Serena heard various others behind her announcing their names and position, and felt her heart sink a little. [color=hotpink][i]Right. Professional military. Shit.[/i][/color] Looking back over at Sabinus, and the look in his eye, she was struck by a memory of her first day in Alliance boot camp, almost 20 conscious years ago (God, had it really been that long?). She had approached her Alliance drill sergeant in much the same manner, and had an inkling about what was going to happen. [color=hotpink][i]So history [b]does[/b] repeat itself.[/i][/color] She thought to herself, sighing quietly. this wasn't going to be fun. If she was lucky she wouldn't get to much sand in her armor. As the turian spoke to her, she snapped to attention, eyes ahead as he reprimanded her. She gave a quick ‘yessir’ and dropping to the push ups. She had earned this, and wasn’t going to complain. A brief urge to count every second push up in spanish and every third in latin struck her, as he had never said that she had to do it in a language he understood, quickly suppressed. That would only make things worse on herself and perhaps the entire crew. She counted quietly but distinctly, not loud enough to be a distraction to Sabinus’ speech but clear enough that he couldn’t question whether she was doing as he asked. She had just lowered herself for another push up when he claimed she was going to get people killed. Anger shot through her, hot and harsh. She wouldn’t do that. She’d [i]die[/i] before she did that again. It was fortunate that her face was faced firmly away from him and towards the ground, so he couldn’t see her expression. She gritted her teeth, hands slowly clenching into fists in the sand. [i]That[/i] she hadn’t earned. It was one thing to punish her for forgetting what they were. It was quite another to kick her while she was down, just to prove a point that didn’t need to be proven. They weren’t raw recruits, volunteering because of posters or the need to get out of slums. She had read all their dossiers. They were all soldiers, all veterans. They didn’t [i]need[/i] a reminder of what was at stake, of how they could get people killed. [color=hotpink][i]Judging from your face, avoiding your definition of ‘loose’ behaviour might actually be detrimental.[/i][/color] It was right there, on the tip of her tongue. Slowly, she exhaled as she pushed herself up, following his order to fall in without a word. Letting her anger control her would only make him right. As she met his eyes, Sabinus towering above her, she wondered if she was hiding her anger well enough. Doubtful. [i][color=hotpink]Translation: I am not a strict authoritarian except when it suits me so be prepared for that to show up at any point in time. Also, if you don’t show precise discipline in this, self-admittedly, loose military I’ll accuse you of being a reason why we lose people. Have fun.[/color][/i] She knew it wasn’t fair, but she didn’t care at the moment. She’d get over it later. Right now, she wanted to stew in her anger. As Sabinius gave the order to move out, Serena called behind her for Del to bring her helmet. The drone beeped in acknowledgement, flying behind her with an omni-lash around the helmet and dropping it in her hands. As they reached the destination, she grabbed a predator and an avenger, appreciatively eyeing Noori. She wasn’t so angry she couldn’t see a beautiful woman when she saw one. She waited patiently for everyone to grab their preferred weaponry, examining the area they had to work with.