He was just getting his army properly balanced. Acquiring the twins had been difficult, but well worth the trading effort, and their last simbattle had gone in their favor. The fight with Python next week would put them well up in the charts, and that pleased him.

But the administration had seen fit to transfer out one of his vets and give him another, and that did not.

Her file was brief. She seemed to be a stickler for the rules, but Arcen had heard of Geneva Brooke from Sasha Illiet in Panther. This was going to be a challenge. At least she was a good soldier, and as long as she did her job when it came to Quad rankings, he didn't really care what she did in her spare time.

The door slid open, and he blinked and tried not to stare.

She was almost as tall as he was, tight red ringlets of bright red hair caught up in a mass near the crown of her head. She had the fair skin that generally accompanied redheads, but no freckles, and as she regarded him appraisingly he regained his composure and gave her a small, professional smile.

"Good day, sir," she said a bit formally.

"When do I report for the fight?" She asked in him the same formal tone. Her eyes were relaxed and she had a glint in them that was often mistaken for irreverance.

“Some would say I keep my mind too much on my work” She says in a self-depricating tone. “ I have been known to be a bit ‘ate-up’” She says referring to the slang that means military born and bread. Those who are known as ”ate-up” tend to take the military as the alpha and the omega in their lives. “ I have been told a little relaxation would do me a world of good.”

She tried to push this out of her mind and went over to her locker and grabbed her gear. There was some kind of comfort she always took in getting ready for parade. She could not help but have a sense of pride for her uniform and her place in this school. Her mother had tried to talk her out of joining.

“You have such potential, Geneva! You could live a life of great privilege. Why would you throw that away to become a battle rat?”

Her mother never understood anything about Geneva. She was way too busy with her political career to take any notice in her daughter. When Geneva had left to come to battle school, she had to forge her mother’s consent. When her mother found out about it, she could not bring herself to publicly admit that her daughter would be so devious. She allowed the deception to go on. Geneva’s mother had let it be known that if she left for the school, it would not be very warm for her when she returned home. Her mother considered her failure at this to be a foregone conclusion and Geneva had proven her to be wrong at every turn. Geneva excelled at being a soldier, she was born for it. She thrived on the structure and camaraderie that went along with it. She would be damned if she would let anyone take this from her. It was the one thing she could do well.

Her thought went back to the moment she found out that she was being transferred,
“Maybe you will not find the next group as titillating” were the words that were used. She had made a mess of things before. She again cursed herself for letting her heart get in the way of what she knew to be best.

This could have been a new start, but this was not the way she had played it out in her mind.

Every single useless bit shined and gleamed like it was brand new. Her uniform was pressed, her room in order, her bunk insanely well-made. How had she accomplished this so quickly? She must keep it clean and ready at all times. With the fourth-year curriculum load they often placed on the older students, that was no small accomplishment.

Whatever her personal quirks or flaws, Geneva Brooke had her shit together.

“I have no excuse, Sir” she explained “ It will not occur again.”

She longed to tell him how hard it was for her right now. She had been transferred from VIPER Quad without much time to mentally prepare. She found herself in the middle of a huge shit-storm over there and she was pretty sure that Arcen knew all about it. She found it difficult to hold her own knowing that she was promoted up to shut her up. She missed her friends in Viper. They seemed to be the same kind of people as she. She pushed these thoughts from her mind and took in a deep breath.

He had been told very little on her transfer form beyond her former Quad and rank. The administration usually gave him something, but all he had was her school records and a single instance of discipline and demerit for getting caught with another soldier in a compromising situation. Those demerits weren't that uncommon, and it was some time ago. Most of the older students had those annoying details planned around by the time they got to be vets.

He was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the discrepancy in their ages. She was older than him by six months at least, and it felt strange to be giving her orders. Was that the source of his unease? Possibly. The fact remained that he was the commander, and he had to act the part, whether he felt like one or not at the moment.

Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. But commanders were strictly off limits based on her previous experience. Her mind clouded for a moment and she shook her head to clear it. She then heard these words come out of her mouth before they went through the internal sensors could edit them.