Michael Lindberg looked up at the shuttle in front of him. It was a beauty! He'd never piloted a Fusion X4 shuttle before. Too many of his duties were on base.

He felt pride well up inside him. For years, Lindberg was a man who had striven to make rank and have his own command. He had ticked every box on every form, licked every military grade boot, and above all things he followed the rules. Rules were important, without them the universe was a chaotic mess. And there was no beauty in chaos. The universe needed auditing, it needed to be put together in a way that made sense. For this, there were rules and law.

Captain James Watts was a disgraceful man. He'd been given command of the mission to go and investigate the Dalia, but he was unqualified! The only reason Watts had a Captaincy was purely political. He had some relative or other in political circles on Callisto or Ganymede was it? The details were irrelevant, as was Watts' captaincy.

But this time he'd gone too far. Lindberg had wound up having a dispute with some father figure who wanted to take a ship out to Dalia and Lindberg had of course refused it. The rules were clear, it didn't matter how emotional the man was feeling. However Watts had marched out of his mission debrief and told Lindberg the control had authorised a civilian crew! For a mission of this magnitude? It was absurd.

Lindberg was unhappy with this resolution and he reported to Mission Control himself. They informed him that they had authorised no such thing, of course. However by the time the meeting schedule had been processed, the landing shuttle had taken off and they were already en route to the Dalia! Lindberg requested special permission to put together his own crew which would be strictly comprised of trained professionals.

Unfortunately time was of the essence. The X4 was a fast ship but it needed to catch up to Watts and his rag-tag crew sharpish. The man had even been intoxicated when he left! It was an outrage. Not wanting to let this abomination continue much longer, and finally having authority for his own command Lindberg was very eager to get going.

The problem was, there were no available personnel on the roster so he found it necessary to put out a call for arms. This meant he wouldn't have much time to vet the candidates, but he'd been sure to specify they'd be of a certain level of training and usefulness. He'd stump at mercenary hire if it came to it. They didn't much follow the rules but they were a safer bet than the civilians Watts had opted for.

He'd located the shuttle's signal. All comms thus far to the ship had failed because Watts was probably asleep. He would keep trying. Picking up the receiver, he was happy to see the call finally going through.

"Watts! You have broken another six or seven mission control directives and you've barely even left Europa!" Said Lindberg with authority. He had to put the man in his place.

There was a pause. He'd clearly been perturbed.

"Sorry Mike, won't let it happen again buddy. Literally won't!" Came the cocky voice back through.

Lindberg shuddered. Mike was an informal name. He hated it, and Watts knew that. He was intentionally trying to get under Lindberg's skin. But it wouldn't work. Lindberg had the high ground this time!

"Well you've gone too far this time! Mission Control has ordered me to correct your mess! I now have a command of my own! I will be leaving shortly with a non-civilian crew. We are taking one of the Fusion X4 shuttles so we'll outrun that thing you're in and catch up to you before the Dalia boarding even begins."

He heard a quiet sigh on the comms. It was satisfying.

"We shall do the mission by the book! Lindberg Out!"

Lindberg smiled and glanced down at his clipboard. It had the names of the people who had signed up. Not many truth be told, but he was hopeful there would be a few additional recruits and on just this one occasion he would allow them to board without signing the prior sign up sheet.

Because this was his command. He could make the rules. It was bliss.

"Put down your clipboard. I won't be on your list."

Lindberg looked up into the masked face of...some person or other. Who was this?

"What is your name please?" He said, trying to be professional.

"El Diamente Azul" Replied the young lady who was adopting a fighting stance as she spoke. She wore a blue mask that covered most of her features.

"This is a military mission, we have no need for entertainers." Said Lindberg dismissively.

Diamente snarled and swung her leg around in a swift arc. It connected with, but avoided Lindberg's neck by a hair. Lindberg swallowed nervously.

"Is this entertaining?" She said smugly.

Lindberg calmed himself down with a deep breath.

"Very well. But I will have to write you up for attempting to assault an officer." Said Lindberg, reluctantly scribbling.

A woman was watching this stand-off with some amusement. She had a huge smirk on her face.

"Can I help you?" Asked Lindberg miserably.

"I'm coming on board. Save me a spot."

Lindberg frowned at the woman in question. She was dressed very strangely. She looked like a ghost.

"I don't just let-" He began but was overruled by her voice.

"Officer Michael Lindberg. Born and raised on Ganymede. Took your officers exam on Ceres and passed with high grade certification. Despite this have been turned down for command on no less than twelve separate occasions. Very tragic."

Linderg opened his mouth to speak, paused, and then spoke again.

"Looking up data before the mission doesn't buy you credibility." He warned.

"I did look it up before the mission, you're right." Said the woman. "I looked it up three seconds ago."

She smirked.

"Put me down as Izza. And don't worry about qualifications for duty. I'm much smarter than you."

She went and stood in the corner with a smile. She could feel the officers' disapproval.

Another young woman approached.

"Name please." Said Lindberg.

"I'm down as Arissa." She said with a smile.

"Ah yes. I have you on my list." Said Lindberg with a smile. It was nice when there was order to the chaos.

"Hmm. It says here you were meant to have boarded the Dalia the day it left."

Arissa nodded sadly.

"I was sick with flu. But I'm better now and I'm ready for this mission!" She replied excitedly.

Lindberg ticked a box and nodded.

"Very well. I should hope so. We don't want germs spreading on board."

With a huge smile, Arissa nodded.

"Thank you so much!" She said, running towards the ship.

Lindberg admired the enthusiasm.

"You should treat these women with some respect." Said another female voice. Lindberg looked up to see another woman standing in front of him with a determined look.

He didn't have time for politics. Everybody was treated with respect provided they carried the appropriate credentials.

"Name please?" Was all he deemed the response with.

"I'm down as Portia." Replied the woman.

Lindberg looked at his list.

"Ah! You're on the list."

"I'm on a lot of lists." Said Portia dismissively.

List? Ha! Who needs a list!?

I should be on this list as I am a medical professional who, in my humble opinion, is over-qualified for this mission. Check it again.

A man approached. He was dressed smartly which was a good sign. Somebody who took rules seriously.

"Name please?"

The man cocked his head.

"Not a big fan of names really. But you can put me down as Dain, since it's what I go by."

Lindberg scribbled.

"Not on the list..."

Dain shrugged. "Not on that one in any case. What is it you need? I can assemble a weapon in minutes, probably faster than you can these days if you're stuck on active duty."

Lindberg frowned.

"I do my research. Don't accept a job without knowing the stakes."

"Well this is a serious mission." Said Lindberg, writing still.

"That's fine. I'm a serious man at times." Said Dain with a smirk.

Another woman approached the group. Her face was covered too, but entirely by some kind of visor.

"Percy. I'm on the list!" She replied happily.

Lindberg checked.

"I don't see your name."

Percy frowned. "How about Katherine."

Lindberg double checked and nodded.

"Ah okay. Yes you are here. A technician? Good skill to have aboard a ship."

Maybe it would shape up okay.

Hey everybody! Good to be here.

There was a clanking as a man approached in a heavy suit of manufactured armour. It didn't look military grade.

"Nice getup. Could help fix that up a bit." Said Percy as way of introduction.

"Nobody touches the armour except me. It's all got its own set of stories."

Lindberg frowned. This exchange was lost on him.

"Not on the list." Said the man exhaustedly. "I'm a mercenary."

Lindberg nodded. He had conceded mercenaries would be acceptable.

"Very well. Your services are required."

"The name's Garthon." He said, as he sat down with a clank.

"And don't worry. I think rules are important too."

It seems like we have an interesting group. It's nice to meet all of you!

Do you have a speech impediment, Garthon?

Another young woman approached the assembled party.

"Hi there. Felicity Green reporting for duty."

She gave a military grade salute.

Lindberg looked down.

"Ah here you are. Ah yes."

He paused. Felicity looked nervous.

"I have on my file that you're not on active duty. It's a risk having you aboard this ship if you're unwell."

Felicity shook her head frantically.

"No sir! I'm very ready for duty! I just need...just let me."

Izza marched over.

"As I already discussed, I'm a medical professional. And in my humble opinion this woman is fit to fly."

Lindberg was feeling very out of command.

"Very well. Proceed." He said.

Felicity smiled.

"Thank you sir! I won't let you down!"

Thank you, it's been a long time since my last mission, but I'm ready now. I can do this.