The lounge is hosting more than just the third shift tonight; many of the Council's attendants are making use of the informal atmosphere as well, providing a mix of races… and aromas. Poor Cookie looks overwhelmed, as his kitchen is invaded by well-meaning amateur chefs. There is even a Naga chef!

There's also a scent of Vartan Ale in the air – and it's not left over from Tasha's own tasting party from the day before. It's fresh, and somewhat different.

Tasha lowers her arm from a stretch as she walks in, pausing when she sees just how many people are present. She scans the room briefly, muzzle lightly parted, then lets her arms fall to her side as her muzzle settles in to a resigned grin. So much for refuge; I guess it's time to mingle again, she decides. Even as she heads towards the kitchen her nose is pulling in scents; she hasn't smelled this many species since Rephidim.

"Ahoy, Cookie!" Tasha greets the Karnor head chef, "You're looking more popular than usual!"

"They've taken over!" the man whines. "The Naga is… is… making batter of some kind… on a bowl of ice. Ice! Who cooks with ice?" Each island of the kitchen area seems to have been commandeered by a different group. A human is making something involving fish, which had to have been flown in with the Council. At the next station, an Eeee woman watches over a steamer woven of some sort of grass, where things are clearly moving around inside. An ancient-looking Silent-One, not even wearing a mask, is cutting meat and vegetables next to a large pot. Another pot is steaming near the Naga, who also has some sort of slug of meat waiting to be used.

The young woman observes the various chefs for a long moment after folding her arms, then nods slowly and declares, "This is out of my league," with mock-seriousness. She then rolls her head to face Cookie again, grinning at him. "I can make some tavern fair, and that's it for me. I used to serve it too, in another life, on another world. And is it just me, or do I smell Vartan beer?"

"I don't have a serving wench uniform… that would fit you," Cookie. He sniffs the air. "Oh, yeah… the big Vartan brought some. I think the Naga is using it in his… her… its batter too… "

"She shared?" Tasha immediately begins scanning the room again, this time with significantly more focus. "This warrants looking in to. And don't get any serving ideas – this is the only uniform and service I do now!"

"It only fits Carl," Cookie notes, and points towards an area past the 'theater', where there's some sort of rumbling noise.

"I'll have to see that some time. In fact, I think that time is now." Tasha reaches over and pats Cookie's shoulder. "Time to mingle; don't let them push you around, now!" After squeezing the man's shoulder, Tasha turns and heads towards where the man pointed.

"That is not how you use the whisk!" Cookie yells at someone behind Tasha's back. It's not hard to find the source of the noise either; just beyond the makeshift movie theater is… a bowling alley. It's pretty simple – just two strips of heavily lacquered floor with some cobbled together gutters and nets for catching the balls. The pins are metal, and clearly made in one of the workshops. There are seats at the other end, and a LOT of open and empty bottles on a table. "Holes are wrong!" complains Rapatia, as she tries to find a good grip on her ball with just three fingers and a thumb.

On one of the seats behind her is a Silent-One, mask somewhat askew and extra silent because 'talking' would mean letting go of the bottle he (or she) is nursing.

Karnors and one human make up the rest of the group. "You gotta put some spin on it… " "No, throw straight, it'll be easier… " "You gotta let it touch the lane and roll… "

As Tasha reaches the bowling alley, she finds herself slowing to a stop, quite without meaning to. Before her is the first Vartan she's met on Abaddon, and the only Vartan she's seen since she left for this world. She's startled to realize Rapatia's scent invokes a powerful sense of nostalgia; it makes her miss home. It also makes her a little nervous as she thinks back on how much she's changed, how much she's tried to be Karnor. Will Rapatia find her lacking? Has she changed that much? With a deep breath, Tasha steps forward again.

"Ahoy, diplomats, Tartartus!" Tasha greets the group, giving her best smile and wag of her tail.

"Hush!" the big Vartan commands, with a bit of a slur. She then cocks her head from side to side, takes a few steps, drops down as best she can with legs that have ankles where knees usually are, releases her ball… falls over… and hits several pins in the wrong lane. The crowd cheers anyway.

Ears flicking at eyes blinking, Tasha gazes down at the fallen form of the Confederate ambassador with no small amount of bemusement! "Are you … " The young woman almost asks "are you okay," but realizes that might be insulting and aborts. Instead, she just holds out her arm for Rapatia to take.

The older Vartan takes the offered arm, and hauls herself up. "I win!" she declares, and points towards the apparently comatose Silent-One. "Help me over to those chairs."

"Aye," Tasha agrees. She lowers her right wing so Rapatia can use both her arm and wing for support, then helps the taller woman towards the chairs. "I'd say that was an impressive win, but I've never seen this game before."

"I beat this one," Rapatia says, sitting next to the cheetah. "He drop ball!" The Vartan then looks Tasha over, and says, in Vartan, "So, can you understand me?"

Tasha leans over to peer at the Silent-One, then blinks back when Rapatia addresses her in Vartan – her first language. And these days, a language she only hears from machines. Hearing Vartan-spoken Vartan only serves to make her feel all the more nostalgic. "I can," the younger woman replies, also in Vartan. "I grew up speaking Vartan, actually. Is my accent odd to you?"

"All accents are odd, but I never expected to hear it from a Karnor mouth," Rapatia says, then leans back, throwing one arm around the unmoving Silent-One's shoulder and offering Tasha the seat next to her. "Would like to hear your story."

"My mother didn't either," Tasha says with a laugh as she takes a seat beside the older Vartan. Despite the other woman being from this strange other world, Tasha finds herself more and more at ease. Hearing Vartan, smelling Vartan, it all reminds her of home, of The Rake and her family. She didn't realized she missed it all quite so much. Once settled in, Tasha folds her hands in her lap and tilts her head. "You would, Ambassador? I can't see any harm in it; what would you like to know about me?"

"Well, where do you come from?" Rapatia asks. "Your clan… or family?"

"Oh, well, I come from the planet Sinai. I was born on The Rake, a ptera-drawn trade airship. But, you can consider Rephidim to be my home town, since that was our home port. The crew of The Rake were my family growing up, including my mother, Desdemona, and Captain Eyeshine. I'm a bastard; I don't know who my father is." Tasha reaches up and scratches at her nose, thinking a moment before she continues. "That was my life until the party I lead discovered the Fenris, which lead to all this. These days, the Joint Expeditionary Force is my family, and my clan."

"So what happened to your family on Sinai?" Rapatia asks. "And your father was a Karnor I'm guessing? I didn't know that was possible." She eyeballs one of the still not-quite-drunk soldiers resetting the pins.

Tasha grins at that. "Neither did my mom. I'm the only Vartan-Karnor I know, although I've met other hybrids." She glances at the man her conversation partner eyeballs, grinning more and winking to the older Vartan before she continues again. "My family is still on Sinai. When I came to understand the gravity and scope of the JEF legacy, and of the true history of our people, the original JEF, and the universe, I knew I could no longer remain with them. I love them, but I no longer belong with them. I'm part of an older world, now."

"Eh?" the Vartan goes, looking at Tasha again. "Your family is your family. Unless they kick you out, you always belong. And what do you mean about 'the true history' of 'our people'… you mean Vartans?"

Tasha's ears rise, then lower against her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it quite that way. I know they're still my family, I just can't return to my old life. Well, I can, but I would never be happy. I know too much; the world is a lot bigger these days." She gives a little, sad smile, then tilts her head. "I'm not sure if I should mention this, but it's probably not a secret at this point. In the course of our explorations we've located, or had explained to us, records of the Expedition-era states of our peoples. By 'our people,' I really mean all of the Expedition listed or post-Landing generated species. As an example, we, the Vartans, were originally mercenary clans hired to escort the Khattan Trade Coalition."

"You hear that, Spotty?" Rapatia says to the unresponsive cheetah next to her, and even jostle him a bit to see if he wakes up. This elicits a burp. "Can't-Hold-His-Drink does not seem surprised. But most Vartans end up on Sinai, so our historians think. And no Khattas here… that we know of. Had to join up with the group that would take us."

Tasha's eyes widen a little when Rapatia admits to knowing that piece of history already, but nods quickly enough in agreement. "Our records show at least one whole clan reach Sinai aboard the Ark, but there are probably several more. And that's what I assumed as well; I know if I were abandoned my my patrons, I would seek a group like myself to join. As for the Khattans, they've remained remarkably difficult to locate."

"I didn't say the Confederates were like us," Rapatia says with a Vartan grin. "They just needed us, since they were the physically weakest of the lot. Our profession never really changed."

The younger Vartan begins laying her ears back when Rapatia corrects her, but they go right back up again when she grins. "Well, mostly I was thinking that they could fly. Terran, Silent-One, and Celestial technology just isn't designed for wings in mind." Tasha laughs a little, if nervously, then glances longingly towards a nearby beer. "On Sinai, Vartans are warriors, but also a lot more. I, for example, was a drover. My mother owns a tavern. Captain Eyeshine is a captain and a trader. They had always tried to keep me away from picking up a sword. Joke's on them, now my sword is twenty plus feet tall." She grins a little, then adds, "Happen to have any of that Vartan alcohol left?"

Rapatia gestures to the table, where there are a few over sized bottles bearing Vartan script. "So, on Sinai we are regular people then? Doctors, lawyers, garbage-men? What about wizards?"

Tasha reaches to grab a bottle, and just when she has it, almost loses it when Rapatia asks about Vartan wizards and the resultant shudder jars her grip. "Ugh, wizards," Tasha mutters quite before she can stop herself. She then winces, but manages to grab the bottle and haul it back, where she holds it to her chest almost lovingly. When she looks back, her ears are down and muzzle grimacing. "I'm, ah, I'm afraid we're mostly laborers or fighters. A few manage to get higher, but we just don't seem to rise very high. It's something that has bothered me for a while."

Rapatia raises an eyebrow at Tasha's reaction. "So, no Vartan … nobility?" she asks.

Tasha puts her teeth around the bottle, then leverages until the cap pops off, which she spits in to her hand before taking a long, deep sip. After lowering the bottle from her lips, she releases a contented sigh, then admits, "None that I know of."

"Hmmm, interesting," Rapatia notes. Then she grins and asks, "So, why not go back and change it? Conquer some country and name yourself Queen?"

Tasha goes to take another sip, but almost chokes on it when Rapatia suggests she should be Queen! After hunching forward and coughing several times, she looks up through her hair, eyes a little watery. "C-conquer a country?? H-how? I mean, why? And me, a Queen? I have my arms full with the JEF, and it's not like I'm a soldier! Plus, it's irresponsible … ," she stammers.

"Irresponsible how?" Rapatia asks, still grinning.

After almost wiping her mouth with the sleeve of Nora's uniform, Tasha instead grabs a nearby napkin and uses that before answering. "It's … It's an abuse of the legacy of the people who came before us. Of the crew of the Fenris, and their sacrifice. Of the memory of all those people who came together, sacrificed, lived and died for the dream of exploring the Sinai System. Using that power for myself … " Tasha takes a deep breath, gaze trailing skyward as she thinks. "It would be petty. Petty, selfish, and … an insult to those people," she continues after a second, eyes leveling again. "An insult, and a waste. The legacy of the Fenris is not mine to take and use. It belonged to everyone, even if some couldn't see that. Selfish desires like that are what destroyed the JEF and created thousands of years of strife."

"Don't get too worked up, I'm only teasing," Rapatia says and then chuckles. "Just wanted to see what you were made of. Couldn't read your long-eared friends on the flight out."

Tasha looks about to continue, then pauses. She cocks her head to the side, giving Rapatia a distinctly avian sort of eyeballing before just relents and chuckles. "Sorry. I've just come to conclusions about how I feel about things, and I guess I'm passionate about them. The JEF means a lot to me. It was my idea, did you know that? To start again, that is. I'd be a poor founder if I didn't believe in my own endeavor." After chuckling a little more, Tasha then asks, "What am I made of, then? And you tried to get an angle on my friends?"

"You aren't like them… you aren't hiding who you are," Rapatia says, looking relaxed. "You don't seem the sort to be dealing with the Council types."

"I'm a poor politician, then? I was afraid of that," Tasha admits, but grins widely around her bottle as she takes a sip a second later. When she lowers it, she says, "These days, I feel like too much of who I am – but that's complicated and beside the point. I guess the only one I was ever good at lying to was myself. What you'll get from me is my honest and heartfelt opinion of the JEF and our duty."

"Hmm, that's fine, so long as the Council believes it," the Vartan woman notes, leaning forward a little now. "See, they aren't used to hearing the truth. They figure everyone is trying to sell them something other than what they claim. Then again, they probably assume anyone depending on the truth is… out of their league. But you're half Karnor, so those that know how to read Karnors will know you aren't faking, and half Vartan so my boss will know you aren't faking. That leaves the snakes – they could be the hardest sells."

Tasha listens, ears forward, and her eyes widen as Rapatia starts giving her advice on how to win over the council. "Maybe I am out of my league," Tasha admits, reaching to run her hand through her hair and then halting it, giving it an annoyed glance. "But if I let that stop me, we wouldn't be here. And it's not just me, thankfully. The Captain is more capable than I; it's why I asked him to take over. I'm just a Vartan woman who stepped off her path and walked in to the stars. But let me see … ," Tasha twists her muzzle, then offers, "I think we have a pre-existing offer of good will towards the Celestials. If that isn't enough, we have a message for them."

"Blackmail then? Always good to have as a standby!" Rapatia guffaws. "Tell me though, have you ever dealt with… hmm… not politicians, so much as people of authority. Which are different than people of power. They have the authority to grant power, sort of."

"Oh no, not blackmail," Tasha laughs, head shaking. "Just a message from the past; you'll know it when you see it. It's a surprise." She then smiles, leaning back and resting her beer in her lap. "I grew up on a ship with a captain, is that what you mean? I've also met a real queen, and there's Captain Akkers, too. I've met machines of presence, as well. Until recently, I'd have never dreamed of speaking to anyone like you, let alone people of higher rank."

"What, I'm not approachable?" Rapatia asks. "Everyone likes me! Even this poor slob… " She pokes the cheetah, who tips over.

Tasha reaches over reflexively to try and steady the Silent-One, then sort of pats him awkwardly when her efforts don't catch him in time. "Well," Tasha begins, leaning back and shifting her gaze back to Rapatia, "It's just I came from a very low class, that's all. I used to be very arrogant and full of myself, too, so maybe I would have anyway. It feels like I've calmed down a lot, so maybe I'm coloring my past with my present. Anyway, I like you!" She smiles, then raises her bottle to salute the other woman. "So, what why'd you ask about people of authority?"

"Hah, so you went from false bravado to real self-doubt?" Rapatia asks. "Oh, because they can be subtle. Vartans aren't good with subtle, but Karnors seem to do half-way alright, if they wear cologne. You met a queen? On a throne, lots of skirts… that sort of queen?"

"I sure did. And, it seems like travel does that to a person; if you think you're big at home, you may find out it's a different somewhere else. That's what happened to me, anyway." Tasha glances at the Silent-One a moment, then turns back and answers, "Queen Tyche. I never saw her throne, but I assume she had one somewhere. You could feel her authority, a kind of presence. I kept wanting to challenge her, but as I've said before, I was out of my league there, too. It took a lot of falling on my face and feeling useless and selfish to get here, let me tell you. Which," she grins, waggling her bottle, "is why I appreciate this so much. I'll have to share mine."

"Ah, a good drinking party!" Rapatia says. "I've never met a queen. My mom was pretty imposing though. What was this Tyche, a Karnor?"

"Aye, I could use a drinking party. Maybe you and me, we should have a drinking contest some time!" Tasha waggles her brows, then rolls her free hand and explains, "She's a bunny. Leader of a bunny nation, back on Sinai. Big, mean bunnies. As big as us, the Warriors. The Queen wasn't big, but she was very clever, so she ruled the strong. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

"Hmmm, a bit," Rapatia admits. "The ones on the flight, your friends… what were they hiding? Are they agents of this bunny nation then? What are your ties to it?"

"One of them is from there, the other two come from other nations. I couldn't tell you what they're hiding, only that they're my friends. If anything, I think they're just hoping to see what trade opportunities are here, and really, just see the world." Tasha smiles contentedly, leaning back in her seat. "My ties … Well, I was nobody at first. Then one faction got it in their head I looked like one of their minor goddesses, and got me to play that role. You see, they're all bunnies. Really xenophobic. But my friends got me in, saying I was some sort of unusual bunny. Then, like I said, I played a god. But, I couldn't really stand pretending to be that god when my self-esteem was falling apart; when my ego, my bravado, the respect I thought I had turned out to be lies, and my life, ultimately hollow. So, I gave myself away. And, you know, I still got to play the goddess; it's what lead me to the Fenris, after all."

"I… see… " Rapatia says, one ear lowered as she looks to see how much Tasha has consumed of her bottle so far. "I was wondering why they were made though. The brown one… she's from the bunny kingdom, isn't she? She looks at you like she's trying to decide the best place to stick the knife. The golden one is clearly a spy. The buck I am not sure about. He seems too harmless. But you are a god to them?"

Tasha snorts a laugh, head shaking. "Oh no, no! They know all about that plan, and knew me before I ever played the part of a god. At best, Calligenia – the brown one – thinks I'm lucky, Aisha thinks I'm crude, and Aaron just thinks he's overwhelmed." The young woman sucks in a deep breath to prevent herself from laughing all over again at the thought of poor, overwhelmed Aaron. She presses on, least she lose that battle. "Some of them, back in that country, think I'm a god's avatar or herald. Others know the truth, but played along for their own reasons. But whatever people feel, my role as Tisiphone is done. I am not a god. I am, as I said: just a regular woman who stepped out of her life and found the remarkable."

"I'd like to see Sinai someday," Rapatia says, a bit… distantly. "It sounds like a paradise, with lands in the sky and water and trees and no monsters or horrible diseases. Maybe I could retire there, hah!"

"I'll be headed back there some day, possibly soon. Maybe you can come with me," Tasha suggests, head tilting. "And, it really is beautiful. I never really noticed until I left my world, but it is a good world, strife, politics, and magic aside. And if you want to retire there, I can help you find a place to settle. Or, my mother can."

"Will see what husband thinks," Rapatia notes. "His eye wanders though."

"Not the only eye that wanders, aye?" Tasha winks at the other woman, then holds her free hand up to forestall any hitting. "Kidding! I'm one to talk!"

"So, you married to the big wolf then?" Rapatia asks. Someone passes a plate around as well. On it are bits of… food. Fish fingers, some sort of tempura meat bits, chili and… well, something green and whipped searched in hollowed out bug shells.

Tasha doesn't hesitate to nab a few food items, and even grabs one of the bug-bowls, placing it all in a row on the table beside them. When she's done, she asks, "Which big wolf do you mean?" a little too innocently.

"The one who met us, gave the speech… has the mile-deep eyes?" Rapatia asks.

"Oh, that big wolf. You're very insightful, Rapatia! Was it that obvious?" Tasha grins wide, and her tail, crunched up as it is against her left thigh, wags. "Yes, the Captain and I are mates. But we're not married. I'm hoping we will be, some day. I'm just afraid to push him on it. He's been through enough, lost too much, for me to press anything with him. I think he'll ask, when he's ready. Until then, I'll be at his side – although maybe he'll think twice now that he knows me!" Tasha laughs raucously, then pops the bug-treat in her mouth and grins wider.

"So he's really from the original generation?" Rapatia asks, going for the fish. "You dug him up out of a mountain? Who knew you could mine for men… "

Something stirs, as the Silent-One sits up again, and reaches for the chili… which he (or she?) drinks from the cup as if were coffee.

"I guess you know about that, then? But yes, he is. Six-thousand years out of time and place. The computer taught me how, and I woke him up. I was there when he came around. I knew then as I do now, that I love him, even if I didn't quite understand back then wh-" Tasha pauses to blink at the Silent-One as he … she? … gulps down the chili, then stammers out, " … Um, what that feeling meant."

"Love at first sight? That seems pretty Vartan," Rapatia notes, and pats the cheetah on the head. The chili smells pretty spicy.

Tasha tilts her head, glancing between the two, then asks, "Your husband, is he … ?"

"We had a very lengthy courtship," Rapatia notes. "He couldn't come with me, had other things to take care of. Also, he's allergic to Karnor fur."

Tasha look between the two, then suddenly laughs a little, head shaking. "I thought maybe … Maybe the Silent-One was your husband," Tasha admits, grinning lopsidedly. She gives the sleepy Silent-One another glance, then tells Rapatia, "So, here on Abaddon, Vartans have lengthy courtships? What's life like for you within the Confederacy? Everyone expects I'm one of them, or else some unfortunate Karnor child, but really, I know very little about them."

"My family is very mobile," Rapatia notes. "The Confederacy is more spread out, and has settlements in the Pit now. It's pretty chaotic with the fall of the Progenitor and its mind control."

Tasha leans back at the explanation, eyes widening at the last part. "The … The what? A Progenitor? You mean, like a Progenitor Cult Progenitor?" She asks, leaning forward again, eyes intent.

"It's just what they called it," the Vartan says, with a wave of her hand. "Big… bug brain. Like a super computer, but alive. And it could make you see of feel whatever it wanted. So… guy from Sinai comes with a wizard and kills it. Then there was the big showdown over the Pit, and the Council was formed. I don't know if anyone was worshiping the bug."

"Oh," Tasha says with an air someone a little overwhelmed by what she just heard. She purses her muzzle, then twists it, thinking, before she asks seconds later, "So, someone from Sinai killed it? And a wizard? I didn't realize people from my homeworld had already done so much here. And to think, an organic super-computer! It's a shame it was malicious, I'd have liked to have seen it."

"The Captain tells me I'm a 'technophile,'" Tasha adds, a little wry. She grins anyway, though.

"Was probably ugly," Rapatia notes, downing the last of the fish. "Bug-tech usually is. Even uglier than the native monsters sometimes. But it caused problems. Outlying settlements weren't under its influence, so it tried to cut them off. So hard times for them. Lots have petitioned for relocation to the Pit, but nobody wants a Confederate majority in there. Don't know what we can offer your JEF either, except maybe old maps and stories."

"Even if you can't offer anything – and I can't swear to this – I think we'd be glad to have you. In a way, the JEF is the legacy of everyone on Abaddon, and many across the Sinai System. It's just, a legacy isn't enough to keep a organization running, or so I've learned," the young woman offers, the last apologetically. "But, I have faith we can help each other somehow."

"We'll see," Rapatia says, a bit ominously. "I wish they had music here for dancing. Expedition types can be so stiff, you know?"

"Ha, aye, they can be. But these Tartarus guys, they're just fine. I actually used to not get along with Karnors, and these guys, they're the first group of them from this era that ever made me feel welcome. They just don't have a lot here, and they know it, believe me," Tasha explains. She leans back, then glances across the room before looking back. "You any good at fighting?"

"I am a Colonel in the Confederacy Guard," Rapatia notes. "So yes. I know how to handle weapons and hand-to-hand. I'm not afraid of… bunnies," she adds with a smirk.

"They're hard to be afraid of, aren't they? Even when I've seen them pull old metal apart," Tasha agrees. She then looks down at herself, and admits, "I'm not much of a fighter. I guess it's not really a problem, since I'm not a solider and that's not the JEF's purpose. But, I feel like I should be, even if I never need to use it. Like it's … ," she waggles her free hand, then looks up. "Like as the pilot of the Melchior, I should be."

"What's a Titan got to fight against, except monsters," Rapatia claims. "At least yours isn't edible."

"No, I guess it isn't. At least to anything on this world, anyway." Tasha frowns, though, settling her head on her hand as she braces her arm on the chair's. "But, it still bothers me. The Melchior is a unique legacy of our people, it deserves a good pilot, and it deserves someone who can fight well. Otherwise, it's just a statue that can hit things. It deserves better than that. Or, at least I think so. But, I've always been fond of Titans."

"Always? They've got them on Sinai then?" Rapatia asks. "And it's not like it's hard to learn how to fight!"

"Well, not always," Tasha admits, grinning lopsidedly. "Ever since I found the Fenris's. And, I suppose it's not, but it's not like I have a Vartan to ask who isn't a machine. Not that the machine is a bad teacher, he's just limited."

"So… are you asking me for lessons?" Rapatia asks.

"Yes, but I'm not sure either of us can accept until after the Council meetings conclude, unfortunately. It's not like we'd be sharing special information, but it may worry other Council factions," Tasha says.

"Well, it gives me something to pass on to the Senator when it comes to things we can offer," Rapatia notes with a grin.

"It might help the poor man stay awake, what with so much tedium of ancient space ships and six-thousand year olds about," Tasha agrees, grinning. She peers in to her bottle and notices it's empty, so she grabs another one as she says, "So, have you served the Senator long? Are you not a delegate yourself, then?"

"I'm his second," Rapatia notes. "So I'm smarter than I look, which is saying a lot! He's got a small army of staff too, but I suppose having a big buff girl like me push him around reminds people that he's still important enough to warrant a bodyguard."

"I never said you weren't smart! We seconds have to stick together, after all," the young woman says, nodding. "Thankfully, my Captain has already slept long enough, and is wide awake." She grins. "I wonder if we'll ever have a staff. I know we need more people, but that will take some getting used to. I'm still a bit in awe that I'm 'Cadet Argentine' these days, and second-in-command."

"You were hoping for Captain yourself?" Rapatia asks, half in jest.

Tasha chuckles at that, head shaking. "The old me wanted it. The old me wanted to be the great hero of the JEF, to lead it, to be the center of attention because I was insecure and stupid." Her head shakes all the more; not so long ago, admitting that would have seemed harder than pulling her own tooth out. "But I know better, now. I used to be the leader, until I screwed up and the Captain took command. I looked deep down, and knew I just wasn't good enough as I am. He is. I'm at least content to know that I've earned the title 'Cadet,' and that even if I don't lead, that I am here to help. I don't need to be important just to bolster my own ego, anymore."