The Start: https://cohost.org/poppyhaze/post/3923071-prequel-to-the-twink
Previous Chapter: https://cohost.org/poppyhaze/post/4109869-chapter-4-5-of-twink
Command was demanding as usual and they included a letter from the Colonel. I was promoted to Captain 3rd Rank immediately and they had a mission to go with it. Our target was a likely enemy fuel depot and staging area on a "dirtball".
Dirtballs were small ice bearing asteroids or moons that had been so thoroughly mined of ice that they've reached the core. Instead of containing a heavy iron core, dirtballs consist of a loose collection of carbon or silicate rocks, aka dirt. They're often abandoned because they're too unstable to spin up into a gravity station.
However, from these gravimetric surveys, there's something there now. Long range telescopes corroborated a "lump" on the dirtball along with piracy of ice mining, 2 and 2 meant a fuel depot. That's why we've encountered so many enemy attacks during our patrol, we had stumbled onto an important place. If we left them alone, they'd be able to project power within and beyond this system. They likely chose an abandoned asteroid as they thought no one would bother anchoring on such a place.
Command's relief convoy had brought 8 new mechs, we were now a full squadron. They also sent a brand new military corvette, 2 huge and thin strike tankers, more weapons containers for the cargo liners from the colony, and 2 colonial laser skiffs with container missile pods tacked on. On the other hand, we didn't have more intel than a grainy photo of a lumpy rock in space.
I called an operations brief and during my presentation, one of the colonial officers, a man named Arjun mumbled something. It was clear from his tone he needed to say something so I asked him to speak up, "Sir, we do not have enough ships, we do not know what they have. Maybe we should send the corvette forward as a recon element."
"I'm aware of that," I shot back, "however, my plan takes that into account, we go in all together at a favorable orbit, we have the sun to our backs, and we will have the velocity and fuel to come in hot." Arjun looked deflated, he gave a quick look at Rashi.
Rashi raised her arm, "We shouldn't do this, we don't have enough, not even for a recon in force."
I'd figured she'd have my back. This kind of direct attack was her style. I was unable to speak and stuttered a bit, now the military crew gave me a look.
"C-Captain Rashi, Command has given us an order, we are to execute it to the best of our ability and this is not up for discussion. We have to destroy this fuel depot. We need to hit them before they secure this position."
From their eyes, the military crew was with me, as were the new gung-ho officers we had, 3 Junior Lieutenants. But the colonial crews were still not pleased. They were all staring at Rashi and I knew instantly she spoke for them, "Captain, I know you have your orders," that stung me to be separated out, "but there's no reason to throw away ships like this. This is going to get a lot of people killed."
The colonial officers all agreed and they pounded their hands on the table to agree. It was us versus them, and the military crew, my crew, looked at me since I was the ranking officer. That's right, I was the ranking officer. I slammed my mag-boot down and shouted, "QUIET!"
I turned to Rashi and hardened my face, "Rashi, because of the courtesy and hospitality of your force in allying with us for these security operations, I have been calling you captain, but what is your actual rank?"
Rashi's gaze narrowed at me, like she was a laser skiff, cutting me in half, "Fine, I am the Senior Warrant Officer because as a LES-AF, we do not have the authority to grant true officers' ranks."
"And I am a Captain 3rd Rank and ranking military officer for this operation, I should not have to tell you about how military discipline works."
She stood up and snapped to a salute, "Sir, yes sir," the sir sandwich was like a formal kick in my ribs, "we will carry out all lawful orders, but as the chief legal steward of these vessels I have an objection to the execution thereof."
"Thank you, Senior Warrant Officer Waingankar, please bring that up to me in the planning meeting to follow. All other non-essential crew are thereby dismissed. We will make the transfer burn in 10 hours when the last of the new fuel is on board."
I swallowed as most of the crew milled out, Rashi was stiff as a board in her seat, and so I must also be as stiff. A hard hour later, I was staring out a window at those laser skiffs off our bow accepting a refuel from a strike tanker's many robot arms. I remembered those historical models of the first interplanetary ships. How spindly they looked, due to pure economy, and these laser skiffs were similar.
Rashi came to me afterwards, one last time to try to talk me out of accepting the mission even with her additions to the plan, but it was too late. She at least waited until we were alone in a corridor, as an officer should, when she shouted in my face, "Fuck you, Wedge. You have the right to choose, you've always had the right to choose."
Rashi was right of course, we should have at least double the number of ships and mechs. It was also weird how low ranking the new officers were. I saw the blank collar tabs of officers cadets too in the first meeting. I was still only a Captain 3rd Rank, yet I was in charge of a major operation. Just one thing to do.
I grabbed Rashi's back, and she spun around and got right into my face. I knew what fury looked like, she wanted to send me spinning with a punch, so I said, "Senior Warrant Officer, attention!"
She did her best to stand at attention in zero-gravity. "By the power vested in me under Article something," I announced to no one in particular beyond us, "and acknowledging that you have performed tasks and duties well and above the rank of Senior Warrant Officer, it is my great honor and I hereby give you a battlefield commission and promotion, to Lieutenant, all powers that be, and the pension." I put the tabs and rank patches in her hand.
She stared in confusion for a moment, "What the fuck is this, Wedge? Is this your messed up way of apologizing to me?"
"No," I did have another reason I told myself, "I have to fight in this engagement, our orders are to fight, but if I buy it, I do not want any of the officers in the fleet questioning you. I've already filed the paperwork and my team should see it in their inboxes soon. You're my second in command for the operation."
She slowly punched me in the chest, she wasn't looking up at me and I drifted back a bit before getting a hold of myself. She slapped the rank patch on and began to leave. "They made us well," she said without facing me, "both of us, they really made us well."
"They did," was all I could croak out. I could hardly bring myself to look at her big sturdy back. This was our job, this is what we both trained for, and these were our orders.
Next and Final Chapter: https://cohost.org/poppyhaze/post/4207904-twink-x-tomboy-chapt
