.

Jason got the message, scooping up his kit and following after the two women, festooned with bags.

“Well don’t forget to check your messages! We just need to catch up soon.” Hela called from where she remained in the open doorway as they strode down the hall. “Bye Jason.”

The trio continued down the halls of the merchant ship, which were much more bare and utilitarian than Hela’s cabin had been.

“Ugh, I can’t stand that woman,” the marine sergeant finally said.

The Captain sighed. “I will admit that Hela can be something of an… acquired taste. Don’t hold it against her. Being both a member of the nobility and a merchant, she’s used to being able to ‘push’ for the things she wants.”

“If you say so, ma’am.”

Tisi glanced at her subordinate. “I do. Hela, for all her faults, is an old friend of mine. Her family have been good to mine. If you have any opinions on her, I don’t want to hear them, nor do I want to hear them being spread around the crew. Understood?”

“Understood, ma’am.” The woman nodded easily.

Jason just trailed along behind the pair as they continued to talk.

“And this is your locker.”

The barracks they were in was a far cry from the spotless cleanliness of the dorms in basic. Hell, the whole base was. It was kind of surreal to see. The Crucible had always been abuzz with activity, but by comparison, this place felt half-abandoned.

At least it was warm though, he thought, a shiver running up his spine as he remembered their mercifully short sojourn outside.

“Does everyone live on base?” Jason asked, gesturing to the nearby half-made beds.

Assisse, as he learned his new sergeant was called, shrugged. “Nah, most of us avoid this place if we can. Given that we’re here long term, we’ve got a stipend for hotels. Could get houses, I guess, but not much point in putting down roots if the Empress might pull you up at any time. Captain’s got a home here because she’s a rich girl. Hair-Ball does too, though it’s more her family’s home than hers.”

Jason paused in the act of placing his clothes into his locker. “Hair-Ball?”

“Yoro,” the woman corrected. “She’s a Rakiri like the ones you saw on the way over here.”

Jason thought back to the crowds of massive werewolf-like aliens they’d passed on the ride over here. The aliens' thick fur coats were clearly proof against the cold, given how they weren’t wearing anything else. Well, mostly nothing else. He didn’t consider the small necklaces or other trinkets most had on to be ‘clothes’.

“Alright kid, level with me, why are you here?” Assisse asked, jolting him from his thoughts.

“I was posted here,” he said simply.

The older woman rolled her eyes. “I know that. Why were you posted here?”

Jason hesitated. He had a small theory in his mind, but it was one he’d tried not to give too much credence. It said poor things about his future prospects if it were true, after all.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I know me being here is weird. I should be attending vocational training right now, not serving on a ship.”

Assisse fixed him with a gimlet eye at his partial truth. “Any suspicions?”

Jason sighed. He might as well come out with it.

“I might have run afoul of a noble?” he said hesitantly.

Assisse nodded, as if she’d expected as much.

“So what happened?” She prompted, before pausing. “Wait, does this have something to do with that training exercise where you gave those Interior gals a black eye?”

Jason paused in the act of placing a shirt into his locker.

“…I might have dropped the Colonel in charge out a window.”

Assise stared at him.

“Really?”

“Really.”

The woman continued to stare, before breaking into uproarious laughter.

“Yeah, that would do it, kid,” she said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “What line was she from?”

Jason shrugged, a little discomforted by her amusement. “I honestly can’t remember. She said her mother was a planetary governor though.”

“Big bitch then.” The woman nodded. “Yeah, I could see one of them pulling some strings.”

Jason sighed as the woman casually confirmed a fear he’d been trying not to dwell on since the moment he heard his deployment would be ‘classified’.

“So I’m fucked then?”

“Maybe?” The sergeant made a so-so gesture, making his heart sink further. “You’ll have to ask the captain exactly what your posting says. Might shed a bit more light on it all.”

Jason shoved another shirt into the locker.

“Ah, come on, kid.” Assisse said smiling somewhat awkwardly, a strange thing to see on the previously gregarious woman’s features. “I can’t stand to see a pretty face down.”

Jason nearly rolled his eyes at the line. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that Assise was technically his superior, and his time in the Crucible was still fresh in his head. And in the Crucible, one did not roll their eyes in front of their superiors with the expectation of seeing tomorrow.

“Don’t look so glum,” Assisse continued, still somewhat awkwardly. “Sure, Gurathu may be a backwater, but it ain’t all bad. Beats playing hide and seek with the roaches out in the Periphery.”

She placed a rather large hand on his shoulder, far more delicately than he expected given how she behaved. “How long you in for?”

“Three years,” he said, translating the time from the five in Earth years to the three in Shil.

“Hardly any time at all,” Assisse insisted, her tusked maw turning into a toothy smile.

Despite the somewhat ham-fisted way she’d presented his situation, Jason found a smile forming on his face at her words.

“There, that’s better,” the woman said.

“Thanks, Sarge.”

Satisfied, he started to shuck off his shirt.

“Hey, hey,” the woman said, stepping back with both hands raised up. “Don’t you want me to leave first?”

Jason looked at her in confusion as he held his shirt in his hands. Was she actually blushing?

She was. Though that didn’t seem to stop her from glancing at his torso every few seconds.

“I was just switching kits,” he said, gesturing to the snow themed fatigues that he’d just been issued in place of his old grey recruit gear. “Is that a problem?”

“No, but…” The woman trailed off.

Jason mildly chastised himself as he stopped undoing the latches of his pants. He’d started getting changed without even thinking about it. After three months in basic, where time was a premium, he hadn’t even given it a second thought. Apparently, what was normal there wasn’t normal in the greater military culture as a whole.

“Ah, well if you don’t mind…” he didn’t finish the statement, not quite able to give a woman who was ostensibly his superior a suggestion. Just thinking about what the DIs would have done to him if he did so during basic sent a shiver up his spine, and that was enough for that sensation to be transferred to Assisse.

It seemed that he needed to spend a little time ‘unprogramming’ himself away from the social norms he’d built up over the past three months. He almost sighed at the thought that he was once more in a situation where what was ‘normal’ played by entirely different rules.

“Makes no difference to me,” he said.

“Damn kid, they weren’t exaggerating about you humans,” Assisse said as she stepped away, a strange smile on her face now that she’d gotten over her surprise. Still, she dutifully stepped out of the room to let him change in peace.

Not that she didn’t spend a final moment blatantly getting an eye full as she stepped out.

Jason finally allowed himself to roll his eyes at the classically Shil’vati move, even as he continued stepping out of his clothes.

Assisse was nice. A bit on the rough side but pleasant enough. In many ways she reminded him of Nuiy, though if in human terms, Nuiy played the role of the stern Patriarch in the squad, then Assisse was more akin to the freewheeling uncle.

…Not that Jason had much experience with either type of familial relation.

Glancing down at his new winter fatigues, he could at least concede that they looked a little better than the drab grey fatigues he’d been wearing prior to now. As he glanced down at his name tag, written in Shil’vati script, along with the words Whisker emblazoned on his arm, he was reminded that this was real.

He was an actual serving member of an alien military. The same military that had conquered his home. Even as he mulled it over in his mind, it still didn’t feel any less surreal.

“You done in there?” Assisse asked, poking her head back in.

Jason ignored the way she looked mildly disappointed at the fact he was fully changed. He was rather glad for the interruption, as it shook him away from his moment of personal funk.

“Yep,” he said as he walked over to her.

Despite her initial disappointment, Jason could feel some pride as her eyes turned appreciative.

“Doesn’t look bad at all on you kid,” she said.

“Thanks.” He smiled, standing a bit taller in his new uniform.

The Sergeant patted him on the shoulder again, guiding him down the hall. “Let’s get you to the cafeteria. With any luck you might be able to let you meet some of the others in our motley crew before the Whisker returns to swap crew again tomorrow. Might save you from being jumped by all of them when we set out.”

Although she phrased it as a joke, Jason could hear the glints of truth in her statement.