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Chapter 6

Major Petrova sighed as she took another sip of her vodka. Perhaps alcohol would dull the unpleasant feelings she had been experiencing. Part of her told her that she should be celebrating their victory, but who did she have to celebrate it with. Once she had joined the Fleet's marine arm, she had all but lost contact with the few friends she had.

She looked around the small hidden bar she had found when her leave started. She had only been in there a few minutes before she noticed Corporal Taylor make her way into the alcohol establishment. She ordered something Petrova didn't recognize and sat down next to her.

"Care to have some company?" She asked. Petrova said nothing in response.

Taylor then asked her a more direct question. "Something is not right with you, Major. Care to tell me what it is so I can attempt to help?"

Petrova nursed her drink for a few seconds before responding. "I looked hard at who I was l. Let me ask, what am I outside my life in the marines? I don't have anything there."

"You're not the only one. Everyone who joined before the public knew left the world behind, figuratively and literally. And the people they left weren't always ready to let them back."

"It's not like I had people to go back to, even if they let me." She murmured. "Outside my career, I'm nothing."

"Well, it's not like you have much time for anything else with your position and all," Taylor argued.

"I could at least have a better relationship with my squadmates. I only see them professionally, nothing more outside of that." Petrova said quietly.

"I think you're afraid of losing them. I wouldn't be surprised if you're running our most recent battle in your head, trying to find a way to win without taking casualties." Taylor said. Petrova nodded. Taylor had a truly uncanny ability to understand what other people were thinking.

"Yes, yes you're right." She said quietly.

"You don't need to be this way. I also think that you have… grudges… against certain members of the squad. Even if you find them to be good members of the team." Taylor said.

"How did you notice?" Petrova responded quietly.

"It's not difficult to see. You have a level of annoyance with some of them. And while you are more, don't let this annoyance of them get in the way of a mission, it could hypothetically get in the way in the future."

"So what should I do?" Petrova asked.

"Hmmm, you don't know much of what to do socially. Did you have a childhood?" Taylor asked.

"Well, yes but I didn't have many friends."

"Just talk to them. You are with them for hours on end, are you not?"

Before either of them could speak, Hans Meyer entered the bar. It had been sparsely populated before Petrova and Taylor arrived, and now with the exception of the two and the bartender who often disappeared it was desolate.

"Major, Corporal, good to see both of you," Hans said.

"You mean Emily. We are off duty after all." Taylor said.

"Ah yes, I'm so used to being on duty that I forgot how not to be on duty." The three of them chuckled. Petrova had almost forgotten how to laugh, it is so long since she had done so.

"You could say that for me as well." Petrova sighed.

"Yeah, we were just talking about that," Taylor said. Hans shot her a knowing glance. Petrova wondered if they had talked about this before.

Hans ordered some german sounding beer she didn't recognize and Taylor excused herself.

"What are you going to do with your two weeks?" She asked the German sergeant.

He took a long drink of his beer mug and shrugged. "I could go back to German and reconnect with some old friends, but I'm not sure how well that will go over."

"Where are they from the Bundeswehr?" Petrova asked.

"Ja, we're in my unit." He paused and said nothing. Petrova knew he'd left the German military after one of their elite units, the KSK, was partially disbanded. There had been some neo-nazi rhetoric coming from them, but she had never really looked into it.

Hans himself had never spoken about his time there much. Considering what happened there, that made sense. All Petrova knew was that he had been offered a job by the Fleet's marine arm back when it was still secret and hidden from the public. She indicated that he was running away from something there. Something sinister.

"What happened?" She asked. "You never told me or anyone else in the squad to my knowledge." He remained silent for a few moments.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, it's just I left a lot behind. The people I served with back then were practically my brothers. They were a family I never had."

"Then why did you leave them behind?"

"They became what we swore to defeat. The unit I was in, was the one where it started. In the force we saw things we never should have seen, did things we never should have done. But it was kept quiet and no one minded for a while because what we were doing was important. It never was bad in the beginning. A few dark references and jokes. Generic Dog Whistles that could have meant anything. And it wouldn't be hard for men in our type of work to gain some controversial political views." He paused for a moment before continuing. Petrova sat silently, absorbing the information he was giving her.

"But what started as a few jokes turned gradually into hateful comments. And because our society is rightfully hyper-aware of such comments, soon there we're investigations into what was said. I managed to clear my name and did what I thought was right by ratting out a bunch of the men who made me an enemy of many more people. There was no way to continue as I had before, no way to face the men I had served with for years who I had ratted out. I knew I did the right thing, but it didn't make it easier. When I was contemplating, a man gave me an offer I had no right to refuse, and I joined the fleet's marine arm." He finally finished.

Petrova didn't know what to say. She had always assumed he hadn't left on good terms, but never had thought it would have been this bad. She didn't know what to say, and even if she said something it was doubtful it would help.

"I don't know if it will help, but I'm sorry for what you went through," Petrova said. "And I'm sorry for not asking about this earlier. I'm also sorry you don't feel the connection here that you once did." She said, feeling empathy for his pain.

"Thanks." He said, taking another swig of his drink. Unexpectedly, she reached over and hugged him. It felt nice and warm in his strong, muscular arms.

Taylor was just coming back when she saw the two embraced. This night has become more interesting than I thought. She said to herself, waiting just a few more seconds for the two to part to come back into the room.

The Next Day:

The auditorium of Lincoln High School was packed with students and faculty alike, all eager to see one of the people who had played a pivotal role in defending Earth two times.

Johnson stood by the podium, waiting for the school's principal to introduce him. Allison, the school's principal, and several members of the faculty stood behind them. Like Allison predicted, members of the press captured the event on live TV at the edge of the room.

An exception to Allison's "No Uniform" rule had been made for the day, as the two sported polished and cleaned dress uniforms to show their status as officers of the fleet.

"I would like to welcome Vice Admiral William Johnson, the Director of Naval Operations for the United Nations Spaceborne Navy." The principal said to clapping and cheering.

"Good afternoon everyone. I hope you don't mind this little interruption from your classes." Many of the students laughed.

"While it may seem strange, about 9 years ago I roamed these halls like many of you did. I went to class, studied hard, and played sports like many of you. Some of the teachers might even remember me." He glanced at the senior cross country coach as well as one of the history teachers.

"Plenty of people have asked how I got here. Well, I chose to join the fleet, after being approached with an offer of a lifetime. For the next four years, I spent practically every moment studying and training for what was ahead. That hard work paid off, and I got a commission aboard what was one of the newest ships in the fleet. You all know what happened four years after that, but once I was that far there was no going back. Ultimately, I got where I was through hard work and a bit of luck. But mostly hard work. You will never get far in life if you do not put in hard work over a long period of time. Whether this is in school, sports, social life, or call of duty." There were a few more chuckles. "I hope you remember that throughout your life. Shortcuts will only lead to more frustration in the long run as you find you have not developed the necessary prerequisites." He paused for a moment.

"Next many ask what it is like helping to command such a large fleet. First of all, it's about the most stressful job you could ever ask for. The vacuum is about as forgiving as your ex after a fight." That joke caused quite a stir, with laughter erupting across the audience.

"But in all seriousness, the demands of commanding a fleet, especially when preparing an offensive like now, are second to none. You must be at your peak physically and mentally 24 hours a day. There will be no real-time off, you will need to always be on call and ready to face the most unexpected situations. When in these situations, you will have to make some very difficult choices. And if you screw up or even if you don't, lives will be lost. And these dilemmas will be faced on some level by everyone in the fleet. But ultimately if it keeps the Empire from our atmosphere, any sacrifice will be worth it." He said vigorously, to cheer.

"Finally, I'm sure that many of you are wondering about the upcoming offensive into Imperial space. It has been a controversial decision, with many people of all walks of life believing that we need to keep our resources at home to defend against future Imperial attacks. I will say what I have said to the highest-ranking diplomats and leaders, that we have given the Empire in this region of space a bloody nose and that they haven't even found the tissues yet! We have a chance to build a buffer between us and them, which is one of the best things we can do. And the venerable rebel alliance that has aided us so much since the Empire came requested it, and made it a condition to their aid. I believe that there is no choice in the matter. For if we wait, the Empire will one day return, bigger and stronger than we could ever imagine. And we will eventually lose, maybe not the first time, but eventually. So we fight them on our terms while we can." More cheers and clapping followed.

"Since we have some time left, I'll take some questions from the students. For now, you lucky bunch in the first few rows will get the opportunity to ask me anything. As I discussed with them earlier, the faculty will gather questions from the other students. Ask away, and remember that there are truly no stupid questions."

One of the boys raised his hand and Will called on it.

"Admiral Johnson, how do I join the fleet?"

"Well right now most of the slots are going to people with previous military experience, so I would recommend joining either the US Navy or Airforce when you get out of high school. There will be opportunities to serve with the fleet if you meet the requirements. Net?"

"When that man came to offer you a position at the fleet, why did you take it?"

"I knew it was an opportunity that would allow me to grow in a way few others in this world could. And I knew I had a certain responsibility to help people, even if it was in this indirect way."

"Admiral Johnson, are you a gamer?" There were a number of laughs throughout the audience.

"Well once I joined the fleet, I didn't exactly have a lot of time for it. But before, I indeed was quite the teammate in Counter-Strike or Siege. I also played a lot of strategy games like Civilisation, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris. So yeah I was a gamer." There was a lot of clapping that followed.

"Admiral Johnson, should I ask out my crush?" There was a thunderclap of laughter as the kid's face who asked it turned bright pink.

"Well, is she in the audience?"

"Yes."

"What's her name, and your name?"

"Cecilia Jones. My name is Albert Frost."

"Cecilia Jones, what do you think?" There was more laughter until a response was recorded. "Yes."

"Well Albert, don't screw it up. And to many members of the press that hear this, could you please give these two some privacy."

There were a few more minor questions, but that mostly concluded his remarks to the students. Johnson was happy to walk away knowing he had helped and probably inspired many young people, who ultimately would end up leading the world one day.

He hoped that inspiration would go a long way.