“How are the shields chief?” Steven had made his way to the generator, found the man in charge - someone called Charles Hardwick, also known as Master Chief Hardwick. He was a scrawny man, a certified nerd, who didn’t have a family willing to allow him to attend an educational institution but managed to show his accumulated knowledge of shields and land himself a minor officer rank and oversight of the shield generators. 

“Yes sir! Commander Hewlett!” He, almost shouted in his squawky voice. “The shields are at optimal performance sir!” He didn’t seem to know if he should salute, this left his arm twitching at his side. 

“Thank you, Hardwick. There’s no need to salute…” Steven waved off the salute and made his way to the next station. He seemed to have to remind him of this whenever they spoke, though they’ve only spoke twice - he figured this was going to be a common occurrence. 

After a few similar encounters, with other oversight officers, Steven took a seat in his office and got back to coding a hacking program he’d been working on when the computer made a beeping noise and Captain Langley appeared on his screen. 

“Yes, sir.” He fumbled a salute, forgetting briefly that the Captain didn’t like saluting. “All systems are a go.”