Empire expands. Even beset by enemies, both without and within. The Antarran Republic, The Seccessor States and Goblin Federation all beat at its borders. Within the nobles scheme for the throne and there is always a rebellion going on somewhere. Yet still it expands and there is no individual, no army, no nation that can stop it.

-Professor Carsus of the Imperial Naval Academy over Melius IV

The flight was short, barely more than a half hour, but it felt long due to being strapped in an enclosed space and no viewports with which to witness our travel made it seem far longer. Emily and I at least had no shortage of topics to discuss, having spent many hours chatting at the academy together. Many of the others were less lucky, separated from the friends they had made who had been assigned to different ships.

We passed the time discussing our possible assignments upon arrival. Emily was a [Communications Specialist] in class, meaning she specialized in maintaining and receiving comms between vessels. Other duties of a communications officer could include manning the scanners or conducting electronic warfare.

Her exact role in the future would depend on the Skills and class advancements she received. As a new graduate from the academy, Emily would probably be assigned to a smaller corvette or cutter to gain some experience and levels.

On the other hand, I am a [Tactical Officer], a type of officer specializing in strategy and leadership. Officers were jacks of all trades, being placed in command of various teams to manage and buff them with Skills. It could be anywhere from being in control of comms officers, managing a weapons battery. As a more specialized [Tactical Officer] it was more likely I would be placed on a bridge crew as a junior tactician.

There was a small complication with my situation however. I had ranked top of the year, no one else in our class could stand toe to toe with me in strategy. We thought this might open some more doors if I showed enough promise. Maybe even a prestigious position to learn under the Commodore themselves.

Whatever the case for either of us, there was not a much longer wait to find out. Soon enough there was an announcement that we were docking on the IMS Avalanche and Officer Nocht re-emerged from the pilots cabin.

“Alright! Cadets we’ll be docked in a couple moments so listen up!” She shouted over the conversations, shutting most up instantly. “You lot are going to follow me to the quartermaster to get you geared up; they’ll give you your assignments too. So after that you’ll no longer be my problem. And I sincerely hope none of you get placed in my command, because I do not want you stumbling over my boots!”

A few people laughed at her joke as she retook her position from the launch.

The landing was much smoother than the takeoff, a gradual deceleration I barely noticed. I could tell when the Lamentas entered the IMS Avalanche when I slammed down into my seat as gravity reappeared.

“Oww,” I moaned, rubbing at my backside.

“Aww, did baby get a booboo?” Emily said, completely unconcerned for my wellbeing.

“Not my fault I'm small! These restraints were built for a dude. I don’t fill it out enough.”

“I’m pretty sure you're that small because you were too busy staring at ship schematics to eat.”

I huffed, knowing an argument was a lost cause. Besides it was sort of true, but only a little bit.

There was a loud *THUMP* as the shuttle settled down and the rumble of the engines shut off. Officer Nocht strode down the aisle and smacked a button to lower the ramp releasing a loud hiss as air rushed in from outside.

“Right! Everybody follow me!” She yelled, already striding down the ramp before it had even fully lowered.

I cursed, why did everyone need to be in such a hurry? I fumbled with the release on my restraint and nearly cracking heads with Acaba across from me as we both got up. He shot me another glare, probably just to try and make up for his losses earlier.

Whatever the case, neither of us had time to continue with his little feud and rushed to grab our bags and sling them over our shoulders. Then we were off, marching over the unfortunate loose baggage and out the shuttle.

I couldn’t help the excited grin forming on my face as I got my first good look at an active imperial warship. The flight deck of the IMS Avalanche was over twice as large as the transports ship’s we had left and I knew the massive cruiser had another two of them on top of this.

It was also busier, fighters and larger vessels filled the space; bright orange maintenance personnel clambered over the ships and drove lifts loaded with equipment and parts around. Coming and going a few of the vessels were flight crews and legionnaires in their black and red flight suits.

“Cadets forward! Stay between the yellow lines. I repeat! The yellow ones!” Nocht shouted over the noise. An examination of the floor of the hanger revealed an extensive network of coloured lines criss-crossing the ground, indicating where to walk depending on one’s destination.

We marched in two columns side by side out the down the ramp and across the hanger. I studied the ships as we passed by, longingly admiring the gleaming weaponry and sleek hulls decorated with cartoonish figures by their crews.

There was a brief pause to let a a bright yellow lift carrying a dozen large crates pass, the loud hum of its grav-thrusters making my teeth buzz uncomfortably.

A troop of legionnaires tramped by, the lights reflecting off their polished black armour, servos whirring as they moved. One noticed us and turned, raising a spear to the air with a cheer. It was only then I noticed the attention we were getting from the rest of the personnel we passed, many clapping or cheering for the new recruits.

Emily marching in front of me peeked back displaying a similar shade of red colouring her cheeks. I had heard the navy was more like a brotherhood and helped their own compared to the more competitive spirit of the academies, but it was still odd getting praised for simply arriving.

All too soon we exited the flight deck and entered the narrow halls leading deeper into the bowels of the Avalanche. I could have spent all day admiring the cutters and fighters, imagining what it would be like to fly on one. Maybe I would learn for myself soon.

Officer Nocht lead us through a series of hallways and down a slight of stairs, the only reason I was not hopelessly lost was because I’d memorized the schematics of the Avalanche back when we had first been told we were bound for the Eighth Fleet.

Twenty or so minutes later we arrived at the quartermasters hall, a large bare room, the only furniture being a metal counter behind which several naval personnel stood, obviously waiting for us. A dark skinned officer was lounging on a stool just beyond the door and he rose to his feet as Officer Nocht strode up. They conversed for a minute before Nocht turned back to us.

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“Right. Cadets I leave you in Quartermaster Nazari’s care! If we see each other tonight, don’t even think about coming up unless you got drinks in hand! I’m out.”

And with that Office Nocht strode away without so much as look back. The quartermaster and an assistant quickly took control of the cadets and starting sorting everyone into different lines to receive our gear. Emily looked back at me and smiled giddily.

“I’ll see you later, tell me all about the cool-ass ship they put you on.”

I laughed and promised to meet up in the mess hall later before we turned in for our sleep cycle.

The quartermaster and his assistant were very efficient and within a couple minutes it was my turn. It was not until I was standing before him that I noticed Nazari only had one eye, the other was pale globe staring sightlessly ahead. The navy gave out prosthesis’ to injured combatants, so for the life of me I could not understand why he had left it like that. Maybe for the intimidation factor, it was uncomfortable to look the man in the eye.

“Role?” He grunted.

“I’m a [Tactical Officer] Sir,” I replied swiftly, determined not to be intimidated.

“Officers,” he said, stressing the word. “Are in queues three and four.”

I headed to the shorter of the two queues, unsure if I had somehow angered the man or if he was just really intense. I grinned at Emily in the queue next over and settled in for the short wait. This one was a bit longer this time as each cadet had to wait for the assistant to gather their gear.

“Next!” The assistant called when the girl in front of me had tossed her new gear in her bag and set off. I walked up, having trouble keeping my eyes of his hair. It could not be natural, but why would anyone choose such a vibrant shade of pink? I swear it almost seemed to glow in the brightly lit room.

“What’s your name?” He said in a reedy voice.

“Um— Alyssa Fox.”

“Awesome! I’ll be back in just a moment.”

The man nodded and spun around to enter a door behind him. As it swung closed behind him I glimpsed a peek of a brightly lit room full of shelves full of containers and boxes.

A moment later the assistant returned carrying a large box with my name labeled on the side. He thumped it down on the counter and began pulling out items. I swung my bag onto the ground to transfer them over.

“Righty-o! Lets see what we got!” He said cheerfully. “One MK 6 Kyronus Officer’s Helm—”

The first item he pulled out was a sleek black helmet with a visor of red tinted glass. From what I had seen of other officers throughout the ship, it would be difficult to make out any feature behind the glass. The visor ended just above my chin where two tubes connected to an air filter and circled around to the sides of the helm. There was also a port on the front filter to connect to a oxygen tank in emergencies and combat situations.

“Officer helms come with enhanced display and comms capabilities, but it comes at the cost of protection, so don’t go and get shot in the face eh?” He laughed at his own joke.

“Always keep your helmet close, you never want to be caught in an emergency without it. Never know what’ll happen. I got mine right here.”

There was a *tink* as he tapped something beneath the counter and I nodded along. It was navy protocol to always have one’s helmet within arms reach, one mistake and an entire section of a ship could lose access to the air recycling and circulation systems.

“Next we got your utility belt, pretty standard stuff.”

He pulled out a long leather belt with various pouches and holsters and started pointing at each one.

“Emergency beacon’s here, flashlight, patches and this is where you holster your gun. Speakin’ of which— ”

Now he pulled out a pistol in a holster. This one made me a bit nervous, I was never the best shot— or even a halfway decent one. But this was the imperial navy, everyone needed to be armed in case of hostile breach, whether it be by pirates or monsters.

For a second the pink haired man paused, staring at my service pistol before letting out a low whistle.

“Ohh wow! Didn’t think they gave these out to anyone below captain! This is a brand new Cesar Rubio. Powered by a small core, it fires up to twenty-eight energy rounds. You won’t be punching through armour with her, but she still packs quite a punch!”

He quickly showed me where the safety was and a couple buttons that could adjust the power of each shot for more punching power at the cost of ammunition. I appreciated the quick lesson as I would have been clueless without it. Once we were done with that he pulled the next item from the box.

“One standard issue utility Arc-knife! Push this button on the side to deliver a nasty shock. Pretty useful against beasties— or so I’ve heard anyway!” He said with a laugh. I did not find it funny, since the navy would only give something like that out to everyone, is if they thought it would be useful to everyone. And I was even more useless with melee weapons than I was with guns and wands.

“Next we have three standard issue flight suits and an extra pair of boots!”

He pulled out a stack of folded flight suits. They like everything else were in the Empire’s colours of black with highlights of red along the sides and edges. A nanocarbon weave that was resistant to damage yet still pliable enough to be comfortable to wear. There was an extra layer of stiffer material providing protection over the vitals, but not nearly as good as dedicated armour like the legionnaires wore. But I was an officer and if I was in close quarters fighting we were in a lot of trouble.

Once I put it on the flight suit would cover me from neck down. If even a millimeter of skin was left exposed, that would be enough for the deadly void of space to get in and that would mean death.

The boots were simply black steel toed work boots, simply designed to protect my feet from anything being dropped on them. They were identical to the ones I was already wearing, but an extra pair wouldn’t hurt.

As I picked up the pile of flight suits to stuff them in my bag I noticed something off about them. Each suits right shoulder had the Eighth Fleet’s marker printed on it, a simple number 8 in black ink. However the left shoulder was where an officer’s patch was placed, to designate their rank. And mine was— curiously bare.

I tried to surreptitiously glance around and see if everyone’s was like that; it was possible the patches were handed out once we arrived at our assignments. But I could not get a good enough look to tell.

With a touch of anxiety I finished stuffing them in my bag along with the boots as the pink haired assistant pulled out the last part of my gear. A datapad designed to lock onto my arm with magnets. It would be my personal device while I was in the navy, with the ability to tap into the Avalanche’s servers, connect to other personnel and interface with my helmet.

“Last but certainly not least! Here we have your datapad, I’m sure you know what to do with it! But it’ll have your assignment on it— let me show you…”

He paused, confusion flashing across his face.

“Huh— that’s… odd. It seems to be missing. Let me get the Quartermaster.”

That flash of unease from earlier returned. Why would my assignment be missing among all of them? It obviously had something to do with my missing patches. But for the life of me I could not think of why. As far as I knew I had not broken any rules or anything like that.

A second later Quartermaster Nazari stalked over, his one eyed stare seeming to pierce right through me.

“Officer Fox?” he said in the same gruff no-nonsense voice as before.

“Yes Sir!”

He grunted and stared into space for a second. Which made me consider whether the eye was actually a prosthetic, one that allowed him to interface with the ship without a helmet or using his datapad. But again why stick with the plain white orb instead of matching his original or doing something cooler?

After a moment he grunted again and focused back on me.

“You’ve a meeting with the Commodore.”

My brain blanked for a second, why would the Commodore of an imperial fleet, the person in charge of literally thousands of people, want to speak with a newly graduated cadet?

“Erm— sor— what?”

“Better get a uniform on, you’re not a cadet anymore,” he said gesturing at something behind me.

I turned and saw a door I had missed before. I looked back and forth between the Quartermaster and the door, thoughts still not caught up. He saw my confusion and misinterpreted it.

“The bathroom— for you to change.” He explained succinctly. “Joric’ll take you’re old one for recycling and get your bag to your room. And hurry, you have ten minutes.”

With that he obviously considered the conversation over and walked away. I turned to the pink hair assistant who I now noticed had a name tag reading: J. Vesa. Joric looked at me with wide eyes, as surprised as I was.

Not knowing what else to do I turned and hurried towards the bathroom door. A look back as I opened it showed Emily giving me a frown from another line. I tried to plaster a reassuring smile to show her everything was fine. As usual, I was a total failure at convincing her of anything and her frown morphed into concern.

I quickly threw the new uniform on, shivering at the cold bite in the air as I stripped the old one off. There was no time to admire myself in the far more stylish colours before I raced out the door. Joric was waiting outside and I tossed my old cadets uniform and duffel bag over before turning to race out the quartermasters hall.

“Wait!”

I paused and turned back to find Joric proffering my helmet.

“Never forget your helmet. It’ll also show you where to go.”

I grabbed it with a grateful smile before rushing out the door. Best not keep the Commodore waiting.