Life seemed to be a whole lot easier, after I died the second time. Miraculously, I don't actually remember much in the way of the circumstances of my death - artillery, or perhaps assassination. In the end it didn't matter that much. I'd died again. Being X had seemingly gotten bored with me it would seem like, and I suppose I should have taken some degree or pleasure in that fact.

In the end, however, it didn't change the fact that I'd seemed to be dead. And then… alive again.

"It's a girl!"

Unlike my previous reincarnation, where I'd come to consciousness in the arms of a nun, this go around I'd come to awareness in the arms of a nurse.

"What's her name?"

Life after that was… interesting.

"... Tanya. Tanya Harden."

It seemed remarkable in contrast to my previous lives - it wasn't the inefficient, old empire countryside, nor was it the modern Japan I had grown up in during my first life, though it bore some resemblance.

It was modern. I'd grown up in a suburb, with two parents who owned the house we lived in, with a modern car, and a major city nearby. It was… almost perfect.

It was picturesque. My mother would carry me as a baby to the store to buy groceries, and while I had little control over my own consciousness or bodily functions at the time, I tried to make her life easier when I could. All the same, as I was carried around, I realized we lived in a capitalist society, which was a marked comfort.

When I was three, my parents would turn on the television to keep me "entertained," while they went off to run errands or do other… activities. Coincidentally, it was also around that time that my brother was born.

Watching cartoons became a favored pass time, however I wasn't idle. Despite clearly living in a capitalist society, I still would need to prove my own merit later in life in order to be independent of my parents, and so I'd taken the time to try and watch other channels besides those meant for children.

It was when I was four years old that I became aware of the fact that my family didn't live on Earth.

It was a shock, at first, coming to that realization. Realizing that I now lived in an interstellar civilization, one that had colonized multiple planets in the galaxy.

I lived on the world of Calypso, to the galactic South of "Super Earth," as it had come to be called. The name seemed somewhat… childish to me at first, before I'd done some research into why it was called that.

Apparently Earth had been almost destroyed in a civil war during the early 2000s, with details of the war in question being… sparse, beyond articles talking about the government that took over, which I was hesitant to take at face value.

Regardless, after the war ended, the government that was left came to call itself the Federation of Super Earth, and the name stuck. Only a handful of countries were left after the war, and they had focused on rebuilding the planet after the nukes had stopped falling.

While I wasn't enthusiastic about the naming conventions, I found that I wasn't able to think of an actual argument against it.

Then there was the war that happened after humanity went intergalactic.

It was when I was six years old that my family took me and my younger brother to a festival, celebrating the ninety year anniversary of the end of the Galactic War. I was surprised at how… patriotic the people of Calypso were, about an event that happened so long ago. Yet it appeared to still be fresh in people's collective memory.

Veterans from the war gathered together, and a few gave speeches in the city square - an old man who called himself a "Helldiver" talked about how the battles of the war had shaped Super Earth's military and economy, and had reinforced the need for Democracy. It was heartwarming to see such values were held as closely as they were to the people of Calypso, even if I didn't think I would ever be as fervent about it.

There were recruitment drives for the SEAF, and while my parents weren't paying as much attention to me as my brother, I'd managed to sneak a glance at the recruitment posters.

"Like what you see kid?" A voice spoke behind me, and I turned to see the old man who'd been giving the speech kneeling a few feet from me.

"I don't know." I admitted, "I see the recruitment posters, but I haven't had the chance to look over any of the benefits or pay yet."

The old man laughed, "You're wordy for a kid aren't you?" He asked, his smile splitting his grey beard, "I wouldn't worry about any of that at your age. The war's long over, but, when you get a bit older," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, holding it out to me, "You can look into the SEAF Youth program. Should give you a taste of what it's like. And who knows! You might even end up a Helldiver like me!"

A took the card from him as he laughed and looked it over. It was indeed a recruitment card, with "SEAF YOUTH" written in bright bold yellow on blue, with a number and email written beneath.

My parents came to collect me shortly after that, though they appeared to be happy that the Helldiver had talked to me. I suppose my parents were more patriotic than I had thought. I was at least glad that Super Earth society seemed to treat it's veterans well, even ninety years after the war they fought in. I knew that had been a major problem in my first life, even if it had been on the periphery of my understanding at the time, but my second life had truly driven home how cruel a nation could be to their soldiers.

I entered school shortly after that. It was… interesting, experiencing grade school. Things like math, writing, and basic sciences were easy for me to get a handle on. I'd lived two lifetimes, and while my second didn't exactly give me much time to study in a traditional academic setting, I had graduated from officer school.

History and Social studies were where things got more complicated. I soon realized why people were so patriotic on Calypso; Government propaganda was practically shoved down our throats from day one of school.

Freedom. Liberty. Democracy.

Those were the tenants that were preached like a religious text, with their values impressed onto all of us. I could appreciate the fact that it was positive values being taught, even if I disagreed with how it was done. Better to have a legitimate societal structure preached as dogma rather than something like socialism, after all.

It did become grating sometimes though.

Despite all of that, we were given a degree of freedom to do and study what we wanted… Pun not intended, of course. I'd used that freedom to attempt to draw any links to my previous lives.

History was a dead end. Anything before the war that led to the Federation's rise was difficult to find concrete answers on due to how much history was wiped out during said war. 2036 was when humanity had gone intergalactic, which while it had some more information, it still wasn't much. It didn't seem like history before then differed much from my first life, but it was difficult to tell. In contrast, the events of the years 2044 to 2084 were remarkably well documented.

The Galactic War had gone on for much longer than I had first thought, and with the context of a forty year long war, I was beginning to understand the militaristic bent the Federation's culture had taken. They had only had six years of intergalactic exploration under their belt before they'd had to fight off alien enemies on all sides.

It made perfect sense, in retrospect. While there had been over ninety years of relative peace, humanity hadn't gotten that peace without cost. The Galactic War had left lasting scars. The deaths of millions, even perhaps billions of people at the hands of alien aggressors… no wonder there was a potent patriotism among the population.

Inter-human conflicts had essentially died out altogether since the war. Part of that was due to the single unified government, but I was sure that part of it also had to do with the fear that there might be new or returning enemies. And if that were to be the case, Humanity needed to be ready.

As I grew older, I tried to figure out if I was able to use any of my abilities from my second life. While magic was seemingly unknown to this world, that didn't mean it was absent entirely.

Unfortunately, without the technological know-how to build a proper computation orb, any magical formulas I did know would be practically useless. Combined with the fact that I was likely under surveillance of some kind… I ended up not pursuing any potential magical abilities.

Perhaps one day, once I had more resources at my disposal and some privacy away from my parents, but my childhood wasn't the place.

As time passed and I grew up, I noticed that I wasn't quite the diminutive girl I had been in my second life. I still wasn't tall, but by the time I was fifteen I was taller than five feet, which was something I didn't even realize I'd missed from my first life. Combine that with the fact that my diet was significantly better than my second life, and I'd filled out into a healthy young woman.

"Hey, Tanya."

I looked up from my school desk. One of the other girls in my class by the name of Emma was sitting with her arms crossed over the backrest of her chair looking at me.

"You think Joe is gonna try and make a move on you after school?" She asked.

I groaned. School romance, in contrast to both my first and second life, was not something I'd ever thought I would have to deal with. It turned out that if you took any measures to take care of your own health, you ended up being physically attractive. This resulted in Joe, one of the boys in school, being the fifth one to attempt to ask me out.

At least, the fifth that I knew was going to happen. Girls didn't always get to hear the gossip the boys got up to, but when they wanted to ask one of us out, we usually saw it coming.

"If he does, it'll just be the same as the four before him." I told her honestly.

Emma just let out a low whistle, "Damn, girl, you are cruel. Joe's not even that bad looking!"

"It's not about looks, Emma." I retorted, "I'm just not at all interested in high school romance. I still have a career ahead of me after school."

Emma snorted at my response. She wasn't surprised, I knew, but she also wasn't going to give up on trying to get me to give in to one of the boys who tried asking me out. It didn't help, of course, that teenage hormones did give me urges I had to tamp down on.

I never had to deal with that in my second life. As I got older, I of course had to deal with normal bodily functions, but a stressful life on the front lines negated most hormonal imbalances that came with my biology. Even though I had considered the idea of marriage, it had never been on an emotional or romantic level.

While my third life was infinitely easier in regards to my own safety, actually having to grapple with period cramps and hormones without the outlet of frontline combat turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated.

"What do you have planned anyway?" Emma asked, breaking me away from my thoughts, "Everyone else in class just wants to get a job, get married, settle down. Maybe be a stay at home mom."

I shrugged, and pulled an SEAF pamphlet from my backpack, "I figure I'll go into the Armed Forces for a few years, get a decent pension, then settle down after."

Emma went wide eyed, "Damn, you got everything planned out don't you? Though I admit I'm kinda surprised. Never pegged you as the patriot type."

"I'm not," I said honestly, "But I get why a lot of people are. The military offers very lucrative benefits, and considering its been almost a hundred years since there's been any major conflict, it's also a remarkably safe job."

She seemed to take what I said in stride, nodding along, "Makes sense I guess. Not for me though I don't think, I can barely lift twenty pounds, much less whatever gear those guys lift." She paused for a moment, seemingly considering, "Then again, some of the guys I see going in are remarkably hot…"

I just rolled my eyes as she trailed off. She wasn't near as shallow a person as she pretended to be, but I would admit there were times she had even me fooled.

Near the end of the school day, I made my way to the recruitment office. Having one inside a school building might be seen as government overreach, however I saw some logic in it. Recruiting a population while they were young and preparing them was a logical approach, and given how patriotic the average citizen tended to be - even if that was mostly due to their upbringing - having easy access to the sign up sheet was a must.

I opened the door to the recruiters office, and the woman behind the desk wearing a sharp military service uniform looked up from her computer, "Ah! Miss Harden. I was looking forward to the day you would walk into my office." She said with a grin.

I raised an eyebrow at the remark, but didn't make a comment of my own, instead taking a seat across from her, "If it isn't any inconvenience, I'd like to sign up for the SEAF Youth program."

"Getting an early start then? Alright, give me a moment and I can get the form out for you." She said.

Reaching underneath her desk, she pulled out a remarkably briefs stack of papers, before handing them to me, "You're free to read over the documents at your leisure. If you have any questions, the Ministry of Truth website has a section dedicated to the Youth division where you can look at any details you need elaborated on, or you can come to me and ask any questions." She explained.

The Ministry of Truth was another oddity of my time in this world. While it certainly sounded like something out of a dictatorship, and not a managed democracy - a government structure in and of itself that was admittedly suspect - everything she had seen about them seemed remarkably, well, truthful.

They didn't hide anything about the Federation's failures during the Galactic War. There was plenty of opposition in the parliament, and news was spread around the galaxy seemingly uncensored, even to my skeptical eyes.

I wasn't naive enough to believe that the Federation of Super Earth was entirely without blemish, or that the propaganda they put out was anything less than exactly that, but even if they were hiding some deep dark secrets, they still put more trust in their people than the Empire of my second life, or even many of the countries of my first life.

It was for that reason that I'd decided to make a career out of the SEAF.

I quickly read over the simple, five page contract I'd been handed. It was short, for a military contract, but it referenced many laws and legalese concepts that the signature was expected to investigate on their own. And to its credit, I had already done so. It was also likely a manipulation tactic to get people to sign without reading it, but I was more prepared than most people.

In short, the contract was two years in service during high school, then the option to leave the SEAF and pursue a civilian career after graduation, or an additional reenlistment. I'd likely end up reenlisting if things went well, so the contract was fine by me. The only thing I actively disagreed with was the clause that put me on a shortlist to test experimental equipment - I had no desire to relive the experiments of Schugel, even if it I was more likely to be using newer knee pads rather than a god forsaken computation orb.

Fortunately, it was one of the clauses that was easy to opt out of.

I also made sure to opt into the "Excellence Program," which would allow me the opportunity to advance into higher positions in the SEAF once I graduated. It would allow me to skip most of the basic training, hazing, and general nonsense people went through when they first joined the army - provided my scores were high enough, of course, but I was confident in my own ability.

I turned in the paperwork, and the woman smiled, "Alright, you're certainly a quick reader."

"Not so much. I came prepared, as I've already read everything in the contract. I've been looking to enlist for some time." I explained.

She looked up at me in surprise, "Oh? How long have you been wanting to join the SEAF?" She asked.

I thought back to the old man who'd given me the recruitment card all those years prior, back when I was still learning about the new world I'd found myself in. While I might have been able to get by in an administrative position in the civilian sector… the potential benefits and safety of the military, combined with the experience of my second life, promised a much more promising opportunity.

"About nine years ago, I think. I met an old veteran of the Galactic War, a Helldiver."

My answer made the woman smile and nod, "Well, I'm happy to have you on board. You should get an email or phone call from us in the next couple of days, and we can get you started with basic Youth training."

As the young woman left her office, the recruitment officer looked over the details of the contract. All boxes were ticked, and the girl's signature was immaculate. She was eager, that much was for sure.

She quickly dialed the number of the local Democracy Officer, the one in charge of the SEAF Youth. She didn't normally make such calls, but with such a promising young patriot, she felt she could smooth the process along just a bit.

At first, Tanya Harden had been a point of concern by the teachers at the school. She was never particularly enthusiastic about anything, be it sports, school gossip, or media. She didn't have any friends aside from those who dragged her along, one Emma Darlton being a case study in that fact.

One teacher had actually reported the blond young woman in fear that she might have been doubting the tenants of Super Earth; She never said the Super Earth Pledge outside of schedule, she didn't wear any memorabilia, and she didn't appear to be outwardly patriotic in any way.

A dig into her personal life, however, revealed a different story. Two loving parents, a younger brother, and a successful school career. Once the Ministry of Truth did a bit of digging into the girls search history, they found something rather startling.

She was interested in Super Earth history! She'd done more research into it than almost any other student her age, and had studied the ways to build a career in SEAF, as well as future careers outside of it should she not qualify. She really was a diligent study, and the recruitment officer found that while Tanya might not appear patriotic, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

"Hello there! Officer Gladden, this is recruiter Tabitha. I'm calling to ask about a recruit that just left my office."

Tanya Harden was a quiet patriot. They were admittedly rare among the citizens of the Federation, but they did exist, and she was glad she was able to facilitate Tanya's future In service to Democracy.

"Yes, if you could, would you be able to put her on the Helldiver fast track? She's quite the patriot, even if she doesn't show it. I'm sure she'd appreciate the leg up."

Basic training, at the end of the day, was basic training.

"Move it cadets!" The Democracy Officer shouted as each and every one of us ran laps around the school running track.

The SEAF Youth program was split up by age and gender, tailored to our physical capabilities. At fifteen, I was in the youngest group of girls. We trained after school and on the weekends, though unlike the basic training if the SEAF proper, we were allowed to go home afterward. I would be lying if I said I didn't appreciate that.

Going home and sleeping in your own bed after a long day of hard running was a godsend.

My parents turned out to be rather enthusiastic about my choice to join the SEAF Youth, as apparently my Great Grandfather had been a Helldiver in the first Galactic War. My father and grandfather had both served in the SEAF for a short time themselves.

That put into perspective how my parents had been able to afford the house they did; if my father was living and working off of the benefits of Military service, then he'd done a remarkably good job.

"Alright girls, That's enough! Take five!"

The group of us took the opportunity to rest, thankful for the officer's mercy. Still, I was probably among the best in shape here - I'd been conditioning my body as best I could with morning workouts, and so the run itself wasn't near as much a problem for me as it was for some of my peers who had collapsed To the ground, exhausted.

"Cadet Harden!" The officer shouted, and I turned to see them approaching me.

I gave a sharp salute, the motion of the Super Earth salute foreign to the Imperial part of me that still lived in my second life. It was awkward, but all the same, not at all the most awkward salute I had come across in my life.

The older woman gave me a loom up and down, then nodded, "I see you're much better off than your peers, Miss Harden. I assume you knew what you'd be getting into ahead of time?"

I nodded, "Yes ma'am. My father and Grandfather were both in the SEAF, I was told what to expect, and so I prepared accordingly." I said with practiced ease. I wasn't going to tell her I'd lived a previous life as a career soldier, and even though my father hadn't actually told me anything about what to expect - more focused on regaling me with tales of him and his army buddies antics - but it was more than believable.

She seemed to like that answer, given her immediate smile, "A true patriot then! Glad to have you here." she then gestured to the various other students laying on the ground, "A lot better than most. Their spirit is in it, but they've never had to condition their bodies. Something you seemed to have done, which shows your merit."

"Thank you, ma'am."

As the training went on, and weeks proceeded, it appeared my initial first impression on the Democracy Officer had been a positive one. I was rewarded with opportunities for higher qualifications, which I eagerly took on. It turned out to be mostly paperwork, but that suited me just fine, I'd much rather be doing paperwork than being shot at.

I ended up ranking at the top of my class, and by the time I turned sixteen, I was well on my to earning enough experience that I would be able to go straight into the administrative branch of the SEAF as soon as I graduated highschool!

But of course, despite sixteen years of blissful ease coasting through life, through high school, without interference… I should have known Being X wouldn't have left me alone. I should have known he hadn't actually gotten bored with me… he'd just been biding his time.

"The Terminids, once our enemies in the Galactic War a hundred years ago, have returned."

The school was in a panic. News of the Terminid outbreak spread like wildfire. In my research of the post-war efforts, I had seen what had happened, and even though it wasn't stated by the news, I could all but guarantee it was the case.

The Terminid's biology was something of a unique resource, taking raw material and converting it into a harvestable, renewable fuel source that the Federation had named Element 710. Of course, once the creature's home planet had been liberated, the vast swarms had become much easier to manage, and the Federation was able to set up farming facilities.

With the benefit of hindsight, it was easy to see how that could have been a mistake. One of humanity's first enemies, turned into a farm-able resource… of course it could lead to the bugs turning into something worse and escaping confinement.

But I couldn't blame the government or the corporations who had attempted to take advantage. Fuel and raw resources had become scarce in the wake of the Galactic War, and if Element 710 was easily extracted, then why wouldn't they try to do it? And after all, it had been a hundred years since the war had ended at all.

I suspected someone, somewhere had screwed up. It was unfortunate they likely weren't going to be reprimanded for the mistake of letting the Terminids free onto their planet, given they were most likely dead now.

All the same, the Federation was quick to deploy the SEAF to the planet where they had broken out, with support from the Helldiver Corps. The helldivers were an organization that while I respected, I didn't envy, even years after the veteran of the first war had given me his recruitment pitch.

Deployed deep behind enemy lines, the Helldivers accomplished missions almost no one else could, their training and equipment unparalleled. But all the same, I had seen the casualty numbers from the first war.

It was only their sheer effectiveness that kept me from balking at the hundreds of thousands of helldivers lost in battle. Compared to the casualties the rest of humanity sustained, it was almost nothing, however the Helldivers were unique in how many near-suicidal missions they took.

Destruction of heavy targets. Establishing communication and supply lines. Rescue operations. They did it all, and even though they lost four men per mission for every one that came back alive, the number of civilians and SEAF personnel that owed their lives to the Helldivers couldn't be measured. Entire planets that the Federation was ready to write off as lost had been retaken by determined groups of Helldivers.

They reminded me of 203rd, in a way. Only instead of an experimental mage squadron, the government had actually recognized the potential of them, and had dedicated an entire branch or their military to their operation.

It was a few days after the first Terminids broke out that news came of the second planet. Then after that, news came of several planets all having Terminids escaping the farms and butchering the civilian population.

"Oh god…"

I sat next to Emma during class, the teacher having stopped the lesson after getting a call to turn on the news.

Dozens of worlds had been lost.

"Super Earth High Command has issued a state of emergency as the Terminid outbreak has reached an unsustainable breaking point. Worlds that had once farmed precious Element 710 have been turned into Terminid breeding grounds, and planets in the surrounding sectors, some inhabited by Federation civilians, others thought to be barren rocks, have also had Terminids showing up, regardless of whether or not the planet produced Element 710 or otherwise."

The live Galactic map kept a tally of the worlds under the Federation. Worlds that had been attacked by the Terminids had been marked in orange, and in the Galactic northeast, there was a startling number of them.

"This can't be real…" Emma said, half trying to convince herself.

I was starting to doubt my earlier hypothesis. In the case of a Terminid escape on a single planet, you could easily blame it on someone's negligence… but for it to happen on such a scale…

The News channel flickered, the newscaster putting a hand to his ear and then nodding to someone off screen. Then the image changed, and a bald man wearing an SEAF officer uniform stood behind a podium as he addressed the camera.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Federation of Super Earth. It is with great regret that I must inform you that the Terminids have once again made an attack on the sovereignty of the human race."

"But have no fear, citizens! To those of you of military age, we ask that you join up with your local SEAF. And to those who wish to further defend Democracy, Liberty, and Freedom, those of you who have already made the decision to join your local planetary defense forces, the Helldiver Corps is now recruiting new members!"

"Together, Humanity will stop these vile bugs right in their tracks!"

The screen shifted to a call number, then back to the newsroom. I stopped paying attention to it, however, my mind working overtime trying to figure out how I could got out.

I'd joined the SEAF because it was safe. But now that there was an actual war to be fought, there was a risk that the Federation would begin drafting those in the SEAF to fight. If things got bad enough, they might even start doing the same for civilians, though I wasn't sure, given how far away Calypso was from the Terminids.

I needed to talk to the Democracy Officer, as quickly as possible.

Democracy Officer Gladden was proud of the next generation, in her own way. She had trained many cadets, and had done so gladly in service to Super Earth. She had seen young men and women go on to become leaders in the SEAF, and she had seen some retire from military life after service. Both were admirable in her eyes.

Of course, she had also seen those who weren't cut out for it - and those who chose to betray Liberty. Madmen who rambled about the Federation's "lies" and the Ministry of Truth's "censorship". She'd heard it all.

With the news of the Terminid attack in the Galactic northeast, she had become a very busy woman very quickly. Recruits had started pouring in, and her phone had been ringing off the hook.

There was also the chatter of her superiors - of something coming from the Galactic West. Reports were still uncertain, still too bogged down in rumor and falsehood. Tall tales of Machines marching in the dark, enormous black ships floating above the surface of cities.

She wasn't sure what to think of those tales quite yet. But she also knew that there was a much more immediate threat, and the only thing that kept her from taking up her rifle and marching toward the bugs was Super Earth's chain of command keeping her in place to make sure recruitment went smoothly.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts, "Come in."

The door opened, and a young woman stepped through. Tanya Harden.

Gladden smiled as she saw the girl. She was by far the Officer's favorite Cadet, the top of her class, willing to follow orders and skilled in whatever task she put her mind to. She wasn't quite as outspoken a patriot as some of her peers, but while her words spoke little, her actions far outweighed any oaths or pledges she could have possibly made.

"Cadet Tanya, what can I do for you?" She asked, already having an Inkling as to what the girl would want.

When signing her paperwork, she had opted into the Excellence Program - and had far exceeded the requirements needed to get whatever job she wanted. Combined with her position on the fast track, it wouldn't take much, and Tanya would be one of the first on Calypso to don the cape.

"Officer Gladden… in light of the recent events, of which I am sure you are already well aware, I would like to request to leave the SEAF Youth program." She stated simply.

"I understand. The wheels are already in motion, actually."

"Ma'am…?" She asked, looking slightly confused.

"You should know that while almost all recruits sign up for the Excellence Program, very few meet the requirement. Too overzealous in their patriotism, they forget that our military prides itself on merit, rather than enthusiasm." The officer explained.

"In contrast to most, however, you'll be glad to know that you've exceeded all expectations, Miss Harden. You're at the top of your class, both in academics and in physicality. Due to this, you've been put on the fast track."

Gladden smiled at the girl's shocked reaction. So few students realized what an honor it was to be put onto the fast track, and fewer still were humble enough to doubt their own ability. Still, Tanya had made the commitment to try anyway, solidifying her decision.

"Congratulations Cadet Tanya. Leave guarding Calypso to us. You're a Helldiver now."