I'm literally useless I'm so sorry I put off writing this update and then I just forgot about it and then when I was reading Insignia I remembered how much I loved writing this fic so now I'm back (although this really isn't the best chapter I'm sorry)

For the transfer between Upper Company and Camelot Company, there's a larger file that needs to be delivered to your neural processor. They put you under for the process, which is really weird, because after the advancement ceremony, you're so wired you're not sure you could ever sleep again.

Anyway, I wake up the morning after the ceremony feeling...pretty much the same, actually. It's almost disappointing. I swing out of bed, get dressed, and practically skip down to breakfast. I can't help but be excited. Sure, I've basically been a full Combatant for a couple of months now, but being CamCo makes it official. I slide into a place on the end next to Cady. Directly across from me, Emefa catches my eye and gives me a thumbs up as she reads my new information. Morning ceremonies start just as I spot Heather just on the other side of Cady.

As the flag ceremony finishes and the normal morning chaos resumes, I lean in front of Cady and call, "Hey, Heather!" Ok, so she'd been pretty much avoiding me since the last time we'd argued, a few months ago, but we were on level ground now. If we're going to be fighting together, I'll have to start fixing this mess with my ex-roommate. Maybe she's feeling as good about our first day in CamCo as I am, because she turns to me.

"Let me see your new profile," I say, and she meets my eyes. There are the few necessary changes like security status and rank, but the space for call sign is empty.

"Haven't picked a sign yet?" I ask.

"Trying to decide. I really want to pick something good, not like that idiot Karl."

I laugh at that. Really, could you get much lamer than "Vanquisher?"

"But yeah, I don't want to pick something stupid after all the hard work I had to do to get in." She emphasizes the last words ever so slightly, still looking me straight in the eyes.

I am not often stunned into silence. It's not in my nature. But that just about did it. After a couple seconds, I find my voice. "I might have interpreted you wrong, but it almost seemed like you were implying something about me in that statement."

Heather sighs, picks up her food tray, and walks away. I follow her, wondering what exactly I'd done to piss her off this much. True, we hadn't been friends in a while, but this was cold.

When she reaches the hallway, she whirls around to face me. "So how does it feel, not being better than me anymore?" Her tone is taunting, harsh, and I'm taken aback once again.

"I don't-when have I ever said I was better than you?"

"You don't have to say it. You've been acting like it ever since they made you their emergency backup. And everyone knows you only got that far because your brother was already in CamCo."

All the promises I had been making to myself to keep this civil fall away. "Is that so? Then explain why I'm better than him. Explain why nowhere in my accomplishments does it say 'Axle's sister.' We weren't even sponsored by the same company at first, for god's sake." I know I'm only reinforcing the arrogance thing, but everything I'm saying is 100% true. Truth be told? She's hit on my biggest fear: that I'm actually not good enough. That all I've done is get ships destroyed.

"See? You think you're the greatest, but you're just not. You wouldn't have made it without someone's help, and if it wasn't Axle, my next guess is Ramirez. Poster boy likes you a lot."

"That's so stupid I don't even know where to start," I snap. "The only time I talked to him before making CamCo was when I almost knocked him over. Last time I checked, that's not very endearing, and definitely not a reason to get someone sponsored."

"Then why. Did. They. Let. You. In." Each word comes out like a snarl. "You've never been a better flier than me, or Nigel, or any of us."

"Do you know why I'm never in the common room? It's because every day I run hours of extra flight sims to try to get better. I know I'm not the best Combatant, but I've been killing myself trying to get there." I take a deep breath, trying to come back to a rational viewpoint. "Heather, I swear I took every opportunity to try to get you in. It's not my fault they didn't advance you faster. I don't know what else you want from me. You've already made it."

"Get another Mach in. Preferably Nigel. Then maybe I'll have some reconsidering to do."

Heather Akron would stab her own best friend in the back if she thought it would benefit her.

Ok so I have to address some things that've happened since my last update. Don't read past here if you haven't read Vortex yet, because SPOILER.

Ok, so as you probably gathered from the note at the bottom of the last chapter, I hadn't read Vortex at the time when I wrote most of this (actually I don't think it was out yet), so now there are some glaring plot errors that weren't incorrect as of Insignia. So here's the deal. As much as I hate writing an LGBT character incorrectly, I'm making the executive decision to keep the Elliot/Skylar dynamic the same for this fic. I am doing this because otherwise I would literally have to rewrite the whole thing and then the premise wouldn't make much sense. I feel genuinely bad about this because I love Elliot as a character and I don't want to disrespect him, so I am currently working on another fic where his canon sexuality is recognized.

There are probably some other plot errors too because as of Insignia, we knew basically nothing about any company higher than Plebe so I provided my own fill-in-the blank-interpretation, some of which is now incorrect. Again, I'll be sticking with it for now, although there wasn't too much more guesswork for the remaining chapters.

SPOILERS END HERE

Thanks for putting up with both the ridiculously long delay and the ridiculously long author's note but I felt those things really needed to be addressed. (next chapter is cute and I'm excited so I'll probably post soon)