Chapter 5: Legacy       Admiral Takagi sat at his desk. The back of his chair was to the door, allowing him to admire the sight just outside his view port. The voice of Captain Remes came from the speaker phone on his desk.       "The replacement pilot you sent for has arrived. Should I send her in?"       "Yes." replied Takagi. He heard the door slide open and barely made out the sound of someone entering his office. He waited for the door to slide shut then turned around. Lt. Sterling was standing in front of him. But it was a very different Sterling than the one he saw before. She stood slightly hunched over. Her gaze lingered on the floor while her hands were behind her back. Everything about her body language suggested she was trying her hardest to simply escape his notice.       "Lieutenant." said the Admiral.       "Yes sir." whispered Sterling.       "I take it our last encounter is still fresh in your mind?"       "Yes sir." replied Sterling, though a little louder this time. Part of the Admiral wanted to twist the proverbial knife a little but the girl was clearly feeling humble enough as it was. "One of my squads has met with an unfortunate accident. One of my best will be off active duty for several months. You are here to serve as his replacement. Do you think you can handle that?"       "Yes sir." replied Sterling.       "Good. The Resolute isn't scheduled to leave port until tomorrow. I recommend you get settled and then introduce yourself to your new commanding officer, Lt. Iris Janson. Dismissed."       "Yes sir." Sterling slowly turned herself around and left the office.       With the door finally sealed, Tasha let a sigh of relief. "See how much better things go when don't yell at the Admiral?" Tasha looked to her left. A short graying man smiled at her. "Am I wrong?"       "No, Captain, you are not." replied Tasha.       "No need to be so formal, Tasha." said Remes.       "I think that given the circumstances it is appropriate, Captain."       Remes nodded as walked by her. "Just make sure you remember that, Lieutenant. I play no favorites on my boat and I have no intention of starting with you."       "Yes sir." replied Tasha. He glanced over his shoulder at her. "You can go about your business."       "Yes sir. Thank you sir." * * *       Tasha made a quick stop at her new quarters to drop off her things. Then she headed for the officer's lounge. She needed to find Lt. Janson and it seemed as good a place as any to start looking. As she walked the metallic halls of the ship, Tasha noted the faint traces of primer and polish in the air. The floors gleamed with an almost unnatural shine. It was one thing to know that a ship was new, it was another to perceive the evidence of that fact. Arriving at a set of double interlocking doors Tasha halted. This was it. She stepped forward allowing the automatic sensors to register her as an incoming patron. The doors slid smoothly open with barely a sound. The novelty of it was much to Tasha's liking. She had spent most of her fledgling career on ships and stations with old doors that screeched whenever they opened. The sound they made always rubbed Tasha the wrong way, much like school child would be when a sharp implement was taken to a blackboard. The room beyond was equally pleasant. The floor was carpeted with a soft looking burgundy. The walls were coated with plaster and then painted an off-white. The ceiling had a similar coloration. A number of wooden tables were littered about the large room. Some were flanked by padded wooden chairs. Others had plush comfortable-looking chairs clustered about them. They looked a bit more like a couch than a chair. Tasha quickly recalled the lumpy uneven wad of padding that passed as a mattress from her old assignment. She could see spending a lot of her downtime in here. There were some amusements off on the other side of the room, but such things usually didn't interest her.       Having finally taken everything in, Tasha wandered toward the center of the room only to have a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her. "Tash!" squealed Maya with an almost girlish delight. Tasha returned the hug, allowing a smile to creep onto her face for a moment. Maya finally released her stepping away enough for a comfortable conversation.       "When did you get here?"       "Just a short while ago."       "It will be great having you around, just like back in the academy."       "Only this time we have separate rooms." stated Tasha.       "Yeah, you were a slob." commented Maya. Tasha sighed. "I seem to remember it the other way around, oh former roommate of mine." Maya smiled lightly, letting the comment go. "You meet the Lieutenant yet?" Tasha shook her head. "I haven't been able to find her." Maya motioned Tasha to follow her as she turned around. "Then right this way."       Maya led her nearly across the room to a small table near one of the viewports. There was a woman seated there admiring the view of planet Chaos. "Lt. Janson?" The woman turned around, resting her gaze on Maya as she did so.       "This is Lt. Sterling. She's..."       "Camden's replacement. I know." finished Janson. She motioned to the two vacant chairs at the table. "Please sit down."       Tasha and Maya quickly filled the spots. Tasha seemed momentarily captivated by Janson's right arm. Then she seemed to forget it was there as she focused on the face. Janson noticed the progression. "I've been informed that you're quite a promising soldier, Sterling. I hope that is true. Lt. Camden made quite an impression on the squad. You have some big shoes to fill."       "I understand." replied Tasha.       "Don't think I am trying to intimidate you, because I'm not. I just thought you deserved fair warning. Do your best and I'm sure you'll have no problems."       "Yes ma'am." replied Tasha. Janson rubbed her eyes as she muttered under her breath, "I, on the other hand, will have nothing but."       "Excuse me?" said Maya.       "The Admiral giving you a hard time then?" asked Tasha.       Janson glanced at Sterling, a little surprised she understood her. "How can you tell?" she said with a smile.       "He has that effect on people. Or so I'm told."       "You were told correctly. But enough about my problems, are you settled?"       "Not yet, ma'am. I came here straight from the Admiral's office."       Janson nodded. "Well based on how Maya greeted you when you arrived, I take you two are good friends. So Maya, why don't you see that Sterling gets settled and then introduce her to the rest of the squad?"       "My pleasure." replied Maya as she and Sterling rose.       "It was nice meeting you Lieutenant." offered Tasha.       "You too. Carry on." * * *       With a final turn of the screwdriver, the panel was resealed. Logan tossed the tool off the wing of his fighter. It fell perfectly into the tool box below, albeit with a loud clanking sound. Logan had a seat on the wing, partly to take in the view and partly to organize his thoughts. Camden was out of the squad. For how long was anyone's guess. So he and the other members of his squad were responsible for their own maintenance. Unfortunately for him, Logan hadn't picked up a wrench since basic training. Which was why it took him twice as long as everyone else to do a routine hydraulics check. Merck and Lazine had finished some time ago and were over by the door chatting about something. Arsis was a short distance away, probably making sure tempers would not flare between the two. Finally Logan's gaze fell on Sharp. She was off by herself, seated under her e-frame. Logan couldn't tell what she was doing but she was being quiet about it, unlike Merck and Lazine. Easing himself down from the wing of his frame, Logan dropped to the floor of the hanger. He shot a quizzical glance at Sharp then decided to head over to her. In his short time on the Resolute, he felt he had gotten a feel for most of the squad. Janson was the leader. She didn't really want it but she was undeniably good at it. Arsis was the dedicated and crafty veteran. Maya was the eyes and ears of the squad, in more ways than one. Lazine was the brawler. Merck played the part of the marksman, and served as Lazine's arch rival. But Sharp failed to present herself in any light. She almost seemed to prefer being in the background.       "Hello."       Sharp looked up from the datapad she was holding. Realizing who was talking to her, she quickly shut it off and tucked it into her belt. "Can I help you, sir?"       "No." replied Logan as squatted down next to her. She was leaning against her frame's forward landing gear and was starting to get up. "You don't have to get up. Relax." Sharp hesitated a second then resumed her original seated position. "Okay, Sir." Logan put on his best smile and asked casually, "So tell me about yourself, Sharp." Sharp seemed uncomfortable with the prospect as she replied, "Sir?"       "I like to get to know the people I work with. I feel I've done a good job with everyone thus far, except you."       "Well, what do you want to know?" asked Sharp.       "Where are you from? Why are you here?"       "I'm from Venus."       "And?" prompted Logan.       "I wanted to join the Exofleet." squeaked out the unsure young woman. Logan patiently inquired further, "For what purpose?" "Just because..." offered Sharp, who was now visibly uncomfortable with the line of questioning. "Because why?" asked Logan. "Because...I thought it would be...fun?" She said with a weak smile. Realizing he was getting no where fast, Logan decided to let her off easy. "Okay. Well. I'm glad we had this talk then." Sharp nodded. Logan stood up adding "And I hope you're having fun." before walking away. * * *       "Nice ship." stated Tasha. Nothing in particular prompted the comment, it was more of a general impression. "Nicer than where you were?" asked Maya. "Pretty much anywhere would be." returned Tasha. "See what happens when you mouth off to the Admiral?" Maya added a playful nudge for emphasis. Tasha said nothing and made no visible response to the light push. It was typical for her. Unless she was ticked off, Tasha Sterling was as mellow as mellow could get. "I see you still do a killer impression of an e-frame." Tasha glanced at her as they were walking. It was her way of saying the comment was worthy of some amusement. Maya came to a halt. "This is our hanger. Word to the wise, Tash, try to be a little animated. So that these people will at least try to like you." Tasha stared at her blankly. "I have to be me."       "I was afraid of that. Come on."       Maya led them inward. The squad was scattered about, doing some form of maintenance or another. Two exceptions being Merck and Lazine, who were hanging around near the entrance. "Hey Lieutenant, looks like something followed you. I'd look out if I were you, its almost as big as you are." Maya shot Merck a look indicating her displeasure with the comment. Lazine remained silent but he looked as if he were sizing Tasha up. "This is trooper Angela Merck and trooper Jaster Lazine. They're testy because they've been put on restricted duty." "Hello." said Tasha as she extended her hand. Merck turned her nose up at it. Lazine simply stared. Unphased, Tasha let the hand fall to her side.       "I'm..."       "The replacement pilot, we figured."       "I have a name." pointed out Tasha.       "We don't care." replied Merck as she strode past her, adding "Tell Logan I went back to my quarters." as she left. Lazine stepped forward, looking Tasha in the eye.       "Can you fly?"       "Yes." replied Tasha.       "Can you fix my e-frame when it breaks down?"       "Yes."       "That is all I need to know about you." He broke his stare and walked away, presumably to his own quarters.       Tasha arched a thumb over her shoulder. "Care to explain that?" Maya shrugged. "Could be any number of reasons."       "Then name a few."       "Well, they are responsible for us needing a replacement pilot. They could view you as a constant reminder of their mistake. Or maybe they don't think you're up to the job."       Tasha raised an eyebrow. "Really?"       "Well if you were, don't you think you would have had this job first?"       "Point taken." conceded Tasha.       "It could also be a combination of the two, for Merck at least."       "What about Lazine?"       Maya smiled, "Oh, he's that way to everyone. But he respects strength, show him you can fight and he'll be your best friend." Maya started walking, "Come on, I'll introduce you to the Sarge."       The way Maya said the term suggested that the Sarge in some way impressed her, or so Tasha thought. Her instincts proved to be quite accurate. The Sarge was an impressive figure indeed. Tasha estimated his height to be somewhere about six and a half feet. Both she and Maya stood an even six feet. Looking up to someone while speaking to them was something of a novel concept for them. The other obvious feature about him was that he was an Eltorian. Tasha was used to being around them, heck, her grandfather was one. But Maya had never met one before, save Tasha. And Tasha was not exactly an Eltorian, nor was she a human. She was something inbetween, just like Maya. It was one of several reasons they became such good friends. Sergeant Arsis was manually loading some heavy ordnance into one of the ammo pods on his heavily armored e-frame. He stood on a scaffolding several meters above the floor. "Hey Sarge!" called out Maya. "Could you come down? I'd like you to meet someone!" Arsis gave a wave in return and began his decent.       The closer Arsis got, the larger he seemed to become. Tasha could understand why Maya was impressed. But all that ran through Tasha's mind was the number of ways she could take him down if need be. She mentally chided herself for doing that. Tasha had always prided herself on not getting caught up in macho posturing. And found herself more than a bit disappointed in her train of thought when she noted that very sort behavior. "I assume this is the replacement pilot?" questioned Arsis. Maya nodded. "Sergeant, this is Lt. Tasha Sterling. Tasha, this is Arsis." Tasha extended her hand only to find it engulfed by the hand of Arsis. His grip was very gentle, not what one would expect from such a powerful looking individual. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant." Tasha nodded lightly, almost shyly. "Thank you." she said quietly. "Tasha was my roommate at the academy." stated Maya. "Then it must be nice to be in each other's company again." "Yes it is." returned Tasha, sounding friendly as she did so. "Are you from Earth like your friend, Lt. Sterling?" asked Arsis.       "She's from Venus."       The answer came from the young women to the left of Maya. She seemed the sort that preferred to remain unnoticed. The fact she started to shift her position behind the man next to her confirmed this.       "Yes. That's right. Do I know you?" asked Tasha.       "No ma'am. My family works for your company though."       Tasha's eyes narrowed slightly as she flatly answered, "It's not my company."       The man next to her took this opportunity to introduce himself. "Hey how are you? I'm Doug Logan, the X.O. of this outfit." He extended his hand, which Tasha shook. His grip was firm, the expression on his face friendly. "So you bunked with Maya at the academy, huh?"       "Yes sir." replied Tasha.       "Well if your half as good as she is we're in good hands."       "I'll do my best, Sir." She stared at the woman standing in back of him. "And this is?"       Logan arched a thumb over his shoulder, "That's Trooper Nicole Sharp. She's pretty quiet most of the time, but nice enough all around." Sharp stepped around the group while Logan was talking. When he finished his last sentence she made good on her escape out of the hanger. "She's on restricted duty. If she's not fixing her frame or reporting for drills she's got to be in her quarters." explained Logan.       "Are all of the troopers in this squad so sociable?" asked Tasha.       "They're just going through a rough patch. Give'em a little time." answered Logan.       Arsis brought his hand up in salute "If you will excuse me, I must return to my duties. It was nice to meet you, Lieutenant." Logan returned the salute. "Carry on then." Arsis turned and headed back up the scaffolding from which he originally descended. Tasha watched him go.       "He sure is a big fella, huh? Got to be the strongest guy in this squad." stated Logan. Tasha thought about contesting the remark, then nixed the idea. "I'm sure he is. If you'll excuse us, Lt. Logan, Maya still has a few more things to show me."       "Oh right." Logan gave a quick two fingered wave and headed off toward his e-frame. Maya stepped forward, "Well that's the squad. What do you think?" Tasha glanced around the hanger for a moment then answered.       "Well, its probably better than Venus." On to Chapter 6 ->