Chapter 56 | Inceptor

The Aquila entered the Inceptor's bay, slowing down and landing. Leon got up and placed the sword on his hip as the mana engines powered down.

"After you." Jeffrey stepped aside on the aisle.

Leon nodded and walked ahead. He waited by the door as the ramps from the other side finished extending.

A second later, the door slid open revealing the small bay that held two Valkerie Orbital Carriers.

At the end of the ramp, a cavora in black gloss armor stood at attention.

THUD.

The entire cavora saluted in unison as Leon took the first step onto the ramp. He scanned the ranks to see Nyra and Mason at the front with seven other leads.

All Ruinaris. He thought as he made his way towards them.

He stopped in front of them, removed his helmet, and raised his hand. The cavora dropped their salute and remained at attention.

What do I say? I didn't prepare a speech…

Leon looked around trying to remain composed and bid time until an idea of what to say came to mind.

An awkward silence for a few seconds lasted while Leon kept on scanning the ranks back and forth.

"Ahem."

A soft cough from Nyra was the push he needed to improvise.

"Hello…"

Hello? Why hello? He was already regretting he opened his mouth on the first word.

"Ahem. I am Captain Ezra. Your new commander. We have gathered here today…" In the middle of his sentence clarity hit him. "Because each and every one of you are the elites of the Imperial Covenant. I do not care who you are and where you came from and I may be new to command, but fear not, for I will not set this cavora up for failure. You have my word."

Thud.

His right fist hit his chest in salute a beat after his last word.

THUD.

The cavora saluted in unison in return.

"You are dismissed." Leon dropped his salute and looked at Nyra and Mason. "Captain Rae and Captain Saar, please follow me."

As the cavora turned around and continued on, Jeffrey stepped forward in front of Leon and removed his helmet, revealing the face of a young man that may have been no more than two years older, with blonde hair and golden brown eyes.

"I will be in my quarters if you need me. You should receive your first mission sometime today." Jeffrey turned around without waiting for a response from Leon.

Leon felt a nudge to his side.

"Smooth speech," Nyra said, holding her helmet to the side with a grin on her face.

"You think so?" Leon scratched the back of his head.

"Pfftt. No. Hello? That's the best intro you can come up with? And don't think I didn't notice the copied Warcenturion Vauhn's speech." Nyra held her free hand to her stomach and her lips quivering trying to hold in the laugh.

He shrugged.

"I changed some of it and I thought it was good."

"Only an idiot would think that was good."

"LEON!" Mason's loud voice echoed in the bay. "That was an amazing speech. Gave me goosebumps."

The big guy grinned wide as he walked towards them after talking to some of his members.

"See? Mason thought it was good," Leon said, raising his chin, basking in pride that he got through the speech and someone liked it.

"Like I said, only an idiot would think that was good." Nyra patted his shoulder.

The way it felt like she was comforting him wiped off the pride on his face.

They talked briefly to get Leon up to speed. He made Nyra leader of Vora Two and his Vice Commander while Mason was leader of Three and the third in command. The other leads and other members were appointed by Victor.

He asked the two to get familiarized with the cavora while he got his blood modification done. He had told them he would be getting a check up due to his method and they didn't pry any further.

"Why do we have our own Corvette?" Nyra asked. "Shouldn't we be in the frigate and a more experienced Obsidian be in charge?"

"Because they noticed how awesome Leon is," Mason beamed as if that answered everything.

Nyra glared at Mason raising her hand in the air.

"Just cause he got you into the Order doesn't mean you can keep kissing his ass."

Mason retreated and stood behind Leon.

Leon chuckled. "I don't know." He looked at the notification he received when he was giving his speech, pulsing in his visual cortex. "I am trying to find out myself. Let me know if something comes up. I'll be in my quarters. I've got to take a call from command."

"Okay. Come on Mason, we need to go over the equipment," Nyra said.

Leon synced to the Inceptor's systems. A map guided him to his new quarters that was close to the bridge of the ship.

While the room looked like the one he had at Ferros, it was double the size. The desk and bed were also larger. On the desk was a built-in terminal.

He synced to the terminal and put his palm against the display to unlock it. It took a few seconds for the CRI to personalize the terminal and encrypt it.

Once it was done, a hologram of Director Kaine materialized above the terminal.

"What can I do for you Captain Ezra?" the Director asked with lips curling.

"Why am I commanding a Corvette?"

"We can't have our golden goose in a ship outranked by someone not in the Ruinari Program," Kaine said lightheartedly.

"Golden goose?"

"Its a metaphor. Your blood modification data is speeding up the rollout to others in the program. In about a year, we would be able to start performing the procedure on others."

"So you decided to have me in command of a warship?"

"Its not uncommon for family members of a Domain Archon. Members of the Order outrank those of the same rank in the regular army, but if we assign you to the frigate where another Obsidian or a higher rank is stationed, if something happens, it'll be difficult for us to secure you." "Secure me?"

"Tch… you have a lot of questions. Yes, secure you. To get more data."

"Okay… but I don't know how to command a warship."

"You don't need to do anything. Majority of the crew are part of the Ruinari Program. They know what to do if something happens. Its formalities."

"What about the supervisor? Jeffrey Carter?"

"Part of the faction under a Domain Archon. We couldn't pull too many strings without raising suspicion. Well look at the time, got to go." The hologram faded.

Leon didn't move.

Domain Archons don't know about this program?

"What did I get myself into?" he muttered.

He pulled up the crew list.

A total of two hundred and fifty people outside of his cavora were on the list. Eighty percent of the crew had the Ruinari symbol on them. The only ones that didn't were low ranking members needed to help run the vessel.

Beep.

Leon opened the notification that appeared.

To: Captain Ezra, Leon
Subject: Deployment Orders
Planet: Gravemire
Objective: Initial Clearing of Mana Resonant Material Site…

Coordinates and files were included along with the last updated situation report.

He shifted through the files, and after he had a general idea of what the mission entails made his way to the bridge to look for the vessel's captain.

"Commander on deck!" a man at the center of the bridge announced, standing up to salute as Leon stepped through the doors.

"At ease"

Five of the six crew members sat back down in their station and returned to their work. Ferros stretched out beyond the viewport. The bridge was quiet, lit by the soft glow of consoles and the occasional flicker of a status light.

"Henry Yale, sir." The man who announced Leon's arrival walked up to him and extended his hand. "Captain of the Inceptor."

Leon shook Henry's hand.

"Leon Ezra."

"What can I do for you sir?"

Leon moved towards the viewport with his hand behind his back gazing at Ferros, the frigate, and the rest of the escorts.

"We have our orders. I already uploaded it to the Inceptor's database. How long until we are ready?"

"Resupply is finishing up. A day at most before we can depart."

He nodded and put his helmet on.

Open communication line to Captain Rae.

Beep.

"What's up?"

"Did you see the orders I uploaded?"

"Mhm. The MRM site mission."

"Yeah. We are departing in a day. Please notify everyone else."

"What? Do you not want to give another speech?"

Just from the warmth in Nyra's voice, Leon didn't have to look to know she was smiling; that soft, teasing curve that always found a way to reach him.

"Stop messing around Nyra, this is serious. I still have other stuff to do and figure out."

The slight smile that formed on his lips contradicted what he said.

"Fine. Bye."

The line was cut from the other end.

Leon chuckled, his gaze lingering on the stars beyond the viewport. He was now a commander of a warship. Distant stars pulsed, as if calling him forward into something vast and inviting him to discover what lay ahead.