Chapter 10: After Action

It had not taken long for the Commander of the UNSA Titan to return to his ship. The soldiers had returned, or at least as many that has survived the Olympus Mons' onslaught back on the moon of Titan. It had killed Nunes and Texeira, and many other marines that had joined the attack force on the moon. It could have been a lot worse, Captain Reyes could have died, the Vulture could have gone down. It was already bad, considering that the UNSA Tigris had been shot down by the massive cannon that had been attached to the Olympus Mons.

It was bad.

It never exactly made sense to Sebastian, why the SDF had been created and why they fought against Earth. They could have just talked it out, discussed it diplomatically and managed to come to some sort of understanding. Yet, both the leaders of Earth and the leaders of Mars had been greedy. One did not want to give away and another wanted too much, and by too much the SDF wanted the entire system. It could have worked, if they had not gone and destroyed Hong Kong, destroyed Malmo and occupied Buenos Aires for two years. If they had not done that, perhaps the situation could have been a lot better, perhaps it could have resulted in something that wasn't a war that was going to consume the Solar System.

Perhaps tens of thousands of men and women would still be alive, on Earth and on Mars.

The more that Sebastian thought of it, the more that he began to think what about what they were fighting for. Control? Resources? The SDF wanted independence, but they resorted to terrorism to try and gain it. It was a foolish endeavour, but the SDF had the numbers to try it. They bred like rabbits, when one fell down another ten took their place. They used them like cannon-fodder.

He finally made it to the bridge, and there was no information from either Admiral Raines or Captain Reyes. It meant there was no mission yet, or at least nothing coming at the moment. It had always rubbed Sebastian up the wrong way, if after one mission he had nothing to return to and focus on. It just didn't sit right, there was always a chance that something could happen outside of the mission, or if something terrible happened in the mission. What would happen if he lost someone he cared about on the mission? What would he do if he lost Elsa? What would he do if the odds soon flipped and it was all on him to deliver what used to be called a pyrrhic victory.

What would happen if he fell on the battlefield and could not get back up? Who had the Titan? Devereaux? Ferran? Raines?

"Merrick, status report?" Sebastian asked, looking at the tactical table.

Merrick sent the list of repairs made in the meantime. Then, there was a list of names next to the list of repairs, the names all had big red letters next to them. All of which read something like this:

Corporal Amanda Nunes: KIA

Lieutenant Glover Texeira: KIA

Private Dan Rivas: KIA

Private Jack King: KIA

The list itself was long, and after counting or at least getting Spyglass to count for him. The casualties were totalled. After Operation Burn Water, twenty two soldiers, plus the five hundred men and women on the UNSA Tigris. Five hundred and twenty two soldiers dead in a single attack, as well as the loss of millions of dollars worth of military equipment.

If Sebastian was still a Petty Officer, he would have been more concerned with the amount of money lost in an endless sea of death and destruction. Then again, he was no longer a Petty Officer, he was a Commander, the leader of the UNSA Titan and the Titan's Shield. Yet, he was alone. His fleet was gone, every fleet had been sent out to secure the outer colonies away from the Solar System. They did not want to risk the outer colonies being taken too, and that would never happen.

They had managed to contain the battle to within the Solar System.

That would have been considered a victory, that the SDF could not escape either. It was win or die, there could be no other option. Either the SDF won and the Solar System was theirs, or the UNSA won and the red planet would most likely be annexed and turned into some kind of prison planet.

The idea wasn't exactly special, it had been done out of the Solar System.

"Commander, are you feeling alright?" Spyglass asked.

"I'm fine, Spyglass." Lyall said before marching to his office. "Merrick, you have the conn."

"Aye aye sir."

The commander took to his office, sighing loudly as he finally reached his office. He opened the door and as soon as he closed he fell to the floor. He didn't know what was wrong with him, he just fell to the floor and stayed quiet.

It was the war.

He had not had a second to think about his brother. The fact that he had lost Dan so quickly and barely had time to mourn had been bad, he didn't even know if his mum and dad knew. Were they even alive? Sebastian didn't even know if his parents were in Geneva, they always had been one for never missing a Fleet Week parade. Sebastian could remember the Fleet Week parade in Melbourne, when Sebastian had set off on the Minotaur before the Battle for Deimos. When Dan had 'gone on retreat' whilst he was on the UNSA Traverse, they looked even prouder. Although, Sebastian only wished he could have told his brother and his parents of his promotion to a Commander.

I wish, I wish, I wish… Sebastian thought to himself. Me, myself, and I. It's always about me isn't it? Nobody else but you.

He wanted and he got, he wanted and he took, he wanted but he never gave away.

There was a certain amount of harshness and selfishness in the Commander. He wanted them to be the best, he knew they were the best and he wanted to see that every day. There was nothing wrong with wanting to be the best of the best, was there? There could never be anything better than the best, and the crew of the The Titan were the best.

"Sir!" Li shouted. "We have the confirmation on the capital ship!"

"Which one?" Sebastian asked, rushing to the intercom and speaking to the pilot.

"The SDF Galaxius." Merrick replied, his accent echoing through the speakers.

It wasn't long before Sebastian made his appearance back on to the bridge. He walked right over to the two pilots, and right through the thick, sealed glass was the imposing chassis of the second greatest ship ever built by the Settlement Defence Force.

The SDF Galaxius, commanded by the Butcher of Deimos himself, Admiral Caleb Thies.

"It's inactive, hasn't moved at all." Merrick began.

"Stealth systems are engaged, Commander." Li stated. "They don't know we're here."

"Get me the Retribution, we'll need two teams on this." Lyall said, pressing a mic on his chair and ordering the leaders on the Titan to the bridge.

"Affirmative, Commander Lyall." Spyglass said. "Coordinates sent to Captain Reyes and Admiral Reyes."

There was a firm silence as Winters, Devereaux, Slade made their way to the bridge. Their faces then dropped in shock and horror as they laid eyes upon the SDF Galaxius. Yet there was one person that had no shock or horror on her face, no fear or sadness was visible on her face.

Elsa Devereaux was angry. She was going to kill Caleb Thies.

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