In A Name (Syrenia)

[Marcus Rishar]

Syrenia's career was one Marcus had not followed altogether closely, having no prior engagements with the woman. In reality, he saw a lot of different cadets, and promoted a handful. Normally they were done in large, impersonal settings. In this case, at home on Bastion, he requested the woman's presence in his office. He waited at his desk, unarmored, but still in a professional appearance for a military officer. Her dossier was laid out before him, as well as the recommendations from others within the military.

He was at first curious about her connection to the Empress, and whether the requests for promotion stemmed from them and an effort to gain the woman's favor, but he eventually began to see her own merits as they were described on paper. It was what made it so she received a face to face, rather than a large auditorium. He wanted to see her, face to face, and learn who she was for himself.

[Syrenia Renkl]

When Syrenia had received summon to General Rishar's office, she had been surprised. She had interacted with a number of higher ranks since she had enlisted, but she still hadn't expected this. She hoped that it had nothing to do with her mother possibly pulling strings for her. She knew that her mother understood that special treatment wasn't something she wanted. In a way, she knew that her mother, the Empress, didn't either. In the family, people had to prove themselves the hard way after all.

She presented herself, dressed in her black uniform, right on time. The assistant took her to the General's office, and once she was invited in, she saluted. "Cadet Renkl, reporting for duty, sir."

[Marcus Rishar]

“Have a seat, Cadet.” He gestured a hand to the chair across from him, briefly lifting the corner of the folder following it. “Strong last name you come from.” He briefly attempted to gauge her expression to the statement, obviously expecting such things. “I’m glad to see you choosing your own path, however. Your Mother was a Naval Admiral, and you head the path towards being a General. She goes politics, and you remain. Do you intend to cast your own shadow?”

He wasn’t accusing her of living in Tatiana’s. He was encouraging her to start her own legacy, and give people a different reason to recognize the name. “If so, I will gladly grant you..” He removed the bars to mark an upgrade to her rank. “..the rank of Lieutenant.”

[Syrenia Renkl]

Syrenia did as told, her manners impeccable, which went back before she was even of age to enlist. She nodded with seriousness to his comment about her last name. She was proud of it, as she was of her family, but she knew there was more to her than just this name.

"Yes, sir. This is my plan. As for my choice to join the Army, it was based on my skill sets and my preferences." Her mother had been in the Navy and politics and her older brother was in Intelligence. Yet, she hadn't chosen the Army just to be different. It was what felt right to her.

"Thank you, General." She hadn't expected a promotion to happen before a while and it showed on her face.