Jerry comes to a sharp halt in front of Admiral Cistern's desk and offers a crisp salute.

"Captain Bridger, reporting as ordered, sir."

Cistern returns the salute before gesturing Jerry to one of the seats in front of his desk.

"At ease Captain, and please, take a seat."

It was just Jerry and the Admiral today. Not even Sir Philip was present, though he did make his presence known by having a hot cup of coffee waiting for Jerry in front of his seat, just the way he liked it.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"I did Jerry. I got the latest update on the Crimson Tear's refit and the start of her final fitting out. I want to discuss some changes I'd like to make to your embarked troops, discuss the Horchka, and then brief you on some initial stops I need you to make.”

"As soon as we're space flight ready we're on it sir."

Cistern nods.

"I know you are. Which is why I'm going to give you the extra personnel required to make the embarked unit aboard the Crimson Tear a full battalion, and I'll be commissioning that unit as Marine Battalion Crimson Tear. Getting the Horchka on board was well played on your part... even if your... ah. Recruiting methods for their commanding officer was... unique. Though based on my interviews with the woman I have full confidence in her as a senior officer. She'll be a capable leader for your troops."

Jerry chuckles.

"I can't help but agree sir, I think Ghorza's a very talented woman. As for the unique... call it team building method Ghorza asked for. Well. Way of the galaxy unfortunately, sir. I admit. I can't say I was extremely surprised when a warrior woman from a warrior culture decided to take her shot on a warrior man when presented to her. There was also an aspect I believe, of tribal dominance at play. Proving your worth as a commander, that sort of thing."

"So no further problems with Mrs. Ghorza Bridger now that you've 'asserted' yourself?"

"She might be a saber tooth tiger to a lot of people but she's a pussy cat in the house. Bit rough around the edges, but she's treating Syl and my civilian spouses properly. It's nice to have a relationship with a mature, intelligent, gorgeous woman."

Cistern gives him a wan smile.

"Which one?"

"All of them, and for that I am deeply blessed."

"Your marital bliss aside, you're sending the Horchka into boot camp soon, correct?"

"Yes sir, and as you know getting as many Marines off the Dauntless as possible to help was part of my personnel requests."

"I noticed, and have mostly approved those requests. I'm sure now Gunnery Sergeant Ramos and the others will all be rather relieved to get back into our new Marine Corps uniforms where they belong."

"Damn right, sir. Just a bit sad I can't join them, but I'm getting used to Navy white. Gunnery Sergeant though? I was trying to get Isabella Ramos her equivalent rank of Staff Sergeant."

"I approved a pile of promotions to fill out your chain of command, however now that we're moving things up to battalion size, and... the other changes I'm making. There will need to be more promotions on top of that to fill out the full and proper rank structure for a battalion. I'll leave it to you to work out who you want where, but based on the current ranks of your enlisted Marines, I think the promotions follow logically. To that end, we'll brevet Major Ghorza Bridger as a Lieutenant Colonel on her completion of boot camp. She's got the experience. Hell she's got enough experience to be a full bird colonel or general and then some! Over sixty years of combat experience and leadership! So she'll serve as battalion commander... and she'll work out with the other Lieutenant Colonel who's actually in charge of the Marine Aerospace Ground Task Force over all."

Jerry nods slowly, running through his options.

"Does that mean I'm getting Sir David as I requested?"

"Yes. Loathe as I am to give the man up, Commander Sir David Forsythe will be back to Lieutenant Colonel Forsythe in the immediate future. I'm leaving the selection of his unit to him with more or less free rein besides a few individuals seconded to Sir Philip's intelligence people. You'll have a full Joint Special Operations Company. You'll also be getting First Sergeant Gurung... who I believe I have convinced to accept a promotion to Sergeant Major."

Jerry resists smiling, the Admiral and the Gurkha arguing, no matter how politely about the tough old warrior finally taking that last promotion must have been a verbal battle for the ages. Getting Gaje Gurung to take the promotion to First Sergeant had been hard enough as it was. The man was adamant about not taking a role that would keep him out of the field. He was a warrior, and he would fight till his time was done and he was withered and old.

Then, and only when, would he consider a desk job. Thankfully, out of Cruel Space, you were only as old as you wanted to be, which meant more senior personnel could certainly stay in the field longer if they wanted to, and there was no stopping now Sergeant Major Gurung.

"Sounds excellent sir, more than I could have hoped for."

"Quite, we got a hold of some quality alien talent that Sir David's putting through the mill for their commando daggers right now, so it reinforced our ranks nicely, meaning I do have bodies to spare. I know you’re going to do your best to not rush things for the Horchka’s training, but time is of the essence.”

"Not to worry sir, I believe we have the time. The Horchka are already talented soldiers who've seen the elephant. Which means we just need to make Marines out of them. As for command of the MAGTF, I'll assume Ghorza will be running the show. You and I both know Sir David's got no patience for a battalion's worth of paperwork and little interest in conventional operations. He'll be a commando till he dies or retires and even then he'd not return to being a line animal."

"Quite. So that's the ground forces more or less sewn up. Which brings me to changes to your Aerospace Combat Element. We were going to have your gunship pilots pulling double duty on their flying in other small craft, and while that will probably still happen I'm giving you a second squadron. I don't have a designation yet, but the squadron will be solely focused on special forces insertion and related operations. Like the 160th SOAR or the various special boat units back on Earth. They'll also have the Combat Search and Rescue flight you requested attached to them. All up, it should be a respectable ACE."

"Sounds excellent. Did we get the remaining two Huscarls I was asking for?"

"You did as a matter of fact. Do you have any requests for pilots for the new squadron?"

Jerry considers for a second. "I want Collen "Rowdy" Rowley as the squadron's commander. She's one of the hottest hands on the stick on and off Earth and we'll need talent like that to keep up with Sir David and his boys. I'll leave the rest of her squadron’s roster to her."

"...Normally I'd be loath to let such a talented and experienced pilot go, but frankly she's almost as much trouble on planet as you are sometimes. Thankfully sans the regular gun fights in the city."

"My wives have been remarkably good at keeping me out of trouble recently, sir."

Cistern arches an eyebrow.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"In that case maybe I should try and get my more troublesome soldiers and sailors married off to Cannidor more frequently, as it seems Warrant Officer Bridger has quite the deterrent effect on anyone who might want to cause trouble."

"Screwing with Cannidor's generally considered a bad idea to be sure sir. Back to the point though I do have some further personnel requests after going through the last batch of dossiers."

Cistern nods and holds a hand out for the files, which Jerry dutifully hands over.

"Right on the top's a husband and wife duo actually, Mohammed and Melari Ahmad, one of our first pirate turn coats. Mohammed will be a boon to the Marine battalion, the man's an inveterate brawler, and Melari's a sailor of good experience, if questionable background. She might be a good pick for Commander Rowley for the special operations squadron as a former smuggler as well."

Cistern flips through the dossiers for a moment before setting them aside.

"What's this note about personal property for Melari?"

"I remembered Melari Ahmad had a custom laser rifle and a plasma pistol when she was captured, I'm sure they're still in an evidence locker, I'd like them returned to her if possible."

"I'll see what I can do. Already looking out for their people when they aren't even your people yet, eh?"

"You know as well as I do that little touches like that are what make a soldier or sailor truly feel valued and appreciated. It costs us nothing, but will mean the world to Melari."

"More than the affections of Sergeant Ahmad?"

"Probably not, but she'll appreciate it anyway."

Cistern nods, then pulls a folder of his own out and passes it over.

"On a final recruiting note, I have a possible pilot for your gunship squadron, the Valkyries, in fact I think she'd make a good XO for Commander Sarkin."

Jerry flips the folder open to find a photo of an redhaired Apuk woman with dusky skin, in a dark colored military uniform paper clipped to the left side. On the right was a detailed profile of one Masha'Nelindra, marking her out as an experienced star fighter pilot and officer with seven kills to her name.

"What's she doing out of her parent military? And why not keep her for some other unit?"

"Apparently she ran afoul of a mix of family politics and being a bit too 'wild' for the Apuk military, which is apparently rather hide bound on a good day. As to why not keep her... her dossier was more or less specifically forwarded to us, for you, from one of the senior Apuk diplomats on Centris, Masha'Nelindra's older sister, Mari'Nelindra. Apparently Mari'Nelindra reviewed a lot of human combat footage in the wake of the Vernon Shay incident and was impressed in general, but also with you specifically. She considers you a worthy commander to entrust her kin to."

"...This isn't some strange attempt to arrange a marriage is it?"

"While I doubt that would be an unwanted outcome, our man who spoke with Mari'Nelindra did in fact ask that very question point blank. Madam Nelindra said her sole goal was to help her sister, who has suffered greatly for going against her family to become a fighter pilot in the first place. She's apparently been quite worried about her since she was drummed out of their military. A chance to be a fighter pilot again, would 'save' her sister as she put it."

Jerry nods slowly, taking that on board.

"I'll forward the dossier to Commander Sarkin with a recommendation to bring her aboard, and your suggestion that he consider her for his XO."

"Excellent. Mari'Nelindra also seemed to imply that Masha'Nelindra might just be bringing her own ship with her, and an extra combatant craft on the Crimson Tear's roster certainly wouldn't be a bad thing."

"You won't hear me complain sir, not if you're sending us deep into wild space like we've discussed."

Cistern rises from his chair, stepping over to bring up a map of the galactic disk.

"That's exactly where I'm sending you as it happens Jerry. I have your orders. You're expected and indeed encouraged to visit worlds en route to your destinations, chart anomalies, investigate, discover, and look for any opportunity that's ripe for the Undaunted, but I do have some stops I need you to make. Vucsa 5 is currently scheduled as your first port of call. After that, I need you to head for the world of Lakran."

"Lakran, sir?"

Cistern nods, and manipulates the map, zooming into what was presumably the world of Lakran, which appeared to be deep in wild space.

"We recently had an incident where a memory retention head band was stolen after a healing coma before the data within could be disposed of. The memories of one Horace Blue were then imprinted onto an alien body, and dumped on the lost colony world of Lakran. Now calling himself Jasper, this cloned mind of Sergeant Blue has reestablished contact and is requesting we rescue the colony. They're experiencing extreme genetic degradation for one, and have regressed to near literal barbarism. Early Human middle ages technology wise at best."

"Damn, sounds like they need all the help they can get."

"We're sending a fast relief force immediately. The Crimson Tear will bring the second wave, and large volumes of supplies to support the colony. They're our people now and we will see them cared for and defended."

Jerry manages to keep his face blank instead of reacting to the sheer scale of the Lakran situation. It was... concerning to say the least.

"We'll get them there sir, you have my word on that."

"I know I do Jerry. Next on your itinerary, I want you to carry an embassy to the Yauya, on their home world of Awauynis. It was either send you to the Yauya or the Dzedin, and I decided that since you have an expert on Yauya culture in your family, it would be most efficient to send you there."

Cistern takes his seat again, briefly preparing a cigar before setting it aside.

"We've recently confirmed that the Dzedin and the Yauya are due primary credit for our 'rescue' as a species. The Yauya and Dzedin were core to a psychic probe of Cruel Space. That probe found us... and also gave us our unfortunate twisted visions of the Yauya and Dzedin people. So we need to properly extend our thanks, and recognize their friendship, even if they're both culturally obligated to not take credit for a rescue. I'll be clear, I want them as allies. Not just friends. We could do far worse than the culture of responsibility that is the core of Dzedin society, and the honor bound huntress culture of the Yauya alongside humanity."

"I'll talk about it in detail with Eymali, sir. We'll make sure that we get everything squared away."

"See that you do, I'm leaving it in your hands. You're special forces and the commander of a deep space vessel, if I can't trust your judgment, I can't trust anyone. The experience with the Yauya will be an important test however... After Awauynis, I'll be sending you to Serbow as an envoy to the Apuk. You'll also deliver the Undaunted embassy to that world. I will have my aide forward you the contact information for Mari'Nelindra, she's offered her assistance in ensuring we make a smooth formal first contact."

"I figured Vernon Shay marrying that princess of his and becoming a cultural phenomenon was our formal first contact sir."

Cistern gives Jerry a minor glare.

"You know as well as I do that some of the nerd squad living in a village in a forest is not formal diplomatic contact between allies. Impressive as it might be that we’ve been invited to live on another species’ cradle world in any capacity. This has to go off perfectly Jerry. The Apuk Empire is a very valuable friend in the galaxy for us, and they're our first new friend at that. I want them to celebrate our friendship, for more than just adding some sorcerers to their world to make getting a boyfriend easier."

The Admiral breaks off, muttering under his breath for a moment before striking a match and lightning his cigar, taking a long drag.

"Cretinous, shallow behavior from certain parties aside, the Apuk government seems properly keen on us as economic and military allies. Do everything you can to highlight just how good a friend we can be, both as a species, and as a stellar power."

"Yes sir. Anything else?"

"Yes, long term I will need you to make port call at the world of Bruel. It'll be host to the first human colony soon enough. I have some contractors preparing the continent for habitation now... but that'll likely be awhile yet. I'll want the Tear on station for a month or two when the time comes, both for morale, those cute little critters of yours, laying in large amounts of supplies, and delivering livestock. We'll pay your standard market rates plus a premium for monopolizing you for a time."

"Have the colonial authority send the contracts over, we've been waiting for them."

Jerry hesitates for a second, hanging up a bit on one of the first off world human colonies.

"Sir... Do you think it'll happen soon? Getting more people, civilians out of cruel space?"

"I can only say we're doing everything we can. As of right now, the best thing we can do is prepare a place for them. So they have a new place to call home. You don't need to worry about those efforts though. You do your bit, and I'll ensure everyone else is doing theirs.”

"Aye aye, sir. Is there anything else Admiral?"

"No Jerry, that will be all. Keep me informed on the status of your ship's refit."

"Yes sir. Not too much longer. I'm honestly itching to get off the ground."

Cistern nods, taking a puff on his cigar before giving Jerry a knowing, almost fatherly smile.

"Quite the adventure isn't it?"

"Quite the adventure indeed, and I want to see what's out there."

"Then I won’t keep you from getting back to work. Dismissed, Captain, and luck go with you."