It took a day, but Sevs finally found the rest of his team. Not that they were hiding from him or anything. Just as he was busy getting inducted into the officers, he met with a lot of the higher-ups as well as the other two new officers.

At the same time, his other squad members were doing the same with their own specialties. Still, after they were all done, they found an out-of-the-way restaurant on the ship. It was something they were still getting used to after spending years in mess halls, but now that they were in one of the population centers, they had civilians around again.

It was a bit odd, but having the options was something they could all appreciate. The noodle bar they were in was a relatively empty place. It was off-cycle, and everyone was asleep. Still, this was one of the few options that were open all hours nearby. With permission from the proprietor, they fit a couple of the tables together and relaxed.

It took them a second to say hello, but it wasn't very long before Robert was telling them all about a silly story from heavy training.

Apparently, they all had spent time in training pods but to different degrees. Most of them had more in-person training. Sevs couldn't figure out why the officer training didn't require any in-person training. All the other disciplines could be completely simulated, at least better than working with people.

"Wait, so you spent the whole time in the pod? Was it like the tutorial where everyone is a person?" Jason asked.

Sevs shook his head. "Not really; everyone was on a script for the most part. I don't think we have tech even approaching the system here. Certainly not with the time dilation."

"Time dilation?" Bexy asked. "Did any of you have time dilation in your pods?"

Soshal and Robert didn't. Carl nodded. "I did a little. Maybe a 2:1 ratio. But I only spent two months in the pod and a month helping train some basics classes. How much was your dilation Sevs?"

"I'm not sure. I wasn't able to really keep track of time. More than 2:1, though." Sevs answered. "But yeah, it doesn't make sense that I had no in-person training."

"I bet it's because of the time dilation. They need so much more time that it's not worth it." Soshal guessed.

"No, I think it's a selection bias. They only take people who have been leaders for a while and already know a lot about it." Bexy put out there.

"Well, that doesn't make sense because there is still a lot I could learn from in-person working. Just a couple of leadership tools or tricks could have cut out so much of the time I spent in the pod." Sevs said.

"Ah, that's why! Sevs took so long that they had to skip the in-person training." Jason said. Everyone ignored him. Carl made a thoughtful noise. "I think they might want you to learn how to do it yourself without any tricks. If you can't learn it, then they don't want you."

Sevs thought about that. Why would that be the case? They would only get natural leaders that way. But Sevs wasn't a natural leader. Without all the help from Father and his charisma, he could barely talk to people. "Why do you think that is better, Carl?"

"I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's more about seeing how you adapt to new situations," Carl said. "For example, the system loves to shift things from under us all the time. So when things go south, they don't want you relying on some trick that might not work anymore. They want you to adapt and try something new."

Sevs wasn't convinced. "I don't think I have ever seen the system mess with human nature. At least not with players before."

Carl just shrugged. It was easy to talk with Carl; he was always willing to admit when he might be wrong. Bexy didn't agree, though. "I think Carl is on to something. You can always get more training later. Those tricks will be more effective with someone like Sevs, who doesn't really need them."

Robert joined in. "My two cents is that Sevs already showed he was capable and maybe just needed experience. The pod was just a way to throw a decade of experience at him all in one go."

"How much is a decade really worth to Sevs, though?" Soshal countered. Sevs bit his tongue, but a decade of leadership was five times what he had, even with all his time in the game. But the leadership couldn't know that, so that wasn't likely the reason either.

Eventually, the topic dropped, with no one getting a real satisfactory answer. The conversation wandered as they talked about each of their experiences. After a while, they all agreed that Soshal had the best time. To hear her describe the intelligence school, it was all playing games. She had a ton of fun showing off her new Sleight of Hand skill. Jason was quite jealous.

"The only not fun bit was the counter-torture training." Soshal made it as an off-hand comment. This drew some stares.

"If you say so," Robert said. "I mostly had strength training and learning tech and positioning. It was more boring than anything else. But at least I didn't get tortured."

Eventually, they had finished and needed to go their own ways.

"When do we get assignments?" Carl asked.

Sevs actually knew the answer. "You should get them tomorrow morning. I won't spoil anything for you, though."

The last bit was said with a knowing smirk that had them all hounding him for the rest of the way back to their bunks.

***

True to his word Sevs didn't tell them anything before he met them all in a briefing room. With them all sitting there, he got to enjoy their glares as he walked in to give them their presentation. Sevs wasn't the only officer present. Captain Walters was there as well.

Still, it was his briefing to give. Sure, it was something he had only learned about on the previous day but still. Stepping up to the front of the room, Sevs clicked on the hologram projector.

It started to display a slowly rotating three-dimensional scan of a damaged Tarlaki carrier. "A few months ago, a team captured a Tarlaki ship."

Looking around, he was still met with glares. Sevs dropped his serious expression and cracked a grin. "I hope you remember. If you don't remember, raise your hand so I can send you down to medical for examination."

This earned a few laughs, and the mood lighted. "Our engineers managed to finally pull some of the information out intact."

There were a few mutters of appreciation. Sevs let them die down naturally. "As part of a reward for retrieving the information, we get the dubious honor of being part of one of the first operations based on what we have so far."

"Our op will be part of a much larger one run by Captain Walters and his infantry counterpart," Sevs said, and Walters nodded in confirmation. "We won't be the main thrust. I don't think we are trusted with that just yet. However, that doesn't mean that our role won't be essential. Our mission will be to hold a path clear for retreat as the strike force hits home."

The hologram changed. Now it showed a planet, one mostly covered with water and island chains. "This is Kapericus D. A capital planet for the local Tarlaki government."

"This is not the same one that we stole the ship from, but apparently, they were planning on raiding this for something that we also are interested in." Sevs continued. He had started to pace in front of the group and could feel their eyes following him. "While they have done all the hard work of intel gathering, we have also sent a few scouts to confirm what we can."

Jason raised his hand. Sevs nodded at him to speak. "Do we get to know what that information is?"

Walters stepped in, speaking for the first time. "Not any specifics, but there are some maps we are interested in."

He stepped back, motioning for Sevs to continue. The hologram changed again. This time it zoomed into what looked to be a spaceport. "This is our target. We need to take the port and hold it until the team is ready for extraction."

"Now, we are not expected to take and hold this all by ourselves." As he spoke, some measurements for scale appeared, showing how large it was. "It's not so large, but there will be two other teams working in coordination with us."

"This will also be part of a larger planet-wide operation that should hit 90% of their spaceports simultaneously, helping disguise both the extraction point and the initiation spot," Sevs said. Then he continued to lay out their role in the bigger picture.