[b][i]Windsor and His Crew - Flashback[/i][/b]

As the Xuangang fought against the remnants of the Delios Fleet on the way to Plenty, William Windsor and Captain Aisha Ibrahim's 'freighter' were joined by two more converted merchantmen from the Autonomous Trading Fleet bearing additional supplies for the 'mercy mission', a mission that Windsor was now getting nervous about.

"What if the people on Ponin hate me? What if they consider me a fraud? Or what if they want to get back in the Ascendancy's good graces and are hostile for that reason?" Windsor, now changed to a normal crewman's clothes (though he still had the badge of the Trading Fleet's CEO), said as he paced the cargo bay, which was now loaded with food and clothes and medicinal supplies for the population of Ponin. "Or what if I flub up and they decide that I'm a selfish ass who's trying to imitate the person on whose behalf the Ascendancy committed atrocities against?"

"Can it, Windsor!" Aisha's voice cut through the speakers, "If you want to be useful, go check the shipboard recyclers for leaks instead of whining for hours on end! You chose this, remember?"

Windsor took a deep breath, then said, "All right, all right - But what if it seems I'm making light of the sufferings of those people?"

"Recyclers, now!" the Captain said, and William knew better than to continue to slack off. Not that he was that good at checking shipboard recyclers for leaks in the first place, but he was getting better. And to be honest, it was interesting to learn the skillset - He couldn't believe that people did this sort of thing as a job, yet they did, and he had to admit admiration for the people who did this regularly...

[B][i]Ponin, Orbit[/i][/b]

Ponin was a world that had suffered, and beneath the walled compounds where the rich lived, it showed. After the purges which occured on the world, only the most vital economic assets had been rebuilt, with the rest of the cities and countryside left derelict. Education had been especially restricted, with schools only teaching the basics needed to make a productive worker and nothing more, and children of former rebels, unless adopted into a 'loyal' family, being forbidden from secondary school or higher. While no one truly [i]starved[/i], people went hungry, and sickness was rife as hospital access was similarly restricted, especially for those injured in the rebellion and the atrocities afterward.

As the three ships flew into low orbit, Captain Aisha asked Windsor, "How did you manage to get them to let us through?"

Windsor said, "Bribery. Plus I told them I was testing new food products, clothes, and potential medicines on the people of Ponin, which is technically the truth."

"So, we're just going to set up a soup kitchen and call it a testing station, then?" Captain Aisha said. "And you'll be with us all the while, serving food?" At seeing Windsor nod, the young woman said in exasperation, "You know, you don't need to do this just to be more like Kherol. Being loved is all well and good, but [i]fire kills[/i], an ancient general once said back when we were confined to one planet. Just have more guns and shit and you won't need to be loved."

Windsor smiled thinly before saying, "I have plenty of guns, but what use are they without people to shoot them for me? Or people who won't turn them on me when faced with a superior threat or offer? No, I have to do this or else I'll be unworthy to put myself in the Rebellion's helm."

[b][i]Ponin, Capital City[/i][/b]

It was winter in the capital city, and Windsor, now wearing a cold-weather jacket and thick trousers, was having a snowball fight with some slum kids while Captain Aisha looked on with disapproval. At first, she thought Windsor was idling around instead of manning the soup kitchen, which some of her subordinates were keeping stocked instead. Then she thought that Windsor had some... Unhealthy impulses which did not merit being talked about in polite company. But, as she was him [i]genuinely having fun[/i] with these orphans - At least she assumed they were orphans - Captain Aisha grasped something which had been vague to her for days.

Windsor was, in his heart of hearts, a child himself. Despite being an adult in body and in years, Windsor clearly had not had time to play games or play them with other kids back when he was one himself. At most, he had socialized online or with only a small circle of real-life friends. That didn't mean that what he was doing, treating slum kids like friends, was in any way safe or rational, and so she should pull herself back before he got stabbed with a shiv.

But she couldn't. What her boss was doing was foolish in the extreme, but seeing him smiling and happy, well, it was no substitute for the genuine commitment the Grand Admiral he was harping on about had inspired in others, but she still felt it, she still felt aa ghost of affection for the idealistic and blatant person whom she worked under. But would it last? Did she want it to last?