I dodge the fist coming at my head, deflecting it with the outside of my right arm, while countering with a haymaker into my opponents side. The maneuver is expected, and they pull back a step, in an attempt to throw me off balance. My swing catches nothing but air, but I'm able to recover into a guarded position before my opening can be taken advantage of. "You're getting better," says Ko-lee, sweat plastered her hair to her forehead, a bemused grin on her face. "Yeah?" I retort, breathing heavily. "I would hope so. Otherwise this was a waste of a boot camp." My eyes are watching her muscles shift under her skin, the placement of her feet, her center of balance, looking for the telltale sign of utilizing Rush to close the distance. It's only our second day training with the mods equipped, but Ko-lee's taken to the rapid shift between speed and no speed like a fish to water.

  Before, she would need a run up of at least a few steps to classify it as sprinting, but since earlier in training today, she's started to be able to trigger it right on the first step. "Definitely the longest three months of my life, regardless," I continue bantering. I have my hands in a neutral guard, aiming to cover or deflect as needed. "Speaking of, did I ever tell you how long a month was back home?" I watch as she fights a smile, her eyes searching. "Are you trying to distract me?" Ko-lee asks. I shrug. "No," I respond, with a casual air. "Unless it's working, in which case, yes, that's what I'm doing. But a month back home is four weeks long, instead of seven. So you know how long these three months have felt to me?" I see the exact moment she starts running the numbers in her head, and I take the opportunity to close the distance.

  Unfortunately, I'm not as effective with the mod yet, and I need to take an extra step before I'm able to activate Rush. I'm so focused on pushing myself, that I realize a fraction of a second too late that I've been baited. Her eyes lock on to mine, her leg lifts, and her foot connects with center mass before I have the chance to stop. My shield flashes, electric blue hexagons abberate chromatically, briefly flickering out at the impact point, before the wind is knocked out of me. I'm off kilter, unable to recover my balance, and it takes very little for her to knock me over. She follows through as I fall, and I'm left staring at my girlfriend, wheezing, while she has her foot planted on my chest like I'm a beast she's just conquered.

  "What's that, 30 to 4?" says Caz, somewhere off to my right. "Says the 25 to 15," I huff at him, trying to catch my breath. "Ko-lee has everyone beat in hand to hand, and I'm still the worst physical combatant in the squad. No big surprise there she can kick my ass. What's your excuse?" I lift her foot off my chest and sit up, before shooting him a look. "Well," he shrugs, "what can I say. I'm a gentleman. I don't like to hit girls." There's one loud guffaw from Rease, only a few feet away. "So what's your excuse with me?" the large squadmate asks. "What do you mean?" Caz responds, with a look of innocent confusion. "I just said I don't hit girls." It's a hit with the audience; Rease busts up laughing, and slaps Caz on the back.

  It doesn't seem all that gentle, as Caz stumbles in place slightly from the show of camaraderie. "A lover, not a fighter?" asks Ella, from over on the bench. "You'd make piss poor soldiers if that was the case," states a fifth voice. Standing in the doorway to the gym is an officer, and I quickly scramble to my feet before giving a salute. "Sir," we say, as we line up in formation. "If they're sending an ITO after us on our day off, it has to be something either time sensitive, or important," I think, as I look at the man. He has gray eyes, and furrowed brows, and his left arm has been replace by a prosthetic, which sparks something in my mind. I'm unable to take the time to pin it down though, as he begins to speak.

  "At ease," says the officer. "I'm here to give you information on your first operation in person. You'll each receive a data packet later tonight as well, with further details. In two days, at 0400 hours, you will be expected in hanger bay 3. You, along with a Sergeant, will be delivering supplies to an outpost on Mars. Mars is contested territory, but nominally under Grineer control. Due to this occupation, you will need to utilize deception to maneuver past the blockade to land planetside. Once you've made landfall, you will need to make your way to the outpost. It's located within Martian ruins, which means you'll be hiking with those supplies through a few miles of tunnel before you reach your final destination. Are there any questions?" We're silent, and the officer gives a small, short nod.

  "The FO that is being assigned to you will be accompanying you to the objective, but they will be hands off during this operation. They are there for monitoring purposes, or in cases of actual danger, of which there will be none. Instead, you are being given the opportunity to select one amongst yourselves to be squad leader. A squad leader's role is normally to be point of contact with the FO, as well as the highest ranking in the case of total communications blackout. While disobeying a command from a squad leader is not grounds for disciplinary action, it may reflect poorly on you during debrief, and repeated behavior may incur repercussions." There's a brief pause, and we all give each other varying looks before he continues. "Be aware that you will have similar, low stakes operations in the future, if you find that your initial choice is not correct. You have until the start of the mission to make a decision, so discuss amongst yourselves." The officer turns to look at me, and for a second or two, it feels like he's trying to dissect me with his eyes. "Antimony, the Lotus would like to see you in two hours," he says, before turning to everyone. "You're all dismissed."

  "I wonder why the Lotus wants to see me," I think, as we all make our way to the showers. The showers are co-ed, which had caught me completely off guard the first time I encountered them. The initial experience was a bit rough, and I wasn't the only one, judging by the reactions, but by this point, we're all comfortable enough with each other that it's barely worth noting. I peel out of my TEPA, and the cool air of the relay hits my skin, sending goosebumps down my arms.

  The shower is basically one half of a room, with a waist high retaining wall, and what appears to be textured stainless steel flooring. The actual shower heads are attached to posts that rise up in the ground, and each post has four, nonadjustable heads welded to it. I hit the button to turn the water on, and flinch as my skin is flayed off my body by a warm pressure washer. I do my best to rinse off in the jetstream of water, the liquid running across my hair and down my back. "Alright, I know I've said it before," says Rease on my left, "but I'm telling you that Rease and Friends is a killer name for a squad."

  "Yeah, nothing like having 'Friends' in the name to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies," retorts Caz, a few feet away under his own shower head. "It's not supposed to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies! We're Tenno, not some Grineer kill squad!" Rease counters. My eyes linger on his thick arms, on his smooth, dark skin, on the water tracing outlines along his physique as he runs his hands through his hair. I explicitly do not lower my eyes any lower than his neckline, but my memory helpfully fills in the gap for me.

  "Still, isn't it just sort of... plain?" I ask, partially to myself. "Pssh. I don't hear you coming up with anything," he mumbles under the stream of running water. "Might as well call ourselves Space Trauma," I say offhandedly, using the English words in place of Origin. "What does it mean?" asks Ella, her face half hidden by the post in front of me. "Strength," I say, nodding sagely. I give Ko-lee a sly look, well aware that she has enough English under belt to translate, but as I do, I see her brows are furrowed, and her lips turned down. "Ko-lee?"

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  "Eidolon'ai Fahn," she says mechanically. "Eidolon's Fury," I repeat in Origin for the others. "That's... yeah." I can tell she's bothered by something, but now's not really the time for a heart to heart, and so I shelve it for later. "Shouldn't we be discussing who our squad leader will be?" Ella prompts. "No, this is more important," Rease explains, tongue in cheek. "You can't have a squad leader if you don't have a squad name. What would they call us over comms? 'You guys?' No, that 'cause that'd be dumb. Also, you still haven't tossed your hat in the ring." She huffs, folding her hands across her chest, causing water to pool in her arms. "What am I supposed to pick?" she asks, her brows furrowed. "Anything you want," says Caz. "Something you like, maybe."

  "So... Sarracenia?" she prompts. "The flower?" asks Ko-lee, momentarily shaken from whatever it was that was bothering her. "Yeah, it's my favorite," Ella responds with a smile. There's a moment of silence while we all consider her entry, before I turn my attention towards Caz. "So, that just leaves you," I tell him. "Easy," he says with a grin. "The Invincible Five." I snort. "That's a little on the nose. Might as well call ourselves the Titanic while we're at it." Caz quirks an eyebrow at me.

  "What's the Titanic?" he asks. "A boat. It was designed to never sink. I'll give you three guesses on what it did on it's first trip." There's a round of chuckles from my squadmates, and I take a deep breath. "Okay, so, five choices, five of us. One we've finished up, we should place some votes. Everyone ranks which choice you like, from most to least, and then we can add up all the points once we're out of the showers. Whoever has the most at the end wins."

  "We should do that for squad leader as well," Ella suggests. "Maybe," I hedge, "but I kind of think we should do something different, 'cause I don't think everyone wants to be squad leader." There's nothing but the sound of running water for a few moments. "Plus," I continue, "we just learned about it, so, maybe we should sleep on it, ya know?" There's murmured agreement from everyone, and soon, the conversation turns into small talk as we finish cleaning up.

  "Votes in everyone!" I shout, fully dressed in my TEPA. I start getting an influx of messages, and I begin to do the math on the various options. As I do, a pit of worry starts to gnaw away at me. "You've got to be shitting me," I think, rerunning the numbers a third time. "Fifth place, The Invincible Five. Fourth place is Eidolon'ai Fahn. Third is Rease and Friends, second... Sarracenia. Shit. Maybe I should just... tell them what it actually means? Or just, like, lie about who won?" The four of them look at me with varying levels of interest, and eventually, I just grin and bear it. "Welp, it's, uhm. It's Space Trauma," I tell the squad. "That's our new squad name." There's varying levels of excitement as I let them know, and I try to mimic it the best I can. I have no interest in being the bucket of water on everyone's enthusiasm for the "cool foreign name".

  "Hell yeah Space Trauma!" yells Rease, his voice bouncing around in the hall. "You didn't even win?" asks Caz, looking confused. "That's fine," Rease says, shrugging. "I just really wanted a squad name. It makes us feel official." His enthusiasm is infectious, and I can feel it spreading to me. "I don't know, it's kind of funny," I think, my smile becoming a touch more genuine. "Well, yeah. That's what we got now! Thanks for voting everyone. I really didn't think that that'd be the name we'd go for, but yeah. We're Space Trauma now. Anyways, I gotta head to the Lotus, but uhm... everyone think about who you think would do best at leading the squad, so we can vote on it on the day of the operation. And maybe consider what it would be like if you ended up in the role. I'll see you all later."

  I turn to leave, but Ko-lee reaches out and grabs my arm, and we both sort of side shuffle away from the group. I look down at her hand, holding me a touch tighter than could be considered comfortable, then at her conflicted expression. "Sorry, sorry. Just... can I talk to you?" she asks, letting go of my arm. "I mean... is it quick? If it's only a few minutes, then I can always jog across the relay. But I'd rather not keep the Lotus waiting, if it can wait," I tell her. There's conflict in her eyes, and she wets her lips briefly before speaking. "I... maybe? Maybe... maybe not. Probably not," she says, after a few moments of deliberation. I clonk my headset on hers, forehead to forehead.

  "Hey, I love you. Whatever it is, keep it in the back of your mind, and we'll talk about it when I get home, yeah?" I catch frustration cross her face briefly, but she nods her head. As soon as I try to pull away though, her hand shoots out and grabs mine. "Love? We're going in circles here," I tell her with a teasing tone. She looks at the rest of the squad, who are shooting a few glances our way, then drags me even further down the hall, way beyond earshot. "I... you were looking at Rease," she tells me. I nod. "Yes," I respond, unsure of the problem. "You..." she starts, then stops. It's clear she's struggling to spit out the words, and I try to not imagine the Lotus watching me through a million tiny cameras while the clock ticks down.

  "Are you interested in him?" Ko-lee asks, after a moment. "What, like... romantically? Or sexually?" I ask. It seems to be the wrong question, and I feel her grip on my hand tighten ever so slightly. "Well, love, I mean... sort of? I'm interested in pretty much everyone on the squad, if I'm being honest. But, you know. They're our squadmates. It'd be messy. Why?" I ask. "Why??" she repeats, her voice raised slightly. She's looking at me incredulously. "Because we're in a relationship?" she says, in something between a whisper and a normal speaking voice, as though the words themselves are dangerous information. "We're in a polyamorous relationship," I retort. "We've talked about this."

  "I know that," she says, with just the tiniest bite. I take a deep breath. "Cool. So then... is there a problem with looking at our squadmate? Do we need to reevaluate our relationship? Because I love you, but I would like to remind you that I'm married," I tell her, my words measured. "No! No, I know, I just..." she says, trailing off. "It wasn't real until just now?" I ask. "Something like that," she confesses, after a moment. She sighs, and I give her a second before letting go of her hand. "Listen, I do really have to go, but why don't we talk about it after I go talk to the Lotus? If you have questions, or just need to vent, or whatever, I'm willing to be a sounding board." She shakes her head a touch too quickly. "No, I'm fine. It's fine," she tells me. "I mean, clearly it's not. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'd like to sort it before-"

  "I'm fine," she snaps, cutting me off. "I'll get over it." I fight the frown I feel trying to form on my face, and reach out to give her hand one more squeeze. "Okay," I tell her, as I step away. "I'll see you in a couple hours."

  "And we'll absolutely be talking about this clear defensive play you just pulled. I'd love to give you time on this, but right before the operation? That's maybe the worst time to bring this up. I don't want either of us ruminating on this shit while we're behind enemy lines, even if it is supposed to be a chill op. Fuck, this is shitty timing." I make my way down the hall towards the conference room, musing on the interaction. "It's probably just jealousy, honestly. God, I'm so stupid. She literally was like, 'yeah, this is pretty much my first relationship' and I went, 'great! Have you considered polyamory?' and then when she said 'yeah sure' I just ran with it like 'oh this won't be a problem'. Suckered by the freckles and muscles." I run my hand over the top of my head, the motion not nearly as satisfying with my hair covered by the TEPA. "Ugh. Whatever. Fingers crossed I can help her with this. But let's just backburner it for now. Space Mom is calling."

  Discord?