Asteroid Blues

Al Hawwa' Sergeant Sera Yalaz leaned against the bulkhead of the otherwise empty mess deck of the SNF Iskanderun, playing a Myrmidon Wars video game on her comlog, and waiting for her first nutrient-enhanced coffee of the day.

Yalaz quickly squashed the holo-display of her comlog and saluted to Lieutenant Zahia Soltani of the Ramah Task Force, a new face to the Iskanderun.

"At ease, Sergeant," Soltani said. "I'm a passenger on this ship, and this isn't a duty station."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Yalaz relaxed slightly. She wasn't used to their RTF detachment yet, and she wasn't used to running in to anyone at "night." She took this shift because she didn't like running in to anyone. "Are you looking for someone? Is there somewhere I can show you?"

"No, I just can't sleep. Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not." Yalaz lied.

Soltani activated the coffee maker for a second cup after Yalaz took hers. "The ship is lovely of course, I'm just not used to being off planet yet."

"With all due respect, ma'am, I know we did a rush job of converting those rooms for your detachment. Serviceable is about all I'd call them. She is a good ship, though..." Yalaz weighed spending her break staring at a superior officer against making an attempt at "normal human interaction."

"Is this your first time in space, ma'am?"

"Aside from zero-g tolerance training, yes. This is my first command out of Officer Academy. It's a testament to the quality of training in the Sword of Allah that anyone listens to me at all."

"I wouldn't have guessed, ma'am." Yalaz didn't lie this time. Soltani had an air of authority about her.

"I'm keeping you from your duties. If anyone asks you can tell them your time was diverted under my authority.

"Thank you, ma'am. I think I'll be fine, ma'am." Yalaz headed to the doorway, but paused. "I've seen your profile, ma'am. You graduated with some of the best marks in years. I'd trust your judgement in the field. And even those of us who hardly touch the ground now had a rough first time in space."

Soltani watched Yalaz leave the mess deck and berated herself for undermining her own authority so casually. She did, however, feel a little bit better after hearing the NCO's last words.

Lt. Zahia Soltani punched the bulkhead outside the medical facility of Pakngein NBIS.

She heard, more than felt the crunch of bones and cradled her fist in the other hand, mentally filing away that she needed to have herself patched up too, now.

She kept running through the events in her head. Another investigation detail. Possible hostiles in the area. Proceed with caution.

It was her first time taking command of more than her own RTF detachment. The only one she knew before was the infowar specialist, Sgt. Sera Yalaz.

The Shihab had identified the first hostile, spitting a stream of rounds over Yalaz's head, but was silenced just as quickly as the firing had started.

Yalaz was professional, reporting everything she saw in a quick and concise manner, right up to taking fire herself, and her comms cutting out.

When backup arrived she thought she'd be able to make a recovery, but the USAriadnans were vicious. They didn't just want to interrupt the investigation, they wanted to gun down every team member there.

She owed it to the team to stage a recovery mission. The asteroid was small, they needed to be fast.

She remembered her hand.

"Alḥamdulillāh for modern medicine." she muttered to herself and entered the med center.