“Congratulations, Ladies and Gentlemen. You have successfully completed phase one of Qualification.” Commodore Leven once again stood before the assembled candidates, his Stetson firmly in place.

In the two weeks since Qualification began, half the candidates were already gone. Kaia looked around at the drawn and bruised faces, wondering what the next phase would hold. Gone were the boasts and chest thumping from earlier. She should have felt thrilled to have made it this far. Given the focus on ground combat, she hadn’t expected lasting a few days, let alone two weeks. However, the underlying issue remained: she didn’t want to be a ground pounder; she wanted to soar amidst the stars. Each day proved to be a battle to stay motivated. Ultimately, the fear of returning to the Sewin Hawk and the faint hope that Admiral Morven might have told the truth that kept her going.

“I’m surprised you are still here, herator!” Khaazsa hissed from behind her and jabbed his boot into her lower back. “Shouldn’t you have quit already? That’s all you’re good at!”

Kaia winced in pain, but other than that, refused to engage. His incessant insults and physical abuse were draining. She could have reported him, but the officers would just take Khaazsa’s side. He was not the first asshole she had to deal with, and she knew he would not be the last.

“As you can see, our numbers have shrunk and I fully expect that trend to continue,” the Commodore said, and Kaia gritted her teeth as Khaazsa kicked her again.

“Until now, we have left the selection process in your hands, letting those who don’t aspire to be here to leave. Going forward, you will compete against a time standard. Those who meet the time will continue. Those who don’t will be asked to leave and given a letter for your units stating that you are exemplary soldiers. With that said, enjoy lunch and then see the holoboard for your next instructions.”

Time standard?! Hadn’t they already been timing her? Or had that all been for show? A fresh wave of frustration surfaced at the stupid mind games. She considered asking, but knowing the cadre’s style, they would probably derive a perverse satisfaction from withholding answers.

Then her eyes drifted behind Commodore Leven and toward the feast, and her mood improved. The parade square had been transformed into a giant grill house that fed the entire base. A dozen open-top barbecues sat at the centre of the square, belching flavoured smoke as they grilled a wide assortment of meat and vegetables. Next to the grills were a pair of tables loaded with buns, salads, and a fruit platter that Kaia would have died for on her last assignment. The gentle noon breeze wafted over the sweet scent of barbeque sauce and sausage, chasing away Kaia’s worries.

“Shall we go eat? That smells amazing!” Rilleta asked from beside Kaia.

“Inferni yeah!” Kaia swiftly rose to her feet, using the opportunity to put space between herself and Khaazsa.

“Say what you will against the Division, but they sure know how to cook!” Giana followed Kaia toward the feast.

They piled food onto their plates and followed the directions of a scowling Jiuda cadre who directed them to the roped-off seating area. Kaia snickered to herself as she realized the sectioned area was for candidates only. Of course the Commodore would not want them mixing with the base personnel. Someone might let secrets slip about their damn mind games. Kaia gave herself a mental slap for the snide thought. What in inferni is wrong with her? She was not normally this bitter. Was the stress from two weeks straight of trials finally getting to her? If only she knew how much longer they had to go.

The three of them sat down just as Syriaca was finishing a story to rancorous laughter.

Rapher wiped tears from his eyes. “That’s horrible!”

“Hey, did you guys hear about Cahent?” Rilleta asked.

Around the table, everyone gave her a blank stare. Cahent was a large, muscular man with an ego to match. He was also good friends with Khaazsa. Looking around, Kaia realized she hadn’t seen him today.

“No, what happened?” she asked, unable to keep the virulence from her voice.

Rilleta shook her head in disbelief. “Medically discharged after the 15K march.”

Kaia winced. Yesterday’s march had been rough. The cadre had increased the mandatory rucksack weight. On top of that, the morning’s downpour had turned the trail into a treacherous swamp. Kaia had lost one of her boots early on, then had fallen over while trying to recover it. She ended up having to walk the rest of the march caked in mud.

“Yeah,” Rilleta went on. “He ran past me near the end of the course. As I rounded the last corner, there he was, on all fours, crawling towards the cadre camp. When the medics took off his boots, his blisters were so bad that most of his skin went with the boot.”

“Emperor’s Throne!” Giana gasped, covering her mouth.

“That sounds horrible,” Syriaca said, then looked at his drumstick as if considering putting it down, before he finally took a reluctant bite.

“Serves him right,” Kaia said. There had been no love lost between them. She had served with him on the Basilisk. He had been a prick back then and serving on a small corvette made him impossible to avoid. She had been dismayed to find him at Qualification. He and Khaazsa had fallen in together and both of them had delighted in tormenting her. “That’s one less prick I have to deal with.”

Everyone at the table looked at Kaia with understanding. They knew what Khaazsa and Cahent had been putting her through. Yet no one voiced their agreement, except for Rilleta.

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“True, he was a pig.” Rilleta nodded.

The conversation subsided as everyone dug into their meals. Kaia bit into her sausage, letting the juices trickle down her chin before wiping them off. The meat was delicious with just the right mixture of herbs. She next turned her attention to the spiced bread, a Red Hearth specialty. It crumbled as she broke off a piece, allowing her to munch on the hard crust.

“Anyway, in other non-Qualification news,” Rapher said, clearly trying to change the subject. “I heard from a friend that’s serving with the 302nd. Apparently, they sacked Admiral Yujud.”

“Already?!” Rilleta’s eyes widened.

Admiral Yujud had been the newly appointed commanding officer in charge of Tol’shi Station. In other words, it meant they were in charge of all the Shikar Imperial Navy ships assigned to the Opherian Expanse. Kaia remembered reading about his assignment and his plan to finally eliminate the piracy problem.

“Guess he didn’t last long,” Kaia said. “That place is a shit show.”

“Agreed,” Rapher shook his head. “I bet you a year’s pay they end up sending someone from the Division to deal with the pirates.”

Rilleta laughed. “If they haven’t already.”

“True that!” Rapher said. “Hey, do you think that’s what they are training us for?”

Syriaca chided Rapher with a fork. “They aren’t training us, but culling us.”

Giana spat out her drink in laughter.

“That’s one name for it,” Rilleta agreed, while passing Giana a stack of napkins.

Kaia swallowed a forkful of salad. “Do we know who’s taking his place?”

“Admiral Santus,” Rapher said. “I served with her. She’s hard but fair. If anyone can solve the problems of the Opherian Expanse, it’s her.”

Kaia’s memory drifted to her tour through that lawless quadrant of space. The trading ports had all been crowded to the point of claustrophobia. Crime ran rampant and all the security officers were on the take. It hadn’t filled her with confidence and she still didn’t understand why the Imperium wanted it so badly. But, if anyone could tackle the pirates in the Expanse, all the power to them.

As they ate and traded stories about their time in the Navy, Kaia found her eyes wandering around the parade square. Flames shot up from a grill, forcing the cook to take a step back. A group of five cadres stood in a circle as one of them acted out some past mission, his beer acting as the grip of a rifle. The base’s quartermaster conducted a cycle count of the remaining food. It all seemed perfectly normal; a fun lunch. Just then, the doors to the administrative building opened and a large party exited. Commodore Leven walked at the head of a group of Human officers from the SIN and Zahex officers from the Tilroth Defence Force.

“What are they doing here?” Kaia asked with contempt.

The rest of the table turned to look.

“You mean the Zahex?” Rilleta asked.

Kaia’s skin crawled, and a sense of agitation swelled within her. Next to the Commodore was a well-built Zahex who, while tall for his race, still only reached the Commodore’s chin. A deep blue hue emanated from his pale skin, a clear reflection of his self-assured nature. His sharp, violet eyes scanned the surroundings as the Commodore pointed things out, ensuring he didn’t miss a single detail. As he strode with his arms on the small of his back, his chiselled, almost elfin face remained expressionless.

“We are allies,” Rapher said while waving around a kabob skewer like a wand. “Maybe they are on a tour?”

“But that doesn’t mean we show them our secret facilities,” Kaia snapped.

Rilleta took a long drink from her fruit juice, then used a napkin to wipe away her yellow moustache. “I’ve heard rumours that the Navy is trying to forge tighter relations with the TDF.”

“I know they have more advanced technology.” Kaia looked over at her friend with skepticism. “But kowtowing to them?”

Around the table, several of the other candidates averted their gaze in discomfort. Kaia mentally kicked herself; she had overstepped once more. Then again, they didn’t understand the Zahex like she did.

“I wouldn’t go that far. I’m sure both sides have something to teach the other,” Rilleta said diplomatically. “Like the Tilroth Shroud system.”

“If we get that, it would be a steal!” Giana exclaimed.

Kaia pondered her friend’s comments. It was possible. The SIN was still racing to understand most of the stuff the Human Ancestral Empire left behind. The Zahex, on the other hand, seemed to have most of it figured out already. And the Shroud was the ultimate example: a cloaking field that worked against the entire electromagnetic spectrum. But Kaia would eat her socks if the Zahex parted with that little gem.

She cocked her head and inspected the approaching party. They all wore utilitarian jumpsuits of differing colours. What she hadn’t noticed before were the ceremonial necklaces. The lead Zahex sported a green cloth choker, dictating a starship command rank with the crosshatched pattern of a captain. The rest of the group, all had identical blue chokers with a pattern Kaia did not recognize, trailed behind the lead Zahex, letting him do the talking. Kaia watched in fascination as they moved through the tables, exchanging brief conversations with the other candidates.

“Each of the candidates has served in the SIN for many years, primarily shipboard duty, but we have ensured that all of them have had some experience in boarding actions,” Commodore Leven said as they reached Kaia’s table.

The lead Zahex observed them all with a passive interest one might show to a steed at market. Kaia recoiled as his eyes met hers. Her hand clenched into a fist under the table, but it was the piercing stare of the Zahex with the blue chokers that sent shivers down her spine, as if frigid fingers were digging into her mind. Their eyes were hard yet unfocused, almost like they weren’t actually looking at her. One of the Zahex officers twitched and whisper something to the SIN aid, who made a note on his carpi.

“How do you find the trials so far?” the Zahex Captain asked Kaia’s table.

Syriaca puffed up his chest and grinned. “Easy-peasy. I could do them in my sleep!”

Kaia suppressed a sigh. Leave it to Syriaca to be the first to boast.

The Captain looked to Kaia. “You are from Saint’s Harbour, correct?”

Kaia, surprised at being singled out, stuttered, “Y-Yes, Sir.”

“Do you have a functional understanding of Zax?” To emphasize the point, the Captain switched to his native language.

As part of Qualification, all implants had been deactivated, which included any translator implants. It took her a second to switch mental tracks.

“I am fully fluent,” she replied in perfect Zax.

The Zahex nodded, then proceeded onward to the cadre tables.

Kaia’s eyes followed them, feeling uneasy at the whole encounter. Then a realization hit her like a polar dip. Those trailing Zahex were psionics. Likely from the famed Keepers. A sudden sense of being violated exploded like lava from the cauldron of a volcano.

The nerves of Commodore Leven and this damned Division! It was illegal to use psionics like that without requesting permission. Were they checking for loyalty? Or subversive thoughts? Kaia wanted to march over there and give the Zahex a piece of her mind when a sudden wave of calmness settled over her. What would be the point? It would just get her kicked out.

The crunch of chips brought her attention back to the table.

“That was strange,” Giana said.

Kaia, still feeling disoriented from the sudden mood swing, simply nodded in response.