A collab between [@SillyGoy] and [@Evil Snowman].

[h1][center][color=Fuchsia]Katya[/color] and [color=c7c7c7]Harold[/color][/center][/h1]
[hr]So Harold was squad officer. That came as a surprise to him, given how terribly everyone performed, and especially him. In other circumstances, he would have failed to suppress a smile at this sudden promotion, but a feeling hovering just over the back of his neck told him that he did not deserve it. He felt that Lieutenant Ritsu, by all rights, should have been the one to lead them. This was an obvious choice. Why command did not make this decision, and saw it fit to make him leader, Harold did not know. He did know, however, that it was pointless questioning the matter.

Soldiers were weapons first, and weapons were not required to think, much less disobey. It took some effort, but he managed not to smile during Ariin's chastisement. Yet even with his discipline, Harold had to consciously repress any reservations about slaying other cadets. He was sure that those elusive gods who signed his paychecks, the uniforms with stars and bars, had a good reason for all of this.

With the two senior officers' dismissal, Team Sigma was officially free 'till the next day. He took a few steps back and swept his gaze about to examine his new command, some of whom were leaving the room already. He had already pocketed the proferred badge and put the tazer into his holster which had remained empty since his demotion. It felt good to have the weight of a sidearm at his hip once again. Amongst his new squadron there so many faces, so many different personalities. Perhaps even too different, with a huge variety in background, education and age. This was going to be a difficult one. But he was sure it would all be sorted out, fine and dandy, later on. 

The scientist had also mentioned something about punishing Romanovna, the Caretaker's pilot. Harold honestly didn't know what to do as he turned to face the young woman.

The news of having to be punished really annoyed Katya, although truth be told a part of her was expecting it. But that still didn't make it any better for her. The young woman was frowning at the old man as he gave her the news.

[color=Fuchsia]"Yes, sir,"[/color] she stated plainly in response to his orders a hint of disdain lining the words. She wanted to say more but knew a she couldn't or she'd only get herself in to more trouble. The news of her impending punishment was playing on her mind as Ritsu began to explain what they'd be doing from tomorrow onwards. What kind of punishment would Harold give her? Would it be one of the more common military punishments or something else? These thoughts plagued her mind so much she missed half what the lieutenant said. 

When Ritsu left the room Katya let out a sigh, before looking at Lorenzo for a moment.

[color=Fuchsia]"Better get this over and done with. Hopefully Harold would decide not to make an example out of me."[/color] she thought noticing the very same person had turned to face her. 

[color=Fuchsia]"Right just keep calm Katya, he's just doing his job. No matter, the throws at the instructors back home had done worse."[/color] she thought, trying her best to mentally prepare for whatever fate awaited her.

Turning to face Harold, Katya slowly approached the older pilot, standing at attention and giving him a salute.

[color=Fuchsia]"Sir. Ekaterina Ozerova Romanovna reporting to you as ordered. Sir."[/color] She started again, a small level of disdian lining her words. Katya was still recalling the 'misunderstanding' from before the mock battle.

Harold returned the salute, but shook his head. His voice was also lower and softer than she had heard before. The older pilot stood straightly before her, hands clasped before his back. It was a bearing that had been made instinctive to him during his days as a starfighter instructor.

[color=c7c7c7]"No, none of that. No military formalities for now. We're just Cadets. I don't even know how to punish you or what to punish you for in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, we all performed terribly and won only through sheer luck."[/color]

[color=c7c7c7]"And, uh,"[/color] he rubbed the back of his neck, [color=c7c7c7]"I know I didn't make the best first impression to you guys, so I'd like to reintroduce myself to you."[/color] He held out his hand towards her, [color=c7c7c7]"I am Harold Buell."[/color]

Hearing Harold say "no military formalities for now" Katya relaxed her stance shifting it to the at ease postion. Glancing over at the old man for a moment as into imply her reason for not relaxing compeltely. After all even if she wasn't too fond of the older pilot so far she would respect his wishes if he didn't want formalities while he punished her. Still, she found it a little odd given this was a prefect chance for him to show off his authoirty. But she wasn't about to complain or say anything.

When Harold mentioned he'd like to reintroduce himself to her Katya gave a slight nod taking the hand he offered.

[color=Fuchsia]"Ekaterina Romanovna, pleased to meet you."[/color] she stated in a semiformal tone, again glacing over at the old man feeling a little paranoid he was watching this whole interaction. 

[color=Fuchsia]"As to why you're needed to punish me - to put it simply, I questioned our orders. As for how... well that is up to you. After all, sir, you are the officer now. So you have the power to punish me as you see fit,"[/color] she stated, shaking Harold's hand once before letting it go.

Her grip was firm and strong. Harold smiled at this. Strength was a quality he'd always admired. [color=c7c7c7]"Tell you what, Kate - can I call you that? - before our commanding officer comes in and interrupts our talk, how about we get out of here? Then we can think about how to punish you the best in peace."[/color]

With that, Harold left the room, entering the hallways and eyeing several nearby directional signs. The one that interested him the most, however, was "Cafeteria ↑."

He turned to his new charge. [color=c7c7c7]"Got any ideas?"[/color]

Hearing that Harold call her Kate, Katya eyes narrowed at the officer, an offended look appearing for just a micro second.

[color=Fuchsia]"Please do not call me that. I'm Ekaterina or if that is a little too much to say or too hard to pronounce Katya is accpetable.  But. Never. Kate."[/color] she stated, sounding slightly offened at the potential nickname. Giving a sigh, Katya let her hands fall to her side, before nodding to the idea of leaving.

[color=Fuchsia]"That would be good..."[/color] she said, trailing off stopping herself from adding something about Lorenzo. 

Following Harold out of the room, letting him lead the way once again, she found it rather odd when they ended up in the cafeteria. When asked if she had any ideas Katya looked at her superior officer for a moment thinking about what to say.

[color=Fuchsia]"How about we sit down? Standing in line like a board made me legs sore."[/color] Very well aware that was most likely that not the aim of his question. But truth be told Katya wasn't about to help Harold cook up a punishment for herself. Oh no that honor would be his alone.

Harold was getting an intense vibe from Katya the entire time. He'd expected genial conversation and a lightened mood, but perhaps that just wasn't her personality. It did not dissuade him from trying to get to know her better, though. Determined, he took a chair and sat down across her.

Synergy and teamwork were essential to the performance of any unit. If he couldn't achieve either, what kind of leader would he be?

[color=c7c7c7]"So Katya,"[/color] he said, looking over to the serving line. Over and counter and into the window of the kitchen, he could swear that he saw the flash of Sigma's silver hair for but a brief moment. [color=c7c7c7]"Want anything?"[/color]

Sitting down, Katya felt a small amount of relief, although really the sitting down as her legs were was an utter lie. She just wanted to sit down as it was more comfortable but didn't want to be truthful. It was rare when she simply didn't want admit she just wanted something but it happened every once in a while. Watching Harold sit down across from her Katya sat her hands in front of her. Looking at the older pilot as he said her name, an eyebrow raising as she noticed he looked into the kitchen window behind her. 

Whatever it was Katya didn't bother to pay it any mind. After all, they were here to discuss her punishment that the old man had demanded. When asked if she wanted anything, Katya shook her head.

[color=Fuchsia]"No, I ate this morning and I drank on the flight back. So I'm good for now."[/color] she stated, thinking of the parfait thing the Lorenzo had said they had waiting for them here. The mere thought of it made Katya stomach growl, much to the young woman's embrassment. 

[color=Fuchsia]"Well it seems my body is in disagreement. I guess I could eat something."[/color] Katya said, trying to avoid mentioning the reward  the old man had given them, still not wanting to help Harold punish her. 

Harold smiled. [color=c7c7c7]"Well, it's not going to be the parfait, because that's your punishment - no parfait. But that was a pretty loud growl. Don't worry, I'll get you some other treat - provided you pay."[/color]

With that, he stood up and went to the serving line. Katya could see that as he ordered, the serviceman indeed placed only one tall glass of parfait and a small, mysterious cup on his tray. Harold returned quickly, immediately diving into his dessert with a ready spoon. In the cup was vanilla ice cream layered with chocolate fudge.

[color=c7c7c7]"No parfait, but it's ice cream all the same."[/color] Harold shoved another spoonful into his mouth. [color=c7c7c7]"Seven credits, by the way."[/color]

Hearing that she wouldn't get to try the parfait thing, Katya frowned, feeling a little down, given she still hadn't eaten a lot of food from other worlds and her world made food from meat and whatever plantlife one could get their hands on. Even in the military station on orbit it was the same. But it seemed that the real punishment was the fact that she'd have to pay for something else. Something he would get for her, something she most likely have never eaten before and might not even like. 

But if that was her punishment she'd have to accept it. Hopefully he wouldn't get something too pricey. Looking over at the serving line, the young woman watched Harold receive something in a tall glass and a cup of something. Both food items were unknown to her. But if she had to take a guess she'd say what was in the tall glass would be the parfait thing. The cup she'd guessed would be hers.

When Harold came back Katya took the ice cream with a nod, feeling a pang of disappointment as she eyed off his parfait, which actually looked quite nice, before looking down into the cup.

[color=Fuchsia]"So this is Ice-cream.  A fun fact - I've never seen it before till now. Heard about it, but never seen it,"[/color]  she said, ignoring how much it cost, she'd deal with that later.

[color=Fuchsia]"So sir, this is your punishment: make a girl eat food she's never tried before and make her pay for it. I think I've learned my lession, I promise not to question orders."[/color] She put her spoon to the ice cream and slowly took a bite of it.

[color=Fuchsia]"Not bad. I think. It is certainly different."[/color]

[color=c7c7c7]"Good isn't it?"[/color] Harold said. He was eating rather quickly. [color=c7c7c7]"And yes - you should never question orders. I know Cadet Sorius, Ariin, likes to talk about heroism and the rights of human beings and this and that, but such luxuries are for civilians."[/color]

He let the spoon settle in the glass for a bit, and tented his fingers upon the table. His blue eyes stared intensely at Katya, and his tone became serious all of a sudden. [color=c7c7c7]"We are soldiers. We are weapons first, human beings second. Weapons do not think, and weapons do not disobey. When the trigger is pulled, we have to do our best, no questions asked. I'm sure you already know this, but it seems like Ariin has also gone through training as well and his philosophies are radically different from what I was taught. Talking like that to Lorenzo,"[/color] the former lieutenant shook his head, [color=c7c7c7]"if this were the regular Navy, he'd... well, you know how it is."[/color]

[color=c7c7c7]"So Katya,"[/color] He smiled again, picking up his spoon. [color=c7c7c7]"Enough about such matters. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"[/color]

As Harold talked about the others and heroism and that they were weapons frist and humans second, Katya couldn't help but shake her head, disagreeing with nearly every word the older pilot said.

[color=Fuchsia]"I don't think you are completely right, but I'm not willing to talk about it with you at this time, sir. All I say is - I know we are humanity's sword and it sheild but the question you should ask is, which are you?"[/color] she said in a neutral tone, not wanting to get into that sort of conversation with some one she didn't really know. Given she had very strong views on the matter and didn't want say something Harold might take the wrong way. 

To her those words made him sound like one of her Eden drones mindlessly clicking away to whatever it was told. But it was just her thoughts and naturally the matter was something more complicated than that.

When asked to tell her about herself, Katya shifted in her seat, still dwelling on what he had just said, the words not quite sitting right with her. Although she'd not say anything about it, those words would bother her for a while. Doing her best to bury them, Katya looked at Harold and gave him a small smile.

[color=Fuchsia]"So what do you want to know? I'll admit up front I'm from a hot desert world. I'm what on my world is called a poster girl. No that dosn't mean I pose for posters so keep those thoughts out of your head! It means I'm from one of the many mining outpost that dot my home world. I've been in the militray about 8 months spent nearly all that time in Caretaker."[/color]

[color=c7c7c7]"Ah, so you're from a rustic background as well.[/color]" Harold took another spoonful and let the utensil into the remarkably now-empty glass. [color=c7c7c7]"So am I. I was born in the Pugh System, to a bunch of stations named Sigma orbiting around a gas giant named Rostosov. Yes, I named my mech after it. We mine Helium-3 from its gas clouds and that's our main export to..."[/color]

So the two talked for some length. Harold was determined to get to know at least this squadmate better and his efforts largely satisfied him. It wasn't the instant click and swift friendship that he'd been looking for, but at least the young woman before him relaxed a little. The conversation was reasonably lively, and he could say that they both learned much about each other. They were two young folk from similarly rustic backgrounds but with a significant difference in personality, though at least they now had a strong acquaintanceship. The former lieutenant decided that he would have to content himself with that for now.

Synergy and teamwork were steadily appearing to be two rather elusive, hard-to-get things.

When the conversation between the to pilots came to an end Katya stood up and gave him slaute out of thanks and a hint of respect.

[color=Fuchsia]"Thanks for the conversation and going easy on me. Oh and the Ice cream, too."[/color] she said turning around taking a step away, before stopping.

[color=Fuchsia]"I've been thinking about what you said about what a solider is. I'll say this now since I feel it help will help you understand me. To be blunt I think you're wrong. Any soldier that follows orders blindly is an utter fool, no different from the aliens we will one day face. I'll leave it at that,"[/color] she said, turning to face him for a moment. 

Harold raised an eyebrow. [color=c7c7c7]"I hope this doesn't mean that you'll be disobeying my orders, Katya."[/color]

[color=Fuchsia]"No sir, but I might ask why once in a while? If you answer my why or not is up to you. Well then, good day to you, Harold,"[/color] she said, before leaving the cafeteria.

As she was leaving, Harold was staring at her back, and was still deep in thought even when the door had closed behind her. Letting his shoulders slump, and a tired sigh escape his lips, he made one decisive conclusion.

He muttered, [color=c7c7c7]"These people are difficult..."[/color]

But then he came upon another profound realization:

[color=c7c7c7]"She didn't pay me back my seven bucks!"[/color]