EDS (Earth Dating system) – September 10, 2185
Planet: N/A
Stellar Orbit: Harsa, G-Class star – Relay orbit, Kites Nest
While John was without question the leader of the stratified and militarised people of Praetoria, it had become quickly apparent the Miranda was the rightful commander of Praetoria's first warship.
The crew of the Rubicon were drawn from the First Battalion. Each was handpicked after showing that they had both shipboard crew experience and aptitude for any tasks required on a ship.
One element that differed significantly in the Praetorian built Halberd-class destroyer from the UNSC originals was the inclusion of Geth inspired maintenance drones.
It was not Geth runtimes that controlled the drones, but a series of fragmented versions of Deja, making the ship run on what would normally be considered a skeleton crew.
The only decks occupied were the Bridge, the Hanger, Engineering, Medical, and MAC control, if the vital weapon had a malfunction that required an organic touch to mend.
But where the Spartan commanded the crew in general, they all seemed to look to Miranda with a particular assuredness that told him they saw her as their leader in shipboard circumstances.
How she had worn her emotion after the loss of their Rangers' on Eden Prime was the factor that truly earned the loyalty of their troops. A loyalty above and beyond the commitment that already had to her through discipline and respect.
Despite her best efforts to paste strength and poise over her anger and dismay at losing the soldiers to the asinine plan of Shepard's three company invasion of a heavily occupied world, her anger had slipped through in how she expressed ideas to the Rangers' and crew.
She remained poised, as always, but the occasional word had shown how she had felt with her stressing the importance of covering one another, following correct chains of command, and their allegiance and duty was to Praetorians' before it was to any other peoples.
John glanced sideways at her, his helmet tucked under his left arm to keep his face revealed so that the Bridge crew could connect with him more easily. Miranda was standing in front of the command chair – her command chair - with her own golden visored helmet magnetically fixed to the side of the chair.
Despite the armour covering her in all areas except her abdominals, John could see that she was holding herself taut in anticipation. With her hair tied back into a ponytail that pulled her forehead tightly, she wore a face that was prepared for combat, but she didn't look fearful or uncertain.
"Hm," John grunted quietly and nodded subtly.
Miranda increasingly became the leader that she professed to want to be, which led him more and more to become the leader he would need to be in this universe.
Praetoria was essentially growing by the day with the slow influx of Omega residents being converted to Praetorian citizens through service and re-education, and upskilling. Each briefing became more manageable as his soldiers became more experienced and professional.
Still, more civilian-themed topics showed up on his radar, making him flex his ability to empathise with the decidedly not military-minded individuals.
"Status on jamming drones?"
Her voice was not hot, but it was demanding - without sounding unreasonable.
"Formation complete, Sir!" Felentia's cerulean blue tentacled crest clenched and twisted ever so slightly as she answered Miranda almost immediately.
"Status on the fusion bombs?"
"Wait one..." Felentia answered. She stooped over her station, one of two immediately in front of Miranda's command chair - the closest seats to the forward viewscreen of the Bridge. "Deployment team says they're taking it slow to not trigger any sensors... They say that they've decided to weld the bombs on- Ahh- They say that they decided not to risk a magnetic fix triggering any subsystems."
