Life was funny sometimes.

One day you're cruising through a galaxy hunting monsters. The next, you're getting stabbed to a tree and left to rot by some stary-eyed kid with a death wish. To think that was only a month ago. The scar remained, the seams of his skin a constant reminder of his almost demise. It was one of many, his favorite being the gash on his back from the time he tried to outrun a charging bullimian. She'd knocked him aside, her horns going right through his organs. Sure she healed him afterward, but he still almost died.

"Mercury?"

He fixed a smile, brushing back his hair as the admirals stood waiting for his report. Given the circumstances, a part of him wished she'd left him there to bleed out.

"Nothing good on my end," he said. "Lost another fleet trying to cross the barrier. Lotta good people. We're not getting through without some serious firepower."

"What about your grads?"

The question came from the woman sitting three chairs down the round metal table. The spiky redhead was far from the typical image of an admiral, her soft features and round face making her about as threatening as a chihuahua. He'd even said as much to her face several times. And that was before he'd gotten his promotion. Still, she was his superior officer, so he knew to offer her some level of respect.

"Mostly accounted for, Admiral," he said.

"Mostly?"

"Lost contact with a few regrouping in the Ardion cluster. Our little comet friend was there."

That got a reaction, some of the admirals and vice admirals murmuring amongst each other. Only a select few knew about the man who brought about the legionnaire war. And even less had seen his face and lived to tell the tale. Mercury counted himself lucky he wasn't among that number. If even the senior grads couldn't kill him, he doubted he would have stood a chance.

"He's moving faster," said Admiral Shio. "Spirits. We'll need every hand we can get. Without the grads, we don't stand a chance against the White Legion. We can't afford to lose more people."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"If it makes you feel any better, not all of 'em are dying. Some are leaving on their own."

"What?"

The other voice came from the admiral two seats in the other direction. No surprise there. He might not have looked like much, the thin man with sunken in eyes always a light tap away from shattering, but he was the most high-strung admiral among the group. Everything had to be by the book with him. Any anomaly, no matter how small, would be subject to drastic amounts of scrutiny.

"What do you mean they left?" he shouted.

"Calm down, Genn," Shio said. "Mercury. Explain."

"Uh. Yeah. Lost contact with a few who couldn't handle it. And one...well...Remember that kid that helped me down on Torpha?"

"General Tull's grad?"

"Yeah. Well, apparently, she's gone rogue. Even joined up with the pirates. And before you say anything, Admiral Genn, I'm already handling it."

The scrawny admiral sat back down, pushing up his glasses with a defiant huff. Shio, on the other hand, didn't look convinced. As unthreatening as she was, he knew she'd been around long enough to see through any lies he would try to come up with. Or half-truths, for that matter. But after being promoted enough to finally have a seat at the Admiralty Circle, Mercury had no intentions of concealing the facts. Whatever happened under his jurisdiction was his to rectify. And anything threatening his standing needed to be dealt with.

"I know what's at stake, my dear admirals," he said. "Even one little rogue is a problem. Hence why I sent someone to pick her up."

He pulled out his commpad, Shio looking from the projection to Mercury. Among the many murmurs, he heard a few chuckles here and there. Genn wasn't among them.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "A tiger."

"Hey, if you wanna catch a cat, you send a cat, right?"

Genn didn't laugh. Neither did Shio.

"This isn't a game, Mercury," she warned. "Even the weakest grad is still a monster. Never underestimate a Spirit Tool."

Mercury nodded. "I realize that. But that's why I'm sending this guy. He's good at catching monsters."

The commpad shut down, Mercury smiling at the rest of the Admiralty Circle. In truth, the rogue cat was the least of his concerns. As many grads as he could have sent, he knew very few would last if it came down to a fight with her liaisons. And if Saturn's report was right, they weren't abandoning her anytime soon. That made them a threat. And you only sent the best to handle threats.