This less than stellar introduction aside, I would look back on this day fondly, meeting both Morek and Sel at the same hour. The squat, and particularly the female trooper, would turn out to mean quite a bit to me. But as I had stated, I was less than impressed by her introduction. However, I supposed, albeit sardonically, it could have been worse. She could have been out of uniform or had forgotten to address me as 'sir.' I did not intend to be seen as a hardass, as that was a surefire way to get oneself killed as an officer. But still, I could not leave it as an unspoken reprimand, lest she get too comfortable. This one was supposed to be my driver too, Emperor save me. 

"At ease, Corporal Seldon." I said redundantly. "I am First Lieutenant Kayden Caladwarden, scion of the famous house." I doubted she had heard of my family, but I still felt it was important to remind her of my aristocratic background. Contrastingly, I decided to approach this in a different way than was afforded my station. I stepped off the curb and took my hat off to appear more congenial, glancing at the ground car and hoping beyond hope there was cool air in those vents. "Listen, I'm new to this outfit, and if we're to be working together, I want to help you as much as you help me so we can get out of whatever the galaxy throws at us alive, but... when we're in front of the other troopers, salute me like an officer, please. It looks bad in front of the other men." 

"What about him?" Sel asked, pointing at the squat. "Er, sir." 

I glanced behind me as Morek put the last vestiges of my effects in the backseat of the ground car. I had almost forgotten he was there, the squat remained so quiet. "Yes... let's just pretend like he doesn't count for the moment." 

We gathered in the ground car without any more preamble, and lukewarm air spilled onto my face as the Corporal cranked up the ground car. I glanced at the rearview mirror and barely saw the top of Morek's helm, looking for all the world like a buoy in the water as we began to move, bumping over scattered stones and desert debris. Leaving the command center, I saw two thunderbolts flying overhead, moving in unison like a flock of avian creatures. I had heard this world was suitable for practice due to the miles and miles of wasteland. I cranked the AC to a more tolerable degree of cool, but it was still nowhere near optimal. I decided to speak to distract myself from the heat.

"So, Corporal Seldon. How long have you been in the regiment?"