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"Those creatures." She said it gently. "The ones the Coalition won't prioritize."

"Yeah?" Jere said.

"It makes me angry that nobody does a single damn thing."

Reyna looked over at Elena and then at Jere. Jere was quiet, which was a big deal because Jere was never quiet. He looked at Elena so unguarded that Reyna had to look away, not because it wasn't hers to see, but because it was so plainly a moment between two people recognizing something in each other that she felt like an intruder.

"I want to do something," Elena said. "I just don't know what."

"We'll figure it out," Jere said. And thewein that sentence wasn't casual. Reyna knew, without either Jere nor Elena confirming so, that theweincluded her.

And she was surprised by just how happy it made her to be a part of their plans.

After that,months passed by faster than any of them wanted to acknowledge. Classes, courses, practicals, and exams blew past them as they advanced, learned, and perfected their skills. To be honest, Jere didn't really need to perfect anything since his skill was a rare and special gift and, frankly, Elena didn't need any schooling in being a leader and bossing people around. But here they were, spending time during their younger years preparing for their futures. And, at least, they were getting to do it together.

Meals became the time every day where they sat at the exact same table in the exact same configuration that they had started during orientation. It had become so expected that even the mess hall cook began setting the table for them before they'd even arrived. And when they weren't completing their own studies? They gravitated towards any additional sessions or extracurriculars with no need for discussion. Again, it was just expected that they'd do it together.

It was during all of this that Reyna discovered, to her own mild horror, that she had opinions. And not just opinions about what food was being served as 'healthy' in the mess hall, but also in ways such as not being able to keep it to herself when Elena was being strategically brilliant, but also just tactically reckless.

"You cannotflank a defensive position with only three cadets," Reyna said during an exercise, loud enough that Elena could absolutely hear her, and direct enough that Elena did stop. She then turned to Reyna with a raised eyebrow.

"I wasn't flanking. I wasenveloping."

"Call it what you want, Elena, but the truth was you were hoping the problem would be 'impressed' by your confidence and surrender voluntarily," Reyna scolded, not mincing words. "And you know it."

From just behind a barricade on their left, Jere made a sound that was most definitely a laugh disguised as a cough.

Elena just stared at Reyna. It felt like a lifetime, but was probably only seconds. But Reyna held her own. This was the part that horrified her. She didn't fret standing up to a leader. Sure, maybe she wasn't a leader yet, but Elena exuded leadership like some species exuded oxygen.

Then Elena's mouth twitched, the glimpse of a smirk hiding beneath her features. "Fine," she said. "What would you do?"

And since she was given this opportunity, Reyna told her. And lo and behold, Elena listened, implementing her suggestion.

They won the exercise four minutes later.

But it was after, when Elena looked at Reyna with an expression that saidI see you, that Reyna realized voicing her opinions, even if they were to keep her friend from being reckless, weren't a good idea if it meant she'd garner attention. At Elena's look, Reyna ended up busying herself with her equipment, avoiding any semblance of the topic or what it meant for her, or her cohort through Elena's eyes.

But see, that was the thing about Elena and Jere. Even when Reyna decided to pull back on her suggestions, they still kept noticing her. Even when she was careful to position herself in the background, taking on roles that were necessary but didn't act with any pomp and circumstance. And yet, her two friends kept seeking her out, turning towards her to find her there, hidden in the wings. And instead of letting her stay invisible, which is what she wanted and told them repeatedly, they would hand her a role, and not one in the background.

Elena would hand her tactics and missions. Jere always handed her the comedic relief and laughter. And between the two of them, they practically dragged Reyna into a version of herself she didn't even know existed. This version was the same one who argued about flanking strategy and pointed out logistical flaws. This version was the one who said things out loud that she'd previously kept sealed with no plans to ever let them free.

Even during late nights in corridors, where Elena outlined the captain she wanted to be while Jere got excited on her behalf, Reyna would point out every logistical flaw until Elena threw something soft at her head.

"You're supposed to besupportive," Elena would whine.

"I am being supportive. I'm supporting you by making sure your plans don't get people killed."

"She has a point," Jere offered.

"Shut up, Jere."

"Shutting up."

But what became legend were the nights that were truly absurd. And sometimes they were legend before they were even over.

Later in life, the three of them would call the time Elena wished for Jere to havenotbeen her responsibility in an exercise (one of many), 'The Simulation Incident.' It happened to beElena's least favorite story of a mission of hers going sideways. Which naturally meant that it was one of Jere's most treasured tales of their time at Novahall.

Reyna held most of the details in memory for decades after. It was a perfectly standard tactical exercise. They were performing a mission that included a hostage extraction, a multi-threat assessment with alternating variables only chosen by the system once their team entered the simulation, and all to be completed as timed objectives.