A Gurdrian was the marksmanship instructor; Lesa had never seen many of the different species that comprised the DASS before, and was doing her best not to stare.

Humans were one thing, because they looked like Starka, but the dizzying array of different ways the development of sapience had played out... It made her feel as though she had been sheltered by the supremely monolithic nature of the empire.

She didn't have the licensing to handle a firearm, at any rate, so during the day's shooting drills, she hung behind in the viewing area and watched.

The lady lieutenant, Kirie, who was with William often, was at the firing range too. Lesa had seen her speak with Neda, but they were far enough apart and the background noise loud enough that she couldn't tell what they had said to one another.

She watched them for a while.

The instructor came over to her.

" I don't recognize you, cadet, but your uniform isn't up to code," they said.

She sat up slightly, nervous.

" A-ah, I'm not-" She tried to think of a way to call for Neda without seeming clingy, but found none. " I'm not a cadet, I, I'm the Lyeha, but since Neda is here, I'm with Neda..." She picked at the collar of her outfit. " Uh. Kirie gave me this to wear, I didn't mean to be imitating a DASS military official, I just didn't... I needed to... I'm trying to fit in to the ship's crew more, I guess, than my brother, I didn't realize I'd be..."

She looked back up at the instructor.

" My apologies, Lyeha," they said. " I didn't think such an important person would be down here with us. I have yet to see the Lyena in person, so I assumed you would be the same."

" It's just that Neda is my attendant, but she has things to do, too," Lesa excused, casting her eyes to the side.

" Well, I was worried about her target average after the past few days, but it still seems to be on a steady climb, so there's no problem. I'm grateful that Lt. Honda saw such promise in her, to appoint her as a guard for the visiting royalty."

" Right."

Lesa didn't know how to make conversation, suddenly; she wished that someone was there to anchor her.

" Sergeant Gath, is there a problem?"

Neda walked over, a polite but worried sort of half-jog.

" Not at all. I mistook Lyeha for a cadet, temporarily."

" Ah, that's right- Lyeha has borrowed clothes from Lt. Honda, so she wouldn't stick out so much," Neda explained. " She's with me today, but since she can't come out onto the actual firing range, she's just watching."

" Y-yes, that's right," Lesa said.

" Well, she's welcome to watch, but you better put on a show," Gath replied. It had a sternness and good humor to it that Lesa wasn't accustomed to hearing. " It's a merit-based system, cadet."