The Marine Corps ordered Susan to shut down her physical body. They were against Corps policy back then, you see. I remember her calmly saying no. Then they threatened to drum her out of the service and she invited them to do their best. There’s still a letter of reprimand in her file over that. We all got one that day. But we were Cowboys. We worked with Aneerin, and he endorsed our use of physical cybernetic avatars, citing the advantage it would give us in ground operations in the Hyades Cluster. The Corps backed down. They acted like they’d “allowed” her to keep her body. But I know they didn’t. They never could have made her give it up. She would have paid any price to keep her body after that first day, and I don’t blame her. Luckily, Aneerin’s word is good for a few things, killing Shang coverath a multitude of sins, and Susan knows her sins real good. God, am I glad she’s on our side. I would hate to fight her for reals.

High rez version available for free on Patreon