Vuxten ducked underneath the armored fist, feeling it clip off the edge of his antenna. He managed to get his arms up as the big Rigellian female swung her fists in what looked like, to the untrained, a frantic flurry. Vuxten curled around himself slightly, protecting his face, as he felt himself battered inside his armor.

When the Rigellian female grabbed him by the shoulder plate and yanked him off balance, she drove her fist into the top of his helmet twice, stunning him, then threw him against the wall, causing the integrity field to spark. Before he could move she slammed into him, pulled back, grabbed him by his helmet, yanked him out of the hole in the wall, turned at the waist, and slammed him face first into the floor.

The impact to the back of his head made him see stars.

"He's done," Major Phtelmon said, slapping his tail on the floor of the Armored Close Quarters Combat Gym.

The Rigellian stepped backwards, putting her fist into her her open hand and bowing slightly.

"Did I win?" Vuxten asked groggily, looking up.

There was laughter. Not at him, per-se, but at what had happened and Vuxten was mature enough to know it.

--not even close-- 471 said. --looked painful--

Vuxten got up, shaking his head.

"One-Zero," the instructor called out. "Get ready."

Vuxten took the standard ACQC stance. The Rigellian female in her armor chose the Third Stance.

"Go!" the instructor called out.

Vuxten expected her to come in and kick him in the chest again, so he brought his arms up to defend his chest.

Instead she moved up to him, grabbed his arm, spun him around, got him in a headlock and started slamming her fist on top of his helmet. The servos in his armor whined as he grabbed her wrist, suddenly grateful that all the armor was set for the same strength. He pulled her arm back but before he could much more she let him go, kicked the back of his knee, and shoved him hard.

Vuxten got one hand out, kicking his foot to turn around.

She kicked him dead in the visor with a side kick that put her heel dead center of his visor, showering sparks even with the low power.

FATALITY popped up in his vision.

"Done," the instructor called out. "Two-Zero. Vuxten, you're out."

The Rigellian female put her fist in her open palm and bowed to Vuxten, then to the instructor, then moved over to the side. Vuxten shook his head and stood up. He moved over and sat down, popping the helmet seal and pulling it off.

"Here you go," the Kobold next to him said, handing him a towel.

"Thanks," Vuxten said. He took the towel and wiped off his face. "She's so fast."

"You aren't kidding. It's a good thing we're wearing armor, she'd have taken your head clean off," the Pubvian next to him said.

"Back when I first got conscripted, I saw a Terran destroy a crowd pacification drone with two kicks," Vuxten said.

Both nodded.

"Humans and Rigellians both have heavy muscle memory. Humans don't have to think at all about their next actions in combat, which allows their brains to run predictive analysis the entire fight. Rigellian thought to action times are in the tenths of a second," the Pubvian said. He shuddered. "I fought a Terran back the first time I did this course. We were wearing training armor, but even then, I thought he'd collapsed my lungs with a single hit."

Vuxten shook his head. "Explains why they have us do this in armor."

The Kobold gave a soft huffing sound, the equivalent of laughter. "Can you imagine that Casey guy in here? We'd need armor just to keep him from pulling our arms off with his bare hands."

The Pubvian laughed. "Yeah."

"Pardnavan, you're up," the instructor said. "Awgrawk, you're up."

The Pubvian sighed. "Great. My turn to have a Rigellian beat me like a rug," he got up and put on his helmet before crashing his two opposing fists together, keeping his mid-arm close to his chest.

Vuxten watched as the two squared off. The Pubvian was using a modified Second Stance. The Rigellian female was standing there loose, facing him directly.

"GO!" the instructor barked.

Vuxten watched the Pubvian come in fast, using his middle leg to throw him to one side then the other. He threw three punches, that the Rigellian slapped away.

Then he paused for a second, still moving forward slightly, but Vuxten could see the pause.

The same thing he had been forced to do.

The Rigellian grabbed him by the arm, her punch turning into a grapple, then a joint lock. She drove him face down into the concrete floor, his knee on his back.

Captian Pardnavan slapped the floor with one arm.

"Done! Separate," the instructor called out.

Vuxten watched close for the rest of the ACQC practice. The Rigellian females always either came out really fast, using lightning speed and strength to overwhelm their opponent or waiting until there was the half-second pause while the opponent thought of their next attack string, using that pause, that moment of thought before action, to quickly overwhelm and neutralize them.

Pardnavan limped over to the table as he took off his helmet, revealing his fur was slicked with sweat.

"All right, that's it for the day," the instructor said. "Your reaction times and thought to movement times are decreasing. While each of you have different species limitations, with practice you'll be more skilled and better prepared than any opponent. Tomorrow, we'll do hard-light non-Confederacy or Council enemies."

He paused for a second.

"Tomorrow, you'll be doing ACQC against Dwellerspawn."

--fun fun fun-- 471 one said.

"Hey, I didn't see you out there," Vuxten said.

--not captain am engineer-- 471 said, sending a laughing emoji. --have good night--

"You too," Vuxten said. He heard the datalink clink to end the conversation and moved to the rack to have his armor removed. He moved to the locker room as soon as he was free and stepped out of the rack.

He felt sore and tired, but good.

"You're not used to training armor," a voice said as he was sitting down drying himself off. He could tell by the lyrical accent it was one of the Rigellians.

"No. My armor's a little special. Has to be held in its own rack, away from other armor," Vuxten said. He paused a second. "My armor doesn't like other armor."

"That's what happens when the Crusade modifies your gear," the Rigellian female, Narwark, said, sitting down next to him. She was dripping, fresh out of the water shower. She started mopping off and Vuxten was again impressed by the sheer mass of her muscles. "You going to the gym after dinner?"

"Yeah," Vuxten said, then grinned when his stomach rumbled. "I'm kinda hungry."

"They're going to let us use our armor tomorrow," the Rigellian said, setting down the towel. "Lots of us can't wait to see your armor in action."

Vuxten shrugged. "It's just armor."

The Rigellian gave him an odd look as he stood up. "If you say so, Vux."

----------

"One more, you can do it, Vux," Senior Sergeant Wargnrawk said, her hands on the bar to keep it from dropping and crushing his chest.

Vuxten strained against the weight, his muscles screaming, as he pushed the bar slowly up. It was actually over his own body weight by nearly five kilograms. He took a deep inhale and exhaled explosively, the bar rising up.

"Nicely done," Wargnrawk said, using her fingertips to guide the bar onto the brackets.

Vuxten let the bar down and sat up, swinging his arms back and forth.

"Never see a Telkan lift more than his own body weight. Most of you can't get there," the Rigellian said, handing him a towel.

"Thanks," Vuxten said, wiping off the end of his muzzle, clearing the sweat from his whiskers.

"Most species can't," the Rigellian said, taking the towel back. "Unlike Goliath over there," she said, nodding toward Casey as she handed Vuxten a bottle of water.

"Uh-huh," Vuxten said, closing his eyes and taking a drink.

Casey had nearly twenty-five hundred kilos on the bar, in 3.5G. He had four Rigellians helping him, standing there in case his muscles failed.

Vuxten opened his eyes, bumped the cap of the water bottle against his front teeth to push the pull-nozzle down and close the bottle, then set it down.

He watched as Casey did two more slow reps.

"Can you imagine having that kind of power?" The Rigellian sighed.

"Not even in armor," Vuxten admitted.

"How do you suppose he does it?" Wargnrawk asked.

Vuxten shook his head. "No clue."

They watched as Casey set the bar down and sat up. The amber in his remaining eye flashed and there was the suggestion of amber behind the eyepatch. He picked up a towel and rubbed his face.

"Maybe rage?" Vuxten asked. He heard the gym doors open, but stared at Casey as he scrubbed his face.

Wargnrawk didn't answer for moment, then put her hand on Vuxten's shoulder. "Watch your boy, Captain," she said softly.

"What?" Vuxten asked.

"The door," Wargnrawk said.

Vuxten looked over and saw what the problem was.

She was in civilian clothing. Loose woven fiber thread pants with a silver stripe down the front of each leg that had random letters and numbers scrolling on the smartcloth strip. A blouse made of fiber threads with dancing animals on it, and combat boots. She had short reddish brown hair and her green eyes were flashing with anger.

Vuxten recognized her instantly.

Peel.

Leaning against the door frame was another woman. She had rich brown skin, her hair was done in tight braids, her brown eyes were warm. She was dressed in what looked to Vuxten as an animal skin leather skirt with fur edging and strips of metal on it, some kind of strange torso covering that covered her stomach, cupped her mammaries, but left the tops of them exposed, and what looked like knee high laced leather boots with fur around the top.

But he only noticed Peel, writing off the other woman.

"Oh, shit," Vuxten said.

Peel stalked up to Casey, who was standing up, scrubbing his face with a towel. She clenched her fists and Vuxten saw sparks jump out from between her fingers. Vuxten reached up and tapped his datalink, reaching out virtually and slapping the psychic suppression field emergency activation icon.

He tasted electric blueberries across his back teeth and a tightening metal band around his head suddenly released.

Casey looked up, dropping the towel down, his eyes still glowing amber.

"Cathal Julius Casey!" Peel snapped.

Casey looked down and suddenly went pale.

"You've been ducking me for three days," the woman snapped. "I've gone by your room multiple times and you were hiding, I tried to catch you during meals but your hiding and eating MRE's in the bushes. Since you won't let me do this privately, I guess it'll be publicly."

"But," Casey started.

"DON'T YOU BUT ME!" Peel screamed.

Casey flinched as Peel stepped closer to him. "My body isn't even cold, isn't even out of the morgue, and you climb into a suit of armor, Casey? How could you? How could you do that to yourself?" She snapped.

Several of the gym goers started moving toward the door.

"SIT DOWN!" Peel shrieked.

Vuxten winced slightly as everyone sat down.

"I... I didn't..." Casey started.

"Didn't what, Case? You didn't run straight to the nearest nanoforge and run off a copy of Jemila?" Peel asked. She looked up, unshed tears shining in her eyes. "You didn't climb into a suit of Novastar? Novastar, Casey, you got into a Novastar!"

Vuxten felt extremely uncomfortable watching it all play out in front of him. A quick glance around showed him that the Rigellian females were all watching, entranced.

"Why? Why would you do that to yourself? You promised me, me, that you would never do that to yourself again," Peel said.

"The Admiral..." Casey started.

"Ordered you into power armor, but you went and ran off a suit of Novastar. You used your pain, your agony, at my death to power the creation engine to create a sister to Jemila, to create a Novastar for you to crawl into and pretend it doesn't hurt any more," Peel said.

Casey hung his head and she touched his cheek.

"There is not a single Novastar VII Ringbreaker left in the universe except for you," Peel said. "And, just because I died, you tried to join them all. Tried to fight your way into Magh Meall or Tir na Nog to join them."

Casey nodded.

She put her other hand on his chest. "I know it hurts, Case."

Casey nodded.

'I know you're confused," she said softly. "You're worried I was SUDS washed."

Again, Casey just nodded.

"I wasn't. I was Black Cauldroned then raised from the dead by a Necromancer who has enough power she could have rebuilt me from a single drop of blood," Peel said. "I never reached the SUDS lobby, never reached the SUDS waiting room. I was laying next to you, then I dimly remember stumbling along, so hungry, then I remember the voice of the Necromancer Duchess Lady Khoonkeenadee, She Who Has Birthed a Hundred, for me to rise and serve her."

Casey swallowed thickly.

"But, you... you crawled into armor again, Casey," Peel said. "Not only that, but you took my nail polish, my imported from Terra coral and pink diamond nail polish, to decorate her fingertips," Peel leaned against his chest. "I was dead, Case. You're over a thousand years old, that last drop put you over the one kay mark. You're unique now. Your people are gone. The other Novastar pilots are gone. The rest of the Knight Æsir, the Sancti Ordo Spiritus Tyr, they all died. They're gone. You're all that's left and that makes you something special to the universe, to me."

She put her hand on his chest.

"You already showed me how much you love me when you shot me rather than let me stumble around like that, as one of those things, Case," she said. "You did it yourself, personally, put me down. You proved that you still love me as much as I love you."

She looked up, with tears running down her face.

"I can't lose you. I can't stand the thought of you back in armor, torturing yourself like that again," She put her arms around him, pressing the side of her face against his chest. "Even if we're not together, I can't stand the thought of you crawling back into armor, of hurting so bad that you need the embrace of someone like Lozen or JJemila instead of reaching out to other people."

"I'm sorry, Peel," Casey said softly.

She looked back up at him. "Please, can we go somewhere private? Just us? Just the two of us, and talk?"

Casey nodded and Vuxten noticed he looked like he was struck dumb. Peel stepped back, not wiping her face, and took Casey's hand. She led him across the gym, to the doors, nodded to the brown skinned human woman in leather, and led Casey out into the night's darkness.

Vuxten heard a loud sniff and turned to look at Wargnrawk. The Rigellian female was wiping away a tear. He noticed all the Rigellian females were doing the same, most of them smiling.

The woman in all leathers left quietly and Vuxten noticed she had a sword across her back.

"Masterful," she said.

"Huh?" Vuxten said.

Wargnrawk smiled and shook her head. "Put him on the defensive right out the gate. Human's full names give you power over them. Put it all on him, berated him for his actions, cut away his excuses, then expressed her love and her feelings. It was a masterful performance."

Vuxten frowned. "It wasn't real? It was all an act?"

Wargnrawk shook her head. "It was both a performance and the truth," she smiled at Vuxten. "For all your martial prowess, Vux, you have a lot to learn about women."

Vuxten just shook his head.

"Humans are weird," he said.

Wargnrawk chuckled. "But oh so understandable."

------------

Vuxten looked at the orders.

First Telkan Marine Division was being recalled to Telkan. He would continue the Captain's course on the way there, but they were being recalled.

On one hand, he looked forward to seeing Brentili'ik, his broodcarriers, and his podlings again.

On the other hand, he would miss everyone from V Corps.

But on the gripping hand, he'd be able to see his world, breathe the air of Telkan, and be with his family.

He set down the written orders on the desk and sat on his bed.

He wondered, idly, what his brother was going to be like. If he was different than the brother that Vuxten had wrestled with and played with.

Guess I'll just have to find out, he thought.