[intro scene establishing the awards/promotion ceremony. Six new wasabi supply unit soldiers have been assigned, not a historical number, but a notable one. There are some quiet concerns about the quality of some of the new soldiers, but nothing is said aloud. ]

Imari felt her blood run cold. Did I not get it? Am I not enough? Outwardly, she remained the perfect soldier, still, attentive, and ready if need be.

"We congratulate out newest elite soldiers, and we appreciate all of you waiting to see it. In a few moments we will announce the promotions to Commander, Coordinator, and Unit Captain.

It's over then.

"Before that; Combat Specialist Jiro, Class Medic Nomi, Engineer Tamassa, Commander Yurijo, and Unit Commander Mizuta!" She froze. They actually called her! What for? Who knows?! Pay attention!! "Report to the stage."

Imari stood, her back straight and her eyes pointed straight forward. In her peripheral, she could see four others moving exactly as she was. One by one, they quickly filed into the order they were called in on stage. They faced the crowd, which was full of impassive faces, as hers had been mere moments ago.

"The five of you have been selected to form a special elite unit. Octavio himself handpicked each of you based on your prowess, skills, and demonstrated accolades. Be honored soldiers, your mission does not stop now." The presenter made a show of walking to each person on stage, gingerly moving their tentacles out of the way and tying a deep, sea-weed green headband around each of their foreheads.

Imari wanted to jump in excitement. Outwardly, remained perfectly stoic, showing the appropriate amount of joy, a small smile, and nothing more. Internally, she was screaming. She did it! She actually did it! She was an elite! Just wait until Ahato--

And her mood once again returned to the steady low it had been for the past several months. With an internal sigh, she brushed all that to the side. What's done is done, what's now is now. She was an elite!

"Congratulations soldiers. Commander Octavio wishes to meet with you. You are to report to his office immediately." In sync, all five members on stage saluted, before turning and walking off single file. Imari was at the front, leading the soldiers up through the rows of politely applauding soldiers. When they reached the doors at the back, they were only stopped long enough for Imari to pull them open.

The moment the doors clicked shut behind them, the specialty combat soldier immediately broke out of the line. "Man, did he have to tie this thing so tight? He pinched the underside of my tentacle in it."

"W-what are you doing? Shouldn't we stay in the line?" The engineer asked, hand held against her chest.

"We don't even know what kind of unit we are," the specialty combat soldier retorted, twirling the headband on her finger as she walked. "As far as I'm concerned we're just 5 grunt walking to the boss's office. No lines needed."

"Oh! That, that's not what the protocol says..." the engineer trails off, uncertain.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." The commander assures. She steps up next to the soldier and turned around backwards, facing the other three. "If we're going to be working together, I believe introductions are in order. Otani Yuriko, former commander of the 293 through 296 squadrons"

[remainder of the introductions here. Hanae is gruff, Chiyo is distant, Imari is offput, and Tamae is nervous]

"Hey! Can it, we're here." Imari barks as the others. Hanae and Yuriko both glare at her, Nomi remains impartial, and Tamassa immediately straightens nods. A moment later, the 'professional soldier' demeanor falls over the other two.

Imari opens the door. "Commander Octavio, Sir! You wish to see the five of us?"

The man of the hour, Commander Octavio Takowasa. He was in his swim form, as always. It was very large and purple. (improve desc later) "Ah! My newest elite unit. Welcome." He waved then in with two of his tentacles, eyes curled up slightly as he smiled. "Come in, come in. Take a seat." He gestured to the rounded table he sat in front of with five empty seats.

Imari turned to look at her companions. Imari could tell, thanks to her experience as a unit captain, that everyone (except Chiyo) was as on-edge as she was, despite their neutral faces and easy movements.

As each of them took a seat, Octavio nodded to the door guards. They nodded in turn, and then stepped out of the room. "Apologies for the, mmm, demeanor. I know when I'm out and about it's all 'GYAHAHAHA!' and such. Energy is quite good for motivating troops, as I'm sure you're well aware, Commander Yuriko, Leader Imari. However, there is no troops to motivate here. You're already the best of the best, you don't need that extra prodding from me."

Imari, Hanae, and Chiyo nodded slightly out of sync.

Octavio sighed, a very quiet, small sigh. "I appreciate the respect you all afford me, it's fantastic that you are all so disciplined. However, I would like for this conversation to continue more like we're equals." No one knew quite how to respond, the DJ himself, the chain of command, asking them to disregard it?
[note: does octavio have his headpiece in this chapter, or is that a presentation/public thing?]
He sighed again. When he next spoke, all the bravado, confidence, and charisma of his leadership was missing. "I'm going to be real with you five for a moment." The five squad members watched in shock as Octavio ducks inwards slightly. A large, almost bubble of magenta ink replaced his form, before seemingly imploding, and taking the shape of an adult form octoling. [bald] He was a tall, heavyset figure with a large beard covering the top of his chest. He wore an ornate purple kimono that failed to hid how strong he was, despite his old age. His face betrayed an exhaustion only conveyable without words.

"S-sir?" Imari struggled out, completely blindsided by their leader's transformation.

"Quite frankly ladies, I'm getting old. I won't be here forever, and as capable as you all are, you cannot have an organization without a leader."

"Commander Octavio, sir--" Otani started, but was cut off by Octavio raising a hand.

"DJ is fine."

"DJ, sir, we're honored you are willing to share this with us. But, and I think I speak for all of us here, what exactly are you... asking of us?"

The DJ took a moment to look over each of them, his face betraying nothing. "All of you, I have selected specially because of your skills. You five are being tasked with both bodyguarding and mentoring the future leader of the domes. Each of you offer something incredibly valuable that I want you to teach her."

"Bodyguarding..." Tamae whispered to herself. "But I'm... not..."

"Engineer Tamassa," Octavio called, his voice deep and focused. "There is a reason I made a unit for this. You each have your own strengths you will use to help your charge in any way she requires."

"Cool, cool." Hanae agreed, albeit a bit hesitantly. "What can we know about our 'mysterious charge' then?"
[note: use last names for characters in later draft. They're all still professional/not comfortable with each other currently. This draft uses first names because I know them better.]
Octavio seemed to deflate slightly, as if weighed down by something. "She recently suffered a severe head injury that's left her somewhat disoriented and unsure about a lot of things. She's recovered well, but some complications are expected to linger for some time." Octavio's hand came down on the table, hard. "Regardless of this fact, she is quite capable in her own right, she just needs some people to keep her on the right path. I expect you all to treat her with the same respect you would give me."

"Sir." Chiyo stated, the first time she's spoken since introducing herself in the hallway. "Who are we guarding?"

Octavio paused for just a moment, seemingly bracing himself for something. A pit formed in Imari's stomach. "The five of you are in charge of watching over--"

The doors at the far end of the room slam open. "ME Bitches!!" Standing in the doorway was an octoling Imari had never seen before. She was about average height, with short head cropped tentacles, roughly in a bob cut. Her outfit was similar to Octavio's, an ornate kimono with the color a light pink instead. A large pair of pitch-black sunglasses blocked her eyes from view, with a pixilated set of three exclamation marks bouncing from lens to lens. More pressing that that though, the girl's ego practically filled the room.

"My granddaughter, Cantra Takowasa."

"You have a granddaughter?" Hanae asked, so blindsided she forgot to be respectful.

"She's been a... secret. Information about my legacy has been deliberately obscured due to the, we'll say unsavory climate of the domes originally."

"Hey, Grandpa! Enough with the history lesson, ok? We're here to talk about me!" Cantra cocked her head to the side, as if basking in the attention.

"Of course princess. This here is the unit I'm assigning you, they are--"

"Yeah yeah bla bla bla. I was listening. You're all my backup dancers then?" Cantra askes with a dismissive air.

The silence that consumed the room was deafening. It took everything Imari had to keep her jaw from dropping. Backup Dancer?

Otani started talking, "I'm sorry Ms. Takowasa, I'm not sure we un--"

Hanae's enraged shout cut her off. "Backup DANCER? You're fucking kidding right?"

Cantra's gaze slowly turned towards Hanae. The temperature in the room fell several degrees as she stared Hanae down with a completely blank face. "You're all elites now, yeah?" She slowly started walking across the room, maintaining her neutral face, even as her tone dripped with venom. "That means you're good at taking orders right?"

"Hold on a moment," Imari tried to interject. "We're all a bit--" Cantra' gaze swept over her, and Imari found her words dying in her throat.

"Zip it." Cantra said, her tone completely flat. She stepped up beside Hanae and laid an arm across her shoulders. "Ah, Specialist Jiro. Can I call you Hanae?"

Hanae, for her part looked exceptionally uncomfortable. "Uh.. I'd rather--"

"I don't care. I'm calling you Hanae. Now, since you've all been assigned to be my friends, I think I'll repeat a few words my lovely grandfather literally. Just. Said." The scowl that crossed her face as the pitch-black void of her shades bore into their souls. Cantra's voice dropped as she used a silly voice to quote the DJ, "You each have your own strengths you will use to help your charge in any way she requires."

Around the table, everyone's reaction was different. Tamae looked like she was ready to pass out from nerves. Chiyo appeared completely indifferent. Hanae looked like she was trying to break the table her grip on it's edge was so strong. Yuriko looked nervous, but appeared the most composed. Imari kept up her 'perfect soldier' look, it's what she does best.

"Now!" Cantra continued. "I'm the best person in these damn domes, and its about time every one else realizes it. To do that, I'm going to need some backup. That's where you all come in. I need someone behind me, who guides the spotlights straight on to the center focus. Any questions?" Cantra asked, finally pulling away from Hanae and looking over her small crowd. "Alright, good. (:D) I look forward to working with you all."

"B-but... we're not dancers..." Tamae bravely volunteered.

Cantra looked over to the poor girl with a blank face. Tame looked like she was about to start shaking. "For an engineer, you're remarkably dense."

"Eep!"

"We're all going to learn together." Cantra informed them all with a wicked smile.

A chill ran down Imari's spine.