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It was a common trait among both recruits and veterans alike to hold themselves differently around high ranking officers. Salutes were crisper, stances straighter, tails held down just a little more than normal. Respect for the upper echelons of the military was practically genetic amongst Lupis, and Lucian understood why. These dogs were worthy of the respect of all, they had worked and bled for the Republic for too long to not earn that. The Leonians might cling to their politically minded rank handouts, to kin or faithful servants, but Lupis worked for and earned our status in society, our place in the Great Pack as it was known among those of the faith.

At least that was the general attitude. Lucian, having grown up attending dinners and galas with Senators, Generals and Admirals, even the occasional Alphate, felt far more comfortable around such leaders of society than most his age or ranking. It was a rare honor to meet one of the highest held leaders for most. Lucian had the privilege of peeking behind the curtain of mystery as it were, and like many other such situations, reality did not meet expectations. They all had faults, some drank too much at parties, some rarely interacted with their own pups, some ran their housestaff like a Cat-Lord Slaver.

This familiarity with the elite strata led Lucian to be far less reverent of them. Respectful still, certainly, that went without saying. However he wasn't blinded by the rank insignia and turned into a smitten pup like his fellow junior officers.

Shortly after their arrival on the Praxius the trio of garrison soldiers, and an adjunct guide directing them, passed their first Praetorian, clad in full battle gear, shoulder cape, battle sword and all. Devius and Rorick basically passed out. Lucian supposed they didn't know the Praxius was the Guards vessel, he decided to tell them things like that in the future. Just to prepare themselves. And not make a scene in the middle of a flight deck hallway.

Devius, practically wagging his tail in a most undisciplined manner ran up to the Guard and stroked a single digit down the side of the single-edged blade. "Lupis above, you guys really do have swords! Is it true they can cut through ship-grade armor plating?" Gasping and taking the hilt of the blade from the dogs hip "Are these the flame jets that fire the plasma coating? Or is this the port where the high powered ballistic slug fires from? This trigger here shoots it right?"

Before any unauthorized weapons fire occurred, Lucian interceded by pulling Dev off of him and back over to their little group. The Praetorian didn't seem very phased by the display, either it was a common thing among guests, they were just that well trained, or he knew he could break Dev in half without the sword on in a split second. Lucian guessed more towards the latter, as the adjunct led them further into the ship, bearing a scowl the remainder of the journey.

The deck plan was typical of the vessel class, heavy-cruisers were constructed piecemeal due to their size, so most everything was modular between bulkhead compartments. What did surprise Lucian however was the crew: by the time they had crossed about a third of the Praxius' length they had passed a mere dozen or so Praetorians. The ship was staffed almost entirely by navy personnel. Normally that wouldn't phase anyone, but this ship wasn't supposed to be staffed by standard military, the Praetorian Guard had its own dedicated naval division for this vessel and the others in their fleet. Entry requirements to that division were much less stringent than for the field Guard, but they still held their station as unique and wore uniforms of the Guard. Not standard naval gear.

Maybe the guard is having problems recruiting Lucian mused to himself, although that was unlikely.

The adjunct eventually stopped at an unmarked door and handed Lucian a datapad.

"Take this, present it to the staff officer behind the door and he will take you to be debriefed by command", and without so much as looking at them again the adjunct ran off, probably thankful to be rid of the task.

"Passed off to another staff officer? Really? That's a little inefficient." Rorick remarked. He wasn't wrong, the switch did seem rather unessarary.

Proceeding through the door, they walked muzzle first into a security checkpoint. Instructed to remove all arms, which they did, they passed through the scanning equipment not terribly unlike what one might find on the Spaceport they had just come from. Passing a glance at the screen behind the desk, Lucian noticed several additional scanning mesures not done at spaceports.

Devius Seppala

Age: 25

Coat: Blk/wht

Eyes: Blue/Brown Hetero

Full genetic Data See Below

Criminal History Detected

Criminal Sentence In Service

Threat: Low- status to be updated immediately

Health Screening: minimal risk

Mental Screening: abnormalities detected; monitoring required

Just the brief top segment of the report showed the fairly typical process of stepping through a scanner was far more invasive aboard the Praxius, by several orders of magnitude. Criminal record checks were standard practice, but genetic screenings? Health risk assessments? Mental scans? That was beyond anything Lucian had heard of. Almost certainly illegal outside a military vessel, yet even there it would call for some kind of oversight committee to investigate. The strangeness of this vessel kept growing the longer they were there it seemed.

They were ushered down a short hall then into a lift for a brief ascent. Another hall, a single turn of a corner and then finally into a conference room where they were seated and display monitors automatically popped up from compartments in the tables surface. The standard military after action report, along with a few special addendum sheets regarding the special action taken during the attack were simple enough to fill out. Simpler than defusing a bomb at least. Lucian was straightforward in the facts, explaining the lack of options and time he had. He hoped his candid report would be sufficient, although this was certainly a hard to explain situation he was in. The attack was certainly on the Outernet media by now, and news affiliates would rally the public to demand someone's blood. Since the perpetrators were either shot dead or... otherwise, Lucian knew the his would certainly be considered to fill the need. Even though he saved most of the lives on the station, the deaths could be blamed on him just as well.

An hour after the three finished their reports, having been sent up the line electronically as soon as they did, and the adrenaline high from the days events waned completely, boredom set in.

"Did they haul us to the far side of the ship, to some buried conference room, and forget about us? I'm getting the feeling we're sitting on our tails cause someone's got theirs up their ass." Rorick complained for the tenth time since the trio arrived.

Devius had thankfully found a means to occupy himself: he was bouncing a small rubber ball against the far wall, and had been since finding it in a cabinet. Apparently the conference room functioned as a venue for public tours of the ship, if the "I got to fly with the Praetorian Guard!" stamp on the side of the ball meant anything.

"They do have a mess to deal with Rorick. Imagine the chaos it must be getting all the civilians out of there. When I gave the orders to lock them all in I wasn't too concerned with getting them out later as much as I was about them being vented into space. You know. The pressing concern at the time."

"Then they should let us back down to help! We're totally wasted in here."

"You know there's a whole protocol about this. We were at the center of this mess, they have to clear us of liability before they let us leave the room, let alone think about going back down to the scene." Giving a pause, "Despite protocol, I do agree that every available paw should be station-side helping however they can, even if it is just us telling people what doors we sealed and what rooms we cleared. Saving them a bit of time would be far more useful than this, I completely agree."

"All this beats a cell. Speaking of which you think they'll stick me back in one after this? Conscription isn't ideal, but it beats a cell. Reclining office chairs and vidscreens with Outernet access, even filtered military versions, but it beats a cell. Im fine right here." Dev piped in. He wasn't normally one to peg as philosophical, but in this case he had plenty of insight.

"Honestly, Dev I don't know, but as far as I'm concerned as your CO and the one writing your evaluations to the Ministry of Justice, your meeting your obligations to the conscription without issue. If they try to hang all this on us, then yeah we'll all probably be in a cell. I hope it doesn't come to that though." Lucian attempted to comfort.

"No one here is going to a cell. All reports regarding the todays attack are going to be buried in redactions, your names won't even appear on the ones sent to High Command." a voice from behind announced. The trio of soldiers turned to see the muzzle behind the new voice; a tall dog, light cream coat with greying around the muzzle and ears. He wore a Praetorian Guard uniform, sans weapons, instead having a complex array of holographic displays orbiting him, likely from hidden projectors in the armor. Everything from unit health status charts to stock tickers reeled at about a few decimeters from his upper body. As he walked into the room, the panels constantly adjusted themselves to be better seen.

Outstretching a paw to Lucian, holo-displays moving in turn, "We would have had unimaginably greater causluties if it weren't for your efforts, you have my sincerest thanks, and my Guard will see that as far as the military is concerned, you were offstation inspecting a merchant vessel that approached too close to my fleet at the system's edge. I hope that is an amenable solution to the scrutiny you'd otherwise receive?"

Lucian took the paw and shook, not terribly sure who he was meeting. "I take it you read our reports, you seem to do a lot of reading on many subjects." He offered with a smile, "I'm sorry but you have me at a loss of a name, Sir".

"Oh yes of course, here I spent the morning digging into the all three of your lives, least I can do is properly introduce myself. I am Afnur Rexius. Former military, navy, I graduated top of my class at Lupa City Academy, I run the Praetorian Guard, Oh, and I did a short stint as a Senator, single term, wasn't very impressive besides a seat on the military affairs committee. Other than that there isn't much to say." the arguably single most powerful military officer then took a seat beside Rorick, while Dev and Lucian still stood, dumbstruck.

Dev was of course the first to speak up "Well I'm glad im not going back to a cell, thank you Mr.Alphate. One super important question though: Can I keep this ball?".

"Sure I don't see why not. Your Devius right? I understand you prefer Dev, so I'll use that. Dev, you have some amazing hacking skills, I'm interested in hearing how you got caught. The station security systems you broke into, those should have been basically impossible to breach during a lockdown, and you don't even have system clearance." Alphate Rexius waved a paw and most of his screens turned off, he then laid back in the chair getting comfortable. "Understandable that bit, though. You've got some talent, Dev, that's for sure. And your pretty damn good with a pistol, Rorick. I had one of my boys walk me through the corvette the bombers used, just two of you killed all those armed insurgents? Really impressive. Even impressed some of the Guard that went in there and saw it. Also, I would like to know what that mess in that bridge was about?".

Lucian hadn't really considered how many of the insurgents they had killed. They HAD been prepared, one of their comrades did give them time to erect barricades from the tables and cots. Rorick and Dev only had pistols, they weren't armed to fight like that either. It was rather impressive. Rorick was a very keen shot and his scores at the range showed that. Dev, he supposed, benefited from that scatterbrain of his by being able to see and predict the movements of everyone in combat, something even computers had difficulty with. Live fire was difficult to simulate with computers, let alone predict outcomes and impulsive decision making in the heat of combat. Maybe being a bit crazy helped with that somehow.

"Oh, yeah that wasn't us, that guy had a bomb in his head. His bosses must not have liked that his team screwed up so they popped him remotely. Or maybe that was the plan all along, we just put them behind schedule kinda thing. They could have been off station then set the bombs off. Killing them THEN would have made a great cover for whoever they worked for. No one to name names. It's what I'd do if I were planning a major attack. Not that I am." Dev helpfully informed us.

*Or maybe crazy is just crazy. I'm just glad his crazy is on my side.*

"Bomb in his head? Neat. I'll tell medical to check the other bodies real thoroughly with hazmat protocol." Turning to Lucian as he took a seat next to the Praetorians leader, "And you, Lucian Iceheart, I bet the press would go absolutely mad if I leaked your name. Your mothers campaign manager would have a heart attack, I'm sure. Maybe we can release the fact you were stationed here and stick with the story we're giving Command. You'll be free of blame, but still get the heros recognition for being onsite to help with the search and rescue efforts afterwards. Oh and don't think of it as a political bribe or anything, I'd be doing it to boost her numbers without any strings attached. Her and her budget hawk allies would never vote in my favor regardless of what I do, their too principled and I respect that. Plus I hate politics."

Still blindsided the Alphate and just how casually he brushed his fur of these things, "That is, with respect, Sir, something I'd prefer you didn't do. I feel that would be an unnecessary distraction from the actual disaster: lots of people died, lots of good Lupis. The story should be about them, not political. Also the disclosure of military postings, even my own, is not something I can't condone. It's bad enough the occasional reporter will recognize my name on my uniform, btu they have a general code of ethics they follow so isn't normally a problem."

The Alphate then made rather uncomfortable change in mannerisms, making eye contact more like a scanner than a lupis, almost as if he was sizing up prey. "Hmm principled then, like I should expect given your family. Defusing a bomb on a moments notices, your not a hollow-headed grunt. Also should be expected. Manners are on par with a Senatorial ball, you have a mind for that world of subterfuge too. You can look at a commanding officer and figure how to derail his career in a moment's time and replace him. You have the skillset to smash through the ranks, being a mere sergeant seems wrong. Hmm. It's the principle. You want an opportunity to prove you can do it. Unlike your peers in boarding school you didn't like the coddling you got with your families prestige, did you? No that's why you enlisted. You want to sink your teeth into your own kill, not buy it at a grocery store. I can see that drive."

"What I want and what I earn are two separate matters, Sir. If I don't earn the rank, I will not take it, even if I could." Lucian admitted both to himself and the Praetorian Guards master.

"Do you find yourself unworthy of the public recognition, then? How would it be unearned?" the Alphate asked with a quizzical expression, head tilt and all.

Lucian gathered his thoughts, "Well, I do believe effort should be recognized, bravery should be recognized. This.. today, I wasn't brave, I was scared. I'm lucky that the bomb was so crudely made, it was almost like they had never seen electronics it was so haphazard. I had no idea what I was doing when the StatSec officers looked to me for orders, I just went with something, I had no plan. Nothing I did is worth the recognition, not over the lives losts today."

The Alphate gave a hard look at Lucian, "Oh, stow the politicians humility out an airlock, will you? Once again, I hate politics. What you did was the very definition of bravery. Bravery isnt the absence of fear, it doing what must be done DESPITE being afraid. Luck has no place on a battlefield, there is never any luck involved either way. Skill, timing, preparation, determination, yes, never luck. And plans? Plans fall apart the moment they make contact with the enemy. A leader makes the plan as they go, a leader does, they act. They stick their paw in the middle of a bomb and cut the wire despite the fear of being blown up. Nothing you've said, written in your report, nor done has me convinced you are anything but brave and leadership material."

Abruptly standing up and making for the door, the Alphate waved a paw and summoned all his little screens once more, making a few taps at one to his left. "There, I've ordered that you three be given accommodations for the night here aboard the Praxius, afterwards, you'll be sent back to the Homeworld for leave, 2 months time. At the end of which, you can decide to be reassigned to a new garrison unit or somewhere else, or to accept these" he made a swiping motion with his paws, our own personal datapads buzzed with a notification. "The training center at the Arct Kyber Advanced Science and Military Logistical Center is where all new members of the Praetorian Guard go, along with elite units of most of the rest of the branches of service. Guards go there as an evaluation and training rather than the qualification testing that most do. I have the perk of being able to admit anyone I want into the Guard regardless of qualifications, though my Legates will be upset if you aren't up to par in the field. I myself have little doubt you'll do well. Please consider it."

With that bombshell he left the three dogs alone, vanishing into the halls of the massive cruiser as suddenly as he appeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dozens of Lightyears away, another military vessel was called to arms at the news of an attack.

A tall, tan furred male walked onto the bridge of a massive Imperator-class battleship, the bridge crew submerged in open pits along either side of a wide, railingless walkway. The male, in his resplendent and borderline gaudy uniform, stopped at the end of the catwalk, where a lowly ensign stood holding a datapad.

"My Lord, this message is from Thebis, there's been an attack. The local garrison is reporting heavy losses and the slaves are reportedly stirring in a possible revolt!" The smaller feline handed the datapad to his commander.

Lord Admiral Tolemy S'Ibis tossed the datapad aside, he already knew what had been bombed, the size of the bomb, and that the garrison would be incompetent in dealing with the aftermath. His personal network was better informed and quicker than the standard military channels.

"Ready all vessels. His Majesty's Fifth Armada will be onsite as soon as our engines will allow. We make way to Thebis immediately". He announced to his bridge. Even if His Majesty gave orders for a different Armada to respond to the attack, the Fifth would be going to Thebis anyway. The slave repository and military facility that had been bombed had been S'Ibis's own. In fact, most of the major industries on Thebis belonged to the Lord Admiral, or his family. This was not just an attack on the Empire, but an attack on the S'Ibis clan. These Lupine terrorists would pay dearly for their crimes.