It turned into a beautiful day for the beach. The sun was bright, the clouds were few, and the water was sparkling. Delta and Zipper had stripped down to their undermost clothes, like most everyone else. They walked slowly up and down the waterline, mostly anonymous now, without their tabards on.

Johnston capered nearby, not entirely trusting the water, worried about Gwen, who was out deeper. One of the orcs had asked, shyly, if she would ride his back in some two-on-a-side splashing game they were playing. She had strong arms, and the goggles kept out the worst of the water. She seemed to be having the time of her life.

Everyone was there. Officers, troopers, and they even managed to pull the clerks away from their tablets. Some small few had guard duty in the town they had just conquered. But they rotated in and out quickly to give everyone a chance to wind down.

Some did this by energetically splashing around. Others just floated in the water. Some built sandcastles, some stared out over the water, and some just slept in the sun.

Even The General was there. Walking casually up and down, seeming to know just about everyone. He stopped and personally thanked Delta and Zipper by name, commiserated their loss, praised Delta’s quick and responsive actions, noting her compassion for her troops and the citizens of the town. With a wink he told her that if they made the decision to sign up, she would receive a commission. And then he moved on.

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“What do we do now?” asked Zipper, not for the first time.

“I don’t know”, said Delta. She looked up and down the beach at all the people. She knew quite a few, had now fought alongside of many, and had the respect of their leader. She looked to the city. It was conquered but wasn’t the burning ruin she had feared. The whole operation had concluded with almost no casualties. It was just bad luck that one of them happened to be her commander. “I like them. I like how they conduct war”, she said.

“So, you’ll take the commission?” said Zipper.

“I don’t know”, repeated Delta, with no impatience. “I like us too.” She looked over at Gwen, who, rarely for her, was laughing at some successful surprise tactic she had just used. “You can all make your own decisions”, said Delta. “I’m not going to hold this over anyone.”

“Oh, I’m sticking with you”, said Zipper. “If you enlist as an officer, I’ll get them to pull strings and make me your sergeant. I’m good at yelling at people. If you don’t, I’ll be right next to you to fill in the gaps you open.”

Delta smiled down at her and tousled her hair. “There’s no guarantee they’ll keep us together in an army like this. I have the feeling they plan to grow a lot. They’ll need it to conquer the world.” She looked up at the city. “And, somehow, I now think they might have even chances of that.” They had reached the end of the bay, where the beach narrowed to nothing as the next low headland raised up. They turned and looked back.

“I’m not sure I’m ready yet to take a demotion from Captain to Lieutenant.”