Bane of my Life (Private/Mature)

Deep breath in… hold for 4 seconds… exhale slowly for 4 seconds… repeat
 
This mantra is what he was reenacting without any sort of hiccup. It was working even as the screen was connecting to his superior. But that smile is what made all that preparation for naught. It was smug, he knew what he was doing to Jacques and the very sanity of his ship. The fact he went over his head about the one thing it was clear he was against? Just absurd.
 
“Not to be disrespectful but you know exactly what I want to speak to you about…Admiral.” He stood at attention, arms at his side, hands balled into a fist, standing straight and still with his head held high, his tone was frank and stern but that was just how he was when conducting business. “I understand the reason to have extra protection for such a valuable mission but to have….Athena aboard my ship? Is that necessary?”
 
It was surprising just how easy this was for him, if he had his choice of what he would say a couple curse words would be used in every sentence that he used as well as him definitely not calling those harpies by their actual names. “If you intended on them to be a part of this mission then you could have left me out of it. You understand my stand on their kind just like the rest of the universe.” His many years in the military have left him with such poise and professionalism that even though he was greatly against this direct violation of his every being he could express it in a very careful manner.
 

“Sir, can I ask why you brought them on board of my ship? Even to go as far as to approve them passage without my approval?” Of course he was curious, he was furious as well. Both traits easily seen in his eyes and demeanor but there was no way he was going to break his bearing to a superior officer.

Jacques was doing his best to try to calm himself down before his chat with the Admiral but was not having any success with it. As he walked to his personal quarters he could hear whispers and small talk of the two Athena in the examination room.

It seems everyone had their own version, "Hey did you hear? Two Athena came on board... you think the Capt had anything to do with it?"

"Maaann... those Athena are HOT. I hope to get a chance to meet one of them..."

"You really think the Captain approved those two machines to be on board this ship? You need to go to sick call."


He just could not get away from it. By the time he had gotten into his room his deep breaths that were supposed to be calming were furious pants that anyone who saw him right now would swear they could see smoke coming out of his nose.

Going straight to the center of his room he stood in front of a massive one way window looking out into the dark abyss of space. "Captain Jacques Atlas, 45368." Once he finished speaking a screen appeared from the glass blinking every couple of seconds waiting for a command. "Connect me to Admiral Telos priority......urgent."

Still severely pissed off about this clear breach of command, along with the fact that it was well known he was a clear hater of the Athena, Jacques was about to get to the bottom of this if it meant walking on the fine line between disrespecting a higher ranking officer and insubdordination.

((Sorry about the lateness! Been really busy.))

If a war could be started on the Athena’s believe it that Jacques would be leading the front lines or at least its main supporter. Seeing the tailed one ready to retaliate caused him to instinctively drop his right hand to the holster strapped to his right thigh. His aim was impeccable for being a human, if they really wanted to try their luck then he would show them the legends and stories behind his name were very much true.
 
While hearing the introductions and explanations from Techa, he skimmed over the device that was handed to him all while his other hand rested on the grip of the weapon resting in the holster. Looking to see who authorized all of this, it left a sour taste in his mouth to know that  the Admiral would go over his head like this and especially without warning. “This goes without saying but I am almost certain you realize I have nothing to do with you being on my ship.” His voice was as cold and intimidating as he was, but for Athena they should have expected to receive this type of greeting from him.
 
In his eyes this was very unfair, he had no control of what was going on and was the last to know about such an important piece of this mission. Oh if he could express to the Admiral about what was going on in his mind at this moment without being court martial-ed then for starters these two things would have been ejected off his ship and left to drift off into space for eternity.
 
“It amazes me how such a high ranking officer is completely onboard with Athena. He must have never been in the front lines and always sat behind a desk for his entire career... Do what you are ordered to do and nothing more. I do not want to see you, hear you, smell you, or even catch a hint that you are in my vicinity. I will deal with the Admiral on my own.” No dismissal needed, he did not want to look at them any longer than he had to. Knowing he had to allow them nearly full control of his ship for any amount of time was painful, having to deal with them face to face was asking for some type of altercation.
 

Without even a hint of saying goodbye, Jacques faced away from the two Athena and began walking down the halls toward his own quarters. He would have a chat with the Admiral immediately regardless of what he was doing. There were only a few things he would let slide and roll off his shoulders. Not informing him that two Athena were a part of this Peace Treaty mission and that they would be riding on his ship was just not something he was going to stand for.

Over the years he had seen his fair share of war. Dealt with the tragedies of death and sorrow far more than any other man should. He had seen fathers, mothers, sons and daughters lose their lives protecting their loved ones. Fighting against a tyrannical enemy who just wants to destroy everything in sight. He had fought through the ranks, earned the trust of his peers and his superiors equally. Now leading a ship of his own he commands with both fear and respect.  His name is well known amongst enemy and of course his own fleet. Commander Jacques Roman Atlas.
 
Commander Atlas was a rather large and strong man, his body was marked with gunshot, stabs, claw marks, bite marks and anything else you could possibly imagine. He was your textbook hero on paper but understood that sacrifices could be made in order to complete the mission. His grey eyes had dulled and hardened over the years. He was a very scary man to deal with one-on-one, not to mention he was one of the few humans that had respect from the known races of this universe.
 
Sitting in the conference room with a cigar between his lips with an ashtray on the table in front of him. His face was blank and his eyes cold, he had perfected the ability to hide his emotions but when being dropped with this type of information it was hard to contain himself. “You are telling me, there are TWO of those things on my ship?” He was utterly calm, but his aura could turn a man into stone. Matter of fact, the messenger who was unfortunate enough to deliver him this message was doing his best not to piss himself. “Uhh… Y-yes sir..” He did his best to try to avoid his Commander’s eyes but he seemed to be drawn to his dead-like stare which only caused his vocal cords to lose synch with the brain which had him pause and stutter through most of his words.
 
“Who authorized this?” Jacques looked over the paperwork, and saw that the Admiral had signed it.

“Uh-uh.. A-adm-mm-…”
 
“Calm down kid I know this is far over your head.” The messenger was new clearly, if he wasn’t then he would have had far more confidence and bravery when speaking to him. “You are dismissed, go back to your duties kid.” There was nothing more to be said, plus Jacques was finished with his cigar so there was no reason for him to be here any longer.
 
There was no misunderstanding that he disliked the idea of having Athena in the Militia and was very vocal about it. He had petitioned their dismissal more than once but was denied many times. Matter of fact, he had a personal dislike for them but kept that part to himself. Knowing he had two of them on his ship just put him in a bad mood all together. It was like being aware of some flies in the room but not being able to shoo them out or swat them dead…
 
Walking down the halls, his head was clouded with thoughts of how he was going to address this problem. Not to mention the Admiral of the Fleet decided to sign off on this knowing Jacques had a clear issue with this. This was his ship, anyone being stowed away, Athena or any other species, it should go through him no matter if they were here for protection or any other reason.
 
So deep in thought he had completely was unaware of anyone around him. Eventually he had nearly ran over a couple of women and even though they clearly had no idea who had hit them he knew he was in the wrong and was not about to chew them out for disrespecting a senior officer. “Oh my apologies I have a lot on my mind… no fucking way.” He laughed under his breath, taking a step back and wiping his hand on his clothing where he bumped into the “woman” as if she had spilled something on his uniform.
 
“You want to repeat yourself?” Now he had no remorse for these beings nor felt like apologizing for running into them. Again, he was a large man, standing a head taller than most human males and was considerably strong for his species as well. “You are already on my fucking ship without my permission and now you decide to disrespect its commanding officer? I would assume you two have balls but clearly you are modeled after women.” He spat the words out as if they were making him nauseous.

“Do you two have anything to say for yourself? No…?” He sensed the pause, he was already angry for them being here, now this? Oh that was just asking for something to happen. “How about you start with, ‘Sorry Commander Atlas we were not paying attention to where we were going.’” He lowered his head so that he was eye level with Mecha, the one he had bumped into, and spoke in a low menacing voice and waited for her to repeat what he said.