Despite being the Chief of Security, Alara had only spoken with the new crew member twice. She had spoken with him once when he first departed from the shuttle and greeted the crew, and again when he checked into the ship through security. She usually didn't let new crew members keep a low profile, but he avoided at all costs to interact with other crew members outside of work situations. He avoided company when he was off hours, and when he did go to the mess hall or bar, he made sure he sat away from everyone else. Alara was trying to change that. She found him in the bar about an hour after her shift was over, walked over to him, and sat down next to him.

"Hi, Lieutenant West. Haven't seen you outside of work. Just wanted to check in on how you're doing."

He tapped his glass a few times with his forefinger. He obviously seemed nervous. She noticed that he seemed to be antisocial, but other than the usual drinking and smoking he didn't seem to have any issues. His reports were flawless and analyses were impressive. He was top of class at Union Point, and his test scores put him in the top 10% of recruits. He was impressive, but his lack of socializing was unusual.

"I was just getting a little drink in. Heading back to my quarters in a minute or two."

She noticed that he was trying to dodge conversation. "You mind staying a few minutes more," she asked, "I just want to talk a little. Also, Lieutenant West, five whiskeys are not 'just a little drink.'"

He looked stressed, but continued with, "Sure, I mean I don't have to be anywhere. And Lieutenant Kitan, you can call me Jason."

"And me Alara," she said, shaking his hand. She ordered a Double Xelayan Tequila and started drinking. ""First thing I wanted to say is welcome to the crew. I know I've said it a few times already but it is really good to have somebody so knowledgeable about military and defense strategies when we interact with enemies like the Krill."

"Well, thank you."

"So your unit, I want to know some things about them. Why do all of your armors have those green accents? Why do each of you have little marks that are different, like that jagged, green, curved line on yours? Why do you all call yourselves Legionaries? Why is there an L painted on the left chest plate of all of your armor? Why is there a 76 painted on the right shoulder pad?

"Okay, so I'm going to have to go through that slowly so I make sure I answer all of that. The green accents are essentially just signifiers of our unit. Different unit, different color. There's every shade of color, but we got lucky with a plain shade of dark green. Those marks signify that each person in the unit is an individual while still being a member of the unit. It sort of personalizes the armor. The jagged line on mine represents this long scar on the side of my face. Next, we call ourselves the Legionaries because that's our unit nickname. Most units have one so they don't have to constantly say a bunch of numbers. For instance, the 11th Battalion calls themselves the "Representatives," but I have no idea why. We just pick names that sound cool. The L on our chest plates pretty much just represent that word Legionaries. It once again signifies our unit. Finally, the 76 on our shoulder pad is there because we're the 76th battalion." He let out a long breath.

"That's a lot of identification of your unit."

"It just allows us to personalize our armor. The color would be enough, but giving it all the extra paints makes it more fun for us."

"I can see that."

"Is that all you wanted to talk about," he asked, hopefully. He seemed excited while he talked about his unit, but after, he seemed to regret revealing so much information.

"Actually, no. I just asked because one, I wanted to know, and two, I thought it would open up a conversation." He took a big sip of his drink. He knew for a fact this was going to be a long and uncomfortable conversation, she could see it in his eyes. "First of all, I just wanted to know why you try to avoid pretty much everyone outside of work? Other than your unit, you don't seem to interact with anyone socially."

"I would say my social life is none of your business, but it's just a habit I suppose. All the way through Union Point and military training I just stayed with a select group of people. It's never been like me to go out and try to make new friends."

"Okay, and I know this is a tough question but what is with all of the drinking and smoking?"

"Pain. Back in my first service when I was being tested to be a unit officer, I was attacked by some pirates and tortured for information. Never gave any up, but that just meant the torture got worse. Eventually I escaped and my wounds were all treated as soon as I got back, but repairing the damaged nerves required intensive surgery that had a high success rate, but would make me miss the officer induction ceremony. I chose the ceremony and have never gotten to doing the surgery. Probably should talk to Claire about doing it."

She could see pain in his eyes. Sorry I asked, but thank you for being so straightforward. Just one last question: Why don't you like to talk to people about yourself?"

"Trauma, I suppose. Had a rough childhood and lost a lot of friends and family in my teenage years. Just don't like to talk about it." It looked like he was only being partially truthful, but she didn't dare question him on such a grave subject.

"Well, thanks for answering my question. Sorry it took so long. I better get going."

"No problem. I should probably head to bed, too."

"Night, Lieu—Jason."

"Goodnight, Alara." She walked away, and he followed right after, eventually parting at the next hallway.

When she arrived at her room, changed into night clothes, and laid on her bed, she thought about the conversation. He was honest, and he also seemed obviously hurt by some of the things both of them mentioned. It still confused her that he seemed to love talking about his unit so much, but regretted it after. Like he was trying to hide something and felt he didn't want to talk too much and slip up. He didn't seem like the type of person to hide something, though. It was all just confusing. She decided that she'd look into it later, and for now would just watch him when he was on the bridge.