Novu Sol

Chapter 2

Himalaya Star System
Everest

"I cannot believe what you led our navy into!" The man roared at the woman across the desk from him, leaning almost threateningly on the desk. Every line on his face and muscle in his neck spoke of anger... and a lot of it. "I demand a refund!"

"There are no refunds." The woman replied, in a voice that was unnaturally calm. Compared to the burly man across from her, she was a tiny thing, petite, 145cm tall, with long platinum blonde hair that fell neatly to her waist. An ugly dark red scar on the left side of her face, the tip starts on right under the eye continued down to the right onto her neck was striking against her pale skin. She wore a uniform that instantly recognizable across the cosmos. The black with dark metallic blue accented military uniform of the Novu Sol Navy.

Unlike most other uniforms out there, which would usually combine a darker color with a light color for accent, the Novu Sol Navy did not, at least for the base fabrics. It was iconic, you knew if you saw those uniforms you were dealing with professionals.

"You almost got two of our cruisers destroyed! And it killed 176 people! You... you can't..." The man was so angry his voice stuttered.

"That is the nature of war, Kepala." The woman's voice was still calm, but crystal blue eyes sharpened on their target. "They are called warships, they are meant to dish out and receive damage."

The Kepala paled a little, but didn't back down. "You should of never attacked such a well defended target, I wanted you to train my people, not murder them!"

The woman sighed and stood. "If I did not bloody them, someone else would have and the only person you would be yelling to is a pirate with a gun to your head." Her voice was still the same, level, calm, almost unnaturally so. "They know how to fight now, and against the most powerful navy in space, all of your ships returned and we even managed to... take... two of the merchants, both loaded with raw materials that will serve you well in repair efforts." She leaned forward a fraction of an inch. "And lets not forget I had a sizeable chunk of my ship taken out by those escorts in an effort to defend your vessels and make sure none of them got away to report about it, so the least you can do is sit down, shut up and say thank you." Her tone had grown cold, eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

"You think you are so powerful Admiral, but you are just one ship, what makes you thin..." The man's bluster was suddenly cut off as the tip of a sword rested under his chin.

The woman held it there, studying his face for a few moments with those cold eyes. "Tell me," She said casually, "did the planet of Everest ever receive copies of the news reports on the Massacre of Centurion-IV?"

"Yes." The man's voice was a bare whisper, not wanting the sharp blade under his chin to cut his throat.

"Do you know what happened to customers that have attempted to stiff me in the past?" She asked.

"Yes." The answer repeated, the color beginning to drain from his face even more.

"Good." The woman gave a warm friendly smile that didn't touch the cold look in her eyes. "Then you know this is a bad idea. When I remove my sword from your throat, you will say 'thank you,' I will nod and leave, the contract will have run its course and you never need to see me here again." She slowly moved the sword away and sheathed it, watching the Kepala take a deep breath, like he had been scared to breathe and slumped back into his chair. She stood there, waiting.

"Thank you Admiral for your services." The Kepala said eventually, not looking her in the eyes.

She nodded, turned and left. As she exited the door to the office she looked at the sentries which were both army soldiers, not her domain of training, they saluted anyways.