The group walked behind Lena, who was walking through the hanger, passing sentinels by the dozen that were being worked on by the mechanics.
Lena turned around and said "This is where all our sentinels are stationed and worked on; you four will be assigned your own specific sentinels, which you can adjust certain settings to what you're comfortable with. Some pilots even name their sentinels, but your official designation will be your fireteam name plus the number unit you were given, for example, E-07. Meaning Epsilon Seven. You can pretty much name your sentinel whatever you want; for example, I named mine Athena, after the Greek goddess."
"Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, that fits for a squad leader." Ren said.
"Well, thank you; I thought so too." Lena said happily.
The group walked over to four sentinels, all on standby, with the letter "E" on the shoulders of each sentinel.
Lena turned towards the group and said "These are yours; feel free to input your personal settings later today or tomorrow. Now we will head to the next three stops you need to know about: the cafeteria, then personal quarters. You four know your room assignments, right?"
"Yeah" everyone but Scarlet said at first; her face blushed until she also agreed with the others.
She knew she hadn't put in the request to change rooms, but Ren wasn't aware of it at the moment.
"Good, now follow me to the cafeteria."
*On the UNS Eternity Bridge*
"Are all the new recruits onboard?" Captain Aurora asked.
"Yes, ma'am, all new recruits and listed crew are accounted for." one of the ship's hands said.
Aurora smiled and ordered her ship's pilots "Alright, prepare for takeoff and head to the Miami Academy; then we will go to each academy in the US for the recruiting season."
"Yes, ma'am." the bridge crew said.
Aurora then looked at her report on her tablet. She had orders for once the recruiting season was over to head to the moon "Titania" which was home to a forward operating base, and meet with the UNS ships the UNS Annapolis, the UNS Evangelion, and the UNS Florence for an operation in the Kuiper Belt. According to her reports, there is suspicious activity taking place in the Kuiper Belt, suspected to be the Centauri Empire.
Aurora sighed, looking over the report. "Not the easiest way to bring the new recruits up to speed, is it?"
*Elsewhere on the ship*
"And this is the cafeteria!" Lena said. "This is where you will get three guaranteed meals a day in the morning, afternoon, and evening. If you want extra food, that will come out of your earnings for the year."
The cafeteria was bustling with officers getting their lunches for the day.
Then the speakers came on around the ship.
"Prepare for takeoff. The destination is the Miami Academy. The estimated time of arrival is one hour."
Lena then said "That was our bridge; apparently we're getting ready to continue the recruiting season. So now that you've seen the cafeteria, let me show you the personal quarters section and maybe one day show you guys the bridge and maintenance deck where our engineers are.
The group walked to the personal quarters section of the ship on the second level.
"Now, go to your assigned rooms and put on your uniforms; after that, you're free to go around the ship as you please; I'll be at the cafeteria if you need me." Lena said before she left.
Everyone went to their rooms, with Ren and Scarlet in the same room.
"Did you send in that request?" Ren asked, not knowing Scarlet had no intention of doing so.
"I did, but maybe it got stuck in the paper files, so for now we're going to be in the same room." Scarlet said.
"Oh well, I can change in the bathroom if you want, or vice versa." Ren said.
"I think I'll take the bathroom to change if you don't mind." Scarlet said.
"Sure." Ren responded.
Scarlet went into the bathroom while Ren started to change into his new uniform.
Ren put on his uniform, which was a similar white jacket with dress pants and dress shoes. These were his formal uniforms to wear at official meetings and celebrations.
"Hey Ren, does this look good?" Scarlet asked.
Her uniform was similar, but instead of dress pants, it came with a white skirt to match the jacket, and her shoes were similar to women's dress shoes.
The uniform looked beautiful on her; the white went great with her long red hair, and it complimented her curves fairly well.
"You look good, Scarlet; you look good." Ren complimented her.
Scarlet blushed and asked "Do you mean it?"
"Of course, when have I ever lied?" Ren asked, which made Scarlet smile even more.
"Okay, next up are the pilot uniforms." Scarlet said.
Scarlet went back into the bathroom, and Ren began changing again into the uniform he would wear while piloting. It was a greenish-brown body suit with armor located at the vital parts of the body to make sure if the sentinel was breeched, it would be harder for a fatal blow.
"Can I come out, Ren?" Scarlet asked from behind the bathroom door.
"Yeah I'm dressed." Ren responded.
Scarlet came out wearing a black and red body suit with similar armor on it; the armor stuck close to her skin, which made her curves even more obvious. Ren blushed seeing her as his imagination ran.
"You look beautiful." Ren spoke quietly but not unheard.
"What?" Scarlet asked as her cheeks blushed.
Ren started to think. "You know what? Screw it, Mrs. Rose was right."
"You look beautiful, Scarlet." Ren said out loud.
Scarlet's face turned even more red. "T-thank you!" Scarlet said before closing herself back into the bathroom.
"Was that a good sign?" Ren asked himself.
*In the bathroom*
"He actually said it...." Scarlet said to herself.
She couldn't believe he was being so honest by saying that.
Ren then knocked on the bathroom door.
"Hey Scarlet, Lily messaged me and asked if we could all meet at the cafeteria. Wanna go?" Ren asked from behind the door.
"Y-yeah let's go."
After that, Ren and Scarlet both went to meet up with Tyler and Lily at the cafeteria in order to get some lunch.
*Meanwhile in the Kuiper belt in the Sol System*
"Did the false report go through?" the woman sitting on the throne in the middle of the ship's bridge asked.
She was very beautiful, with long, light brown hair and glowing red eyes.
"Yes, Princess!" one of the people on the bridge said. "Our sources have confirmed they are currently planning an operation in the coming months."
"Good, call for some reinforcements from Planet Nine, then prepare defenses." the woman said.
"Understood Princess!" the man on the bridge said. "The Redeemer, The Revenant and the Harbinger are the closest ships to us and have agreed to take part in this operation."
"Good, get the generals on comms; I wish to have a meeting with them." the princess ordered.
"Understood!" the man said on the bridge.
The woman walked to a room that existed next to the bridge.
Then there were three holograms around a table in the center of the room.
"Ah, Princess Lucilia Aria Caelum, it's good to see your." one of the generals said.
"Yes, it is good to see you well, princess." another one of the generals said.
"Now what do you wish to talk about? I'm guessing it's about the operation." the last general said.
"General Attius, General Veranius, and General Seuso. It is good to see all three of you again, and yes, this is about the operation." Princess Lucilia said.
General Attius spoke first. "The Harbinger is ready whenever you call, Princess."
The other two generals also spoke: "The same for our ships as well." "We're yours to command."
General Attius spoke again. "We will of course offer advice if you need it, Princess Lucilia."
"Good, now I have sent false intel to the military of planet three, I want your ships along with mine to wait in ambush and destroy any of their pathetic ships that enter our sights as soon as possible." Princess Lucilia explained.
"Good; with our superior firepower, we should be able to crush them." General Seuso spoke.
"We should tell our knights to prepare for combat; after all, they will more than likely send their versions at us." General Veranius said.
"I will be joining our armies in combat." Princess Lucilia said.
The three generals were shocked.
"Your highness, all due respect. I don't suggest you do that." General Attius said.
"Your father would not want you to get hurt." General Seuso said.
"I don't care; no true royal earns their respect by sitting on their fancy chairs and not fighting alongside their people." Princess Lucilia said.
"Princess I-" General Veranius tried to say before being interrupted by Princess Lucilia.
"I don't care what you suggest, General. I'll be fighting, that's all. Understood?" She asked the three generals, and none of them disagreed.
After three generals logged off, Princess Lucilia sat down on her throne on the bridge and thought to herself.
"I have to fight, it's the only way I can surpass my sisters...."
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