"I appreciate your forgiveness, I've been asking a lot of questions, haven't I?" Tera said, "Well, the mission will start in several hours, I think I'll go back to our quarters and unpack for the time being."

"Alright, let's go," Israfil said. When they arrived at the hangar, Israfil made his way up the catwalk to the cockpit of the Orpheus. "It's kind of a monster, isn't it?" Israfil asked, referring to the Orpheus' size, "I wonder how someone like me's supposed to control something like this."

Mike looked at the cog and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's pretty big, even for a cog." When the boy made a comment on how he was supposed to control the cog. "Don't worry, I guess you'll get it figured out soon enough." He answered.

Blythe, who seemed to have the same idea as Tera, got up and left to try to find their room.

At the end of the catwalk was a small terminal that stood directly in front of the cockpit entrance. Israfil carefully accessed it and pulled up information on the Orpheus. After some more fiddling around, the cockpit hatch slid upward with a hiss. The inside was dark, with a faint red glow. "I...I might as well see how it feels inside, since I'm here," Israfil said, a bit afraid to enter while being simultaneously beside himself with anticipation. When he got in, the hatch closed automatically. Israfil scrambled for a bit before turning on the speakers. "S-sorry, Mike, I didn't mean to close the door on you. Although I guess there really isn't enough room for two people to be in here." There was a long moment of silence as Israfil took in the environment of the cockpit. "Lieutenant Encarnacion was right. I do feel really safe in here."

---

In the female pilots' room, there were four beds arranged in bunkbed style: two on top and two below. The bunks were on opposite ends of the room. Tera saw that the beds had already been assigned, with Tera assigned the bunk above Maya's, and the twins in the other bunk. They had been prevented from bringing too many things, mainly one small trunk for civilian clothing to wear during shore leave, and small personal effects. While the bottom beds had an actual nightstand, the upper beds had a shelf that folded down from the wall that acted as a nightstand that they could be used to place bedside things. Above each nightstand or shelf was a small board attached to the wall that was used for hanging or attaching things, usually photographs. The nightstands and boards were very customizable, and came with small magnetic holders to secure items to prevent them from flying around when the ship was jostled. Tera placed her glasses case on her nightstand-shelf, as well as a fist-sized, wooden burr puzzle.

While Israfil took place in the cog, Mike decided to simply stay on the ship's floor and said nothing for the moment, as he doubted if Israfil would be able to hear him even if he tried saying something while the guy was in the cog. And sure enough, the cogs were fascinating and all and Mike enjoyed working on them, but he'd rather not get inside of one.

After not too long, Blythe had been able to find the room and placed her trunk with belongings on the bed she had been assigned to. She had noticed that Tera was already there, but apart from a short "Hey", she didn't say anything to her new roommate. Instead, she started unpacking her clothes, and paused for a brief moment when she came across a picture she had brought along, picturing her with a guy standing next to her. The guy was a few years older than she was and seemed to be quite strong and his brown hair was as short as short as it could be without being shaved off completely. She looked at the picture for the moment, not sure if she wanted to hang it up, even though it was possibly the only picture she had brought along in which she looked truly happy.

Israfil felt a little bad that he left Mike outside by himself, but a part of him didn't want to leave. But the more he sat inside the more he realized that some strange feeling was keeping him there, and the uncanny realization made him want to do the opposite, which is get out. The hatch opened, and Israfil hurriedly made his way out, not realizing that a cold sweat had beaded on his forehead and that he was shaking slightly and breathing a little faster. "O-on second thought, maybe I shouldn't be inside unless I've been ordered to," Israfil said, more to explain away his own sudden discomfort than anything else.

---

Tera returned Blythe's greeting, trying not to be too pushy. Still, she wanted to at least make a positive impression so she added, "I look forward to working with you, and making this team the best it can be."

Mike looked at Israfil and shrugged. He was probably right about not being allowed to be in the cog at the moment, but Mike didn't care too much about it. "Well, at least you now know what it's like being inside of it. Did you enjoy it?" He asked.

"The best team it can be?" Blyhte repeated, shaking her head. "As long as we got prince charming looking down on everyone, we won't be that." She answered, tucking the picture away at a safe place where it wasn't visible all the time, but where she could still be able to get it whenever she wanted to take a look at it.

Meanwhile, Claire was making her way towards the room as well.

"I-I guess...so," Israfil replied, though that fact was unsettling. "I-I'm...actually not feeling very well right now. I might try to find my room, unpack and get some rest before our assignment."

---

"Y-yes," Tera agreed, "I had always heard that such...hatred existed between Ascendeds and Wildtypes, but I had never seen it for myself." Tera hesitated for a moment then asked, "Is...is such hatred part of what makes humans human?" Tera was afraid that Blythe would answer yes. Though Tera understood that emotions were a core part of being human (she herself felt them to some degree), she felt that humans were supposed to be admirable for rising above destructive thoughts, while celebrating their positive feelings. But maybe that was just a Quantum philosophy, maybe humans reveled in hatred and destruction.

Mike nodded. "Sure, in that case I'll leave you alone for now. I still need to study anyway." Mike said in return, before showing Israfil a friendly smile. "I hope to see you again soon." He said, deciding not to add that he thought that the guy was pretty cute. He wasn't sure how he would react to it, and didn't want to emberass him.

Blythe shook her head at Tera's question. "Not exactly, in my opinion. What makes humans human are our emotions, which also includes negative ones like envy, hate and depression, but also positive ones, like hope, love and happiness. All emotions we experience make us human, not just the bad ones." She answered.

"Alright, I'll see you later," Israfil said, smiling back at Mike, then added, with mild hesitation, "You still...have to show me your ability sometime." Mike was slowly changing Israfil's view of Ascendeds.

---

"I see," Tera replied. She considered asking if it wouldn't be better to just have the good and none of the bad, but maybe the point of being human wasn't to be optimized, maybe the point lay in the inherent complexity and contradictions. "Thank you for talking with me, I hope my questions aren't too weird. Not many people I've encountered enjoy talking about stuff like this."

Mike looked at him and nodded, glad to see that Israfil at least wasn't as afraid as he used to be anymore. "Oh yeah, what about I show you once you're feeling better again?" He suggested.

Blythe seemed to smile for a brief moment. "Well most people don't like talking to me at all, or like me in general, so I guess that makes two of us." She answered, getting a silver necklace out of her luggage and considering putting it on for a moment.

"Yes, I'll see you later, then," Israfil said, and headed off to the barracks.

---

"Well, you've done nothing to make me dislike you," Tera said, "And in the near future, we, all of us, will go out there and place ourselves in life-threatening situations. At the very least, I would like to be more than comrades with my teammates, I would like to be friends, as irrational as that might sound. I hope you might consider me your friend."

Mike smiled and headed back to his own room to get started on studying.

"Yeah in that case I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the kind of person who makes friends. I'm more the kind of person who is too blunt for other's likings and punches people in their face when they're being assholes." Blythe answered, choosing to put on the necklace.

"I...I understand," Tera said, with slight disappointment, "Thank you for being honest." Tera chided herself for being too pushy. She hoped that she could prove herself in the future during missions and improve camaraderie.

Blythe didn't say anything in return, and continued to unpack her things without paying much attention to what Tera was doing. Maybe she had been a bit too unkind by rejecting the Quantum's offer to be friends just like that, but she couldn't say that the cared much about that.

The Incubator and three other ships set a course to the edge of Ascendancy territory, a journey that would take about a day in hyperspace. The ships came together into formation and synchronized their Tachyon Harps. In a flash, the ships were gone, now traveling through hyperspace in a bubble of 'real' space. The bubble would exit hyperspace once they reached their destination. If anyone looked outside a window, they would see the iridescent boundary that encapsulated the four ships.

At the end of their 12 hours of free time, the cog pilots were all ordered to report to the hangar. Maya stood before the ensigns, with Sion at her side. Israfil stood nervously at attention, while Solomon was also present, looking strangely smug despite having supposedly been reprimanded. Tera continued to observe everyone around her.

"Alright team," Maya began, "our task force is currently headed to the border between The Ascendancy and the FAS. As you probably know, the region is very unstable, with militant groups, pirates and rebels, and the FAS is suspected of trying to destabilize the region for political and military gains. Our fleet will be patrolling the area. Though our presence alone should be enough to deter some groups, armed military intervention will be required for others. This will be a great chance to train your skills as pilots, and test the capabilities of your cogs. But before we arrive, we should do some training before you see some real action. At the very least, you all should be comfortable with piloting your cogs, and able to launch via catapult as well as returning to the carrier. We might even do some mock combat training if you all are up for it. Any questions?"

Claire and Blythe were also present and listened to Maya without interrupting the woman. Although Claire seemed to be in her usual good mood again, she also seemed to be somewhat nervous about their first mission.

Blythe, on the other hand, was acting no different from normal and if she was nervous, did an excellent job at hiding it. If anything, she seemed to be disappointed to find out that Solomon had returned to the group.

"Alright then," Maya continued, "As you can probably see, you access your cogs from the walkways over there." She pointed to the walkways that were about chest-height to the cogs. One the right side of the hangar stood Claire's Asteria, Blythe's Nix, and Solomon's Legion. On the left stood Israfil's Orpheus, Tera's Mayura, and Maya's Obsidian. Sion's Fury, being non-humanoid, was parked, strapped to a holding structure on the floor that sat between the two walls of cogs. "The catapult has two lanes and is capable of launching two cogs in tandem. The launching process is more-or-less automated and is coordinated by the bridge personnel. Now get to your cogs and I'll explain the rest."

As the group disbanded, each pilot heading to their respective cog, Solomon, who was heading in the same direction as Claire and Blythe, walked up to Blythe and said, "Hey, Rivers, I wanted to apologize for my...behavior yesterday. Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?" His words came out with a mocking sweetness, while his grin was far from apologetic.

Blythe listened to Solomon and glared at him, obviously still remembering the happening. He didn't look nor sound sorry about it at all. "I'm not a very forgiving person, especially not towards people like you. Just keep in mind that the next time you make me do something like that, I'll break your nose. If you're lucky." Was the only answer Solomon got. She didn't care of that counted as a threat or not, ad long as of was clear to him that she didn't forgive and wouldn't put up with such a thing again.

Claire overheard the conversation between her sister and Solomon, but decided to keep her mouth shut. The way Blythe acted to him wasn't much different from how she always was, though Claire wished she would just be a bit more friendly. After all, they still had to work together.

Solomon chuckled, "That's fine, I don't need your forgiveness, I just need to apologize for...certain reasons." He looked across the hangar at Maya, who was just getting into the cockpit of the Obsidian. He left Blythe and made his way into the Legion's cockpit.

Once everyone was situated in their cogs, Maya spoke over the comm link, which displayed as a small square visual screen of her helmeted face in the lower left corner of everyone's cockpit's heads-up display. "Alright, RHS will deploy first."

Another comm link opened, this time, it showed the face of a young man, the launch coordinator. "Launch sequence initiated, Fury prepare for take-off on starboard catapult." The frame holding the Fury moved to the right side of the hangar and lined itself up with the right catapult. "Lieutenant Junior Grade RHS, you are cleared for take-off, catapult launch in 3...2...1..." The frame shot forward and released the Fury out into space. The frame then folded and slid into the underside of the catapult, clearing the lane for the next launch.

Maya continued, "Now I'm going to have you all launch two at a time. Familiarize yourselves with your thruster controls. After you launch, reverse thrust or 'brake' as you approach RHS' position. If you are unable to stop, he'll catch you before you hit the edge of the hyperspace bubble. Once you've stopped, remain still until everyone has launched successfully. Alright, Lear and Eihon, you're first."

The launch coordinator started again, "Launch sequence initiated, Legion prepare for take-off on starboard catapult, Orpheus prepare for take-off on port catapult." The frames holding the Legion and Orpheus to the walls of the hangar moved the cogs out to launch positions. "Ensign Lear, Ensign Eihon, you are cleared for take-off, catapult launch in 3...2...1..." Both frames shot forward, releasing the cogs out into space. Legion headed towards Fury firing all reverse thrusters at the last second, coming to a precise and sudden halt, whereas Orpheus, being much heavier and with fewer thrusters, started braking too late, overshooting Fury. The Fury went after it to prevent it from reaching the edge, but the Orpheus managed to brake before Fury's intervention was necessary, however once stopped, the Orpheus continued to slowly and awkwardly spin in place.

"OK, Blythe Rivers, QAZ, your up," Maya said.

Blythe didn't pay any more attention to Solomon for the moment. She couldn't care less about why he apologised or how he would think of her, she didn't like him anyway. She took place in the cog and waited for her launch, which went surprisingly well, unlike what she had expected.

Claire sighed and decided to just not keep her hopes up any longer about the two being friendly to one another. Having them interact without insulting or pissing off each other was probably as good as it was going to get.