While the Headmistress got the teachers settled into their new roles at the Academy, Max had his own employees to settle.

Namely, there were two Cruisers that needed new Commanders since they had been sent with a full staff and a Battalion of Mecha each, but the decision as to who would lead them had been left up to him, as the leader of the Terminus Trading Company.

He had been reading the minds of his senior officers for a few days now in order to determine who would be best for the role and had found the answer was unexpected and completely predictable at the same time.

None of them particularly wanted a promotion that would take them off Terminus, but Colonel Lucci and Colonel Klinger of the Second and Fifth Battalions, respectively, were the obvious choices, as both had the qualifications.

Some of the officers thought that sending Casanova might work out well. He was a skilled tactician and pilot with excellent negotiation skills and the added benefit of horrible luck in love, so they wouldn’t need to worry about him fooling around on the job.

The man’s pride might be irreparably damaged if Max promoted him for that reason though.

There were other choices as well, Reavers who had trained all their lives to take command but were too far down the list of seniority, so they had chosen to take a chance on a newly formed Company when Max expanded the roster and had proven themselves capable after arriving aboard the ship.

The most notable two were Luke Tarith, a distant cousin of Nico, and Marcus Blaze, a Major in the infantry who was from a Reaver family. Both were loyal and well respected, though their connection to Max was distant at best.

He got regular reports from both as leaders of their sections, but neither had shown any attempt to get close to him and try for a spot in his inner circle of trusted Lieutenants.

He needed interstellar vessel Captains and negotiators, not Mecha pilots, for the ships, so Max was tempted to choose the Reavers and not lose two of his Battalion commanders. Then he could pick a Mecha Battalion Commander for each Cruiser from among the new arrivals.

[Luke Tarith and Marcus Blaze, please report to the Commander’s office.] Max announced over the intercom, after finally making his decision.

He would have to start grooming new leaders as well since they had more Cruisers coming in the next few months, and he couldn’t just send away all his Battalion Commanders to lead other ships. Finding good and trustworthy combat leaders was much more difficult than finding good and trustworthy managers.

The two men came jogging in soon after, one silently, as was customary for the diminutive members of the Tarith family, and one with the solid footsteps of a full conversion cyborg.

“Commander, how can we be of service?” Luke Tarith asked, shifting to a comfortable ready stance.

“I’ve heard very good things about both of you, and your resumes are impeccable, so I am willing to offer you a chance at a promotion. Terminus Trading Company has two new Cruisers in orbit, and they need Commanders.” Max began.

Their eyes lit up in joy while the two tried to remain somewhat professional during what they now realized was possibly the most important interview of their lives.

“You would really choose us over your closest Captains?” Marcus asked.

“My Captains and Battalion Commanders are the best at what they do, and I can’t spare any of them to lead a Cruiser. I will pick leaders for the Mecha Battalions aboard your Cruisers from among the ranks of new arrivals, and you two will take command of the ships themselves.

The most important matters during the first few weeks will be building morale and loyalty. These crews were hand-picked for us, but they don’t know us. At least not yet. I will be watching closely to see how well you can bring them into the Terminus Trading Company family.

For now, you will be on escort duty, ensuring the safety of the Colony Ship, so I will have both vessels dock with Terminus one day a week to let the new members mingle and get to know the crew and our guests.

The rest of the time, it’s up to you to get them into shape. Any questions?”

“Can I choose my second in command to go with me?” Luke asked.

“Within reason. Who did you want?”

The short man stepped over to the data screen on the wall and brought up one of the Sergeants from the infantry, a middle-aged man with one eye who had been serving longer than Max had been alive, thanks to a few extensions in lieu of prison time.

Most notably, he had killed an undercover Inquisitor for countermanding their Colonel’s orders and resolutely refused to accept that the man was not a traitor at trial. His adamant stance that the man was, in fact, a traitor led to a hung jury. It was a capital crime to kill an Inquisitor, but it was no crime at all to kill a traitor. Since there was no evidence either way, it came down to reasonable doubt, and the Military Tribunal chose not to convict him of murder but of failure to follow protocol for rebel and traitor officers.

Which extended his already lengthy term of service by an additional year, along with a one-month dock of his pay.

“At the very least, he looks loyal. If you think he can do the job, you can have him, but remember that your crew is a reflection on you, and I will be expecting positive results.”

“Thank you for your trust, Commander.”

Max looked to the big cyborg to see who he wanted as a second, but the man was deep in thought.

“I don’t know the right person to be my second. With permission, I’ll pick one from the ship’s crew. They’ve had a few days together, and that’s enough to see who the naturals are.” He decided.

“Take your time. You’ve got 48 hours if you need it, but I’ll transfer the Command codes now, so you can call for a shuttle any time you want to go meet your new crew.

Terminus will be here for a while, and you will be guarding her, so you can have your belongings shipped to you if you want to go see your new homes right away.”

“I’ll take you up on that, Commander. But first, I need to change if I’m going to make a good impression on my crew. I wonder if Luke’s cousin Nico has any fashion advice.” Marcus joked.

Even for a Reaver, Nico was flamboyant. And she had a reputation for finding just the right outfit for every occasion, but never the one you expected. If anyone in the ship could outfit the two new Commanders, it was her.

“Wait right here. I’ll call her over to dress you two. You can make yourself a whole new wardrobe when you get to your new station if you want. I’m told that looking the part is important, and as the ship’s Captain, you have a rather sizeable energy allotment for personal use.” Max agreed.

The two men chuckled at Max’s estimation of what the value of dressing the part meant, since he was wearing a black linen tunic shirt and jeans with military boots, looking just like any other Reaver with no meetings for the day, and he had never been one to get overdressed to meet his own crew.