Veekay was feeling nervous and he didn’t understand why. Things had been awfully quiet ever since he’d essentially lost his job as a Ksa, but the quietness had done nothing to calm down the conflicts in his mind. He had always had one duty – to protect the Vice General… well, he was the High General now. And since he wasn’t doing that anymore, a little voice in the back of his head was telling him he needed to find a way to do his job again.
Annoyingly, it seemed like he and Ksa leader Teekay were the only ones that felt this way. The rest of the K-Class were quite happy to move on with their lives. Geekay, his beloved partner, was considering a vast multitude of jobs, many of which consisted of starting new businesses. But none of that was satisfactory to Veekay.
The only way to get his job back was to join the 471st Legion. The 471st was Elkay Theanon’s personal unit, with whom he rose to the top and became a general. If he worked hard enough and got promoted, Veekay could become a captain of the legion and go back to protecting the High General again.
That was why Veekay was sitting here, in this oversized plastic chair, in a small, hot office, patiently waiting to see Captain Vallas.
Vallas had been strict with Veekay. He’d made him start at the bottom and work his way up. Veekay had flown through his introduction training. He’d climbed the bottom three ranks of being a soldier. They all knew he was capable, they just didn’t know how capable Veekay was. But the next rank, that of lieutenant, required that Veekay submit a health report and have blood tests done.
The blood tests were what worried Veekay.
Finally, Captain Vallas entered. Veekay stood to attention, but Vallas quickly told him to sit down. Immediately, he knew something was wrong.
“Good afternoon, Veekay.”
“Good afternoon, Ser. What is the problem?”
Vallas smiled at how forthright Veekay was. He decided to get straight to the point.
“Your blood tests have returned. The genetics tests came back with large traces of something that clearly is not Rethan in origin. When were you planning on telling us that you were half Deitic?”
“I put it on the forms I filled in,” Veekay quickly explained. “I wrote my horrible heritage down in the Other Conditions section!”
Vallas was still smiling, but not as much. “You never mentioned how… severe it was.”
“I do not follow…”
With a sigh, Vallas pulled a note out of his draw, written by the legion’s main medic. On it were some scribbles about normal and abnormal values. “Veekay Theanon, when Kiallouros explained the situation to me, he told me that the genetic Deitic content in your blood is almost the same as Tenuk Diplastron of the Dessaron, and he was born a Deitic. The way I see it, you are a Deitic in a Rethan’s body.”
“That is an insult to my poor mother!” is what Veekay really wanted to say, but all he could do was remain silent.
“I think you can agree that you are a dangerous individual, without your Ksa protocols. I can see why you decided to join us, but I am not sure if I can legally allow you to remain with the 471st Legion… Especially not at a higher rank. After all, the 471st Legion, like many other Four Hundred Legions, have a specific duty and specific traditions.”
Veekay grunted. “No one has any problem with the fact that Photeianos was a Deitic…”
Vallas stared at Veekay. “Excuse me? Repeat yourself at once, little one.”
“I said that no one seems to have a problem with the fact that Photeianos, our former High General, is part Deitic. No one has a problem with him and all the shit he did, but I happen to have the wrong father and suddenly I am no longer allowed to work my way up the ranks like everyone else?”
The Captain stared at Veekay some more. He didn’t say anything, he just wrote something down, folded it up and put it in the draw.
“I apologise Captain, but I very much dislike being treated as a lesser being because of my heritage.”
“You are right, Veekay, and I apologise,” Vallas sighed. “But you know as well as I do that Legions 400 to 499 are all anti-Deitic Legions. On top of potential conflicts of interest between you and your siblings, I feel that having you as a high ranking officer of the 471st Legion would be a bad idea. Do you understand?”
Veekay tutted, then relented. “I understand.”
“Buuuuuuuut…” Vallas’s smile returned. “I have a better offer for you. The 200th Legion is in need of someone like you. Rather than have you floundering at the low ranks of the 471st Legion, I have arranged for a transfer to the 200th Legion.”
“The Legion of General Rethais?” Veekay asked.
“Yes. I feel you will do better there. A return to the duties of defending a Vice General, much like you used to. The 200th Legion also has been looking for a new captain for a while, so your leadership skills will not be wasted. Captain Denirik is expecting you in three hours, so you had better get yourself sorted.”
The Captain stood up, offering a hand to Veekay. Veekay climbed to his feet and shook it awkwardly.
“It is a shame I cannot have you here, but you are a good Rethan. You will be fine. Now get going.”
“Yes, Ser!” Veekay nodded as he rushed off to grab his things. “Thank you, Ser!”
“Thank you too, Veekay,” Vallas waved as the door slammed behind him.