Roberto had finished discussing things with the Admiral and was ready to go out and meet the Captain he'd be working with.

He rubbed his face wearily. The journey to Phillip had been a long and arduous one. Word had come that his life was in danger and the country was being overrun so for his safety he had been sent to Phillip in disguise. Aside from the journey and having to sneak out, it was a rather easy feat, after all, he had been trained to fly his own dragon in battle so they had come up with the plan to send him over to Phillip under the guise of exchanging training ideas and methods and learning how to incorporate their lightweight fire breathers into a cohesive formation with middleweights and heavyweights as Phillip seemed to have done, in return for this they would gift the government of Phillip with two fire breathers for breeding purposes. He was now just Captain Roberto Bu- no wait; he was not a Button at the moment. Right now he was known as Captain Roberto Angelo, something that had made Alberto snort in laughter considering Angelo meant "angel" Roberto shook his head at the memory. It was a good thing his dragon companion, butler, and bane of his existence was so controlled or he might have burned the place down.

He was walking briskly towards the training grounds following the directions he had been given when Alberto came up to walk beside him "Roberto, there is something you should know about Captain Li, well about the captains and place in general."

Roberto kept walking "It's ok, Major Sanders already got me acquainted with everything'

"Did he now? I am glad to hear it; I thought it would be a shock to you to find out that some of the Captains here are"

Roberto cut him off "I know that some are commoners and orphans and that the atmosphere is more relaxed, I wasn't shocked, rather I was delighted."

"So you have no problems with the people they have as Longwing Captains? I thought that, at least, would make the more gentlemanly aspects of your nature rear their head"

"You know me Al" Roberto patted the dragon's neck "I like everyone equally"

"So it is but please, be careful. Getting involved with someone here, especially a fellow Captain would be very bad"

Roberto looked at Alberto questioningly "Why would I get involved with another Captain?"

Before Alberto could respond the paddock came into view and Roberto's breath caught at the sight before him. Here were the fabled heavyweights of Phillip and they were even bigger than he had imagined. They only had middle and light weights serving in the corps in Altaria since the heavyweights had been wiped out in a previous war, so he wasn't really prepared for the sheer magnificence of the Regal Coppers, the biggest of all the known breeds weighing between 30 and 50 tons and ranging in colors from red to yellow. Even Alberto went quiet beside him.

After a minute of contemplation Alberto spoke up "I think we ought to proceed. You there" Alberto spoke to a young boy running past.

The boy stopped and looked at them "What can I help you with?" his voice was high pitched and Roberto would have thought he was a girl under other circumstances.

"We are looking for Captain Li and her Dragon, Ingrid" Alberto spoke courteously to the boy

The boys face split into a grin "I'm going that way myself, that's my Captain so follow me" the boy took off with Roberto and Alberto trailing after him.

They passed by an array of dragons and crews who called out greetings as they passed "Hey Izzy" "Izzy, watch out for that hole there" "Hey Izzy, introduce us to the stranger later ok"

Izzy had waved at them all but hadn't stopped to talk. Roberto marveled at the camaraderie in camp as he took in the sights. Finally, Izzy stopped in front of a magnificent dragon, smaller than the Regal Coppers but whose wings were twice the span of her body and called up. "Captain! You have a visitor"

Roberto looked up to the dragons back to see a lithe figure poke their head over the side. "Be right down" the figure clambered down the riding harness as Roberto watched.

He was puzzled at how high pitched the voice seemed and wondered if the Captain was really young, especially when more of him came into view and he saw how small and petite he was. Well, they did do things differently here so maybe they had young men as Captains.

Roberto strode forward with hand outstretched intent on introducing himself properly. The captain turned to face him as he took off his helmet and goggles. Long black hair flowed loose and a beautiful face with sparkling black eyes, full lips and a small mole beneath the left eye came into view. Roberto's steps faltered as he looked at the face before him and then his eyes quickly looked down to inspect the rest of Captain Li. What he saw shocked him and his eyes flew back up to see her annoyed face staring at him.

"You are rude, are you done staring?" She tossed her head as she sniffled in irritation.

"You are a woman?" Roberto couldn't help himself. It was obvious she was a woman, a beautiful one at that, but he couldn't grasp the fact that the Captain of such an important dragon was a woman or even the fact that there was a woman in a position to be in combat.

"I thought that was obvious. Izzy, don't you have something to do?" Captain Li turned to Izzy with a frown.

"Yes Captain, on my way" Izzy snapped a salute and Roberto realized Izzy was indeed a girl and his mind went blank yet again.

Captain Li turned to him and studied him. He was handsome, no doubt about it. Chocolate brown hair and eyes to match, refined features and a body that spoke of being a solder. Definitely a foreigner though, she thought as she took in his uniform. Her attention shifted to the dragon beside him. He was a lightweight gray dragon who had a muscular build, slightly smaller than some lightweights but sturdier. Judging from the build he could definitely carry one to two people and was probably fast. It was evident he was well taken care of and that Captain and dragon had a good relationship. This caused her irritation to soften somewhat so she addressed the man in front of her in a kinder tone of voice.

"I'm Captain Li but please, call me Xiao. Were you looking for me?'

Roberto snapped out of his daze at being addressed and rallied magnificently, giving her a crisp bow "I am indeed. I am Captain Roberto Angelo from Altaria and this is my dragon companion, Alberto. I was sent here to learn battle formations and I am being placed in your care. I was not told, however, that you are a woman. Forgive my impertinence."

Beside him Alberto sighed "I thought you knew, that's what I was trying to tell you. You really should pay more attention. "

"I thought you were telling me things I already knew Al"

Xiao watched this exchange with a smile. Here in Phillip, lightweights were usually nervous, excitable, and eager to please creatures with lower intelligence. It seemed that in Altaria that was not the case as Alberto seemed to be quite the opposite of that.

"Captain Angelo." She called to him drawing his attention "First off, you don't have to bow; secondly, it seems the Major was amiss in explaining things to you. I guess it was her idea of a joke"

Roberto was startled "The Major is also a woman? I don't understand. Why are there women in the Air Corps? In Altaria we believe women should be protected yet here they are put in danger."

Xiao let a small sigh escape her lips. "Longwings and Xencicas only allow female captains to harness and ride them. Since Longwings are so valuable, the government had no choice but to allow females in the Air Corps. It's a secret to everyone outside the military for obvious reasons. And we are all as capable as the men, more so in some cases, isn't that right Ingrid?"

"Indeed it is, I wouldn't have anyone else as my Captain" Ingrid's face was right in front of Roberto as she regarded him. "I like him Xiao, you should breed with him. I think you two would have some excellent children to continue the tradition, he seems like a handsome specimen for a human"

Xiao had turned bright red at her words "Ingrid, we don't just talk about these things you know. Besides I barely know him and he's a foreigner not used to the way we do things here so I think it's best not to bring up the subject again."

Roberto had frozen in shock hearing what the dragon had said. He had been sure he had misunderstood but it seemed from Xiao's words he hadn't. Breed with him? For children to carry on a tradition? Clearly there was a lot more going on here than he was used to but he couldn't quite bring himself to ask. He looked at Xiao's face and figure and the word breeding came floating back up. There was no denying that Xiao was the most beautiful woman he had ever met which made the situation much more uncomfortable for him and he shifted slightly so as not to let his condition show. Thankfully, Ingrid decided to turn her attention to Alberto so he had a chance to sort out his thoughts.

"What breed are you?" Ingrid asked Alberto curiously.

"We are called Fucoco Argento. It means silver fire because of our coloring and ability. It's a practical name and suits our purpose"

Ingrid regarded him for a moment "You are not a prude like your human are you? A Longwing and Fire breathing mix might be interesting"

Roberto laughed out loud at the expression on his dragon's face and slapped his back "Yes Al, it might be interesting, you should discuss it over dinner"

"Sir, I am not here for breeding or talks over dinner, I am here to take care of you and learn military tactics" Alberto sniffed in annoyance.

Xiao felt the need to step in "Let's save any of this talk for later. I'm sure Captain Angelo would like to learn more about the place and our crew so why don't we do that. Captain, have you ridden a middleweight before?"

"I have not so please, tell me everything. And please, call me Roberto"

Xiao smiled and then proceeded to introduce him to the crew before explaining everything that went into harnessing a Longwing and the preparations for battle.

Roberto spent a long, tiring, yet fruitful day learning everything he could and feeling freer than he ever had. He had adapted to the relaxed atmosphere rather quickly and had even gotten used to the fact that there were females of all ages in the corp. By dinner time he was exhausted but happy. He drank and laughed and spent more time than he thought he ought to starting at Xiao. Even as he fell asleep, his thoughts were filled mostly with her. That sassy yet sweet, tough and beautiful woman who had thrown him for a loop.