Skull Squadron sat on the tarmac of the Quarter, awaiting their launch approval. Ozma, Alto, Luca, and Nene listened to the radio as their compatriot, Klan, was getting overwhelmed by the Vajra swarm. Kanaria waited in her Monster, in case special deployment orders were issued. Jen's voice crackled over their radio, "Skull 1, 3, 6, and 9, you are clear for takeoff!" The pilots all opened their throttles and left the Quarter in formation. Kanaria's Monster was brought up to deck for launch preparations behind them.
"What's the status on the battle, Quarter?" Ozma asked on the radio. Wilder answered the call, "Klan is out there basically alone now. It's not looking good for her. Helios squadron has just launched from the Azusa and they'll be the first to get there." The Skull pilots were practically on the edges of their seats, hoping to make it in time to help out their wingmate.
Suddenly, from the other end of the defensive perimeter, a series of defold signatures began to show up, including a large one. A single Knight-class Vajra Carrier defolded with a large complement of fighter-drones and mecha-drones in escort. Monica alerted Wilder of the incoming craft, "Captain, a Vajra carrier has defolded at 242, 031! Over 100 escort drones are protecting it!"
Before Wilder could even issue a reaction order, the Vajra carrier opened fire on the nearest cruiser with it's beam cannon. The Northampton-class cruiser was immediately vaporized, along with several supporting craft who were in the line of fire of the monstrous beam. "The Omaha has been destroyed! The Phobos has taken massive damage from a partial hit!" Monica reported.
Wilder clenched his teeth as he realized what was going on. "It's a feint-attack maneuver! Skull Squadron, you are ordered to engage the newly-emerged fleet. All ships, move to defensive positions to maximize effectiveness," Wilder said, closing communications to the fleet. The gunboats and cruisers turned themselves longways to increase the spread of their defensive capabilities. Squadrons of fighters emerged from the carriers and headed out to deal with the bigger threat of the Vajra cruiser and it's large complement of escort fighters.
"Sir! What about Klan?" Ozma desperately asked. "She's on her own for now. Helios Squadron will support her as soon as they arrive," Wilder responded. Ozma did not like this at all. He gritted his teeth in disappointment as he led his squad towards the new swarm. Wilder decided to move his flagship into firing position. "Bobby, turn the ship to 120 degrees to port, full ahead. Position the Quarter behind the first line of defending ships!" he ordered. Bobby acknowledged his orders as the ship listed to the left.
Klan's ferocity in combat was in full show as she sought to hold off the attacking swarm for as long as she could. She had to spend almost all of her time defensive, while the onslaught of Vajra continued to rain down on her. Skillfully, she managed to avoid all incoming fire by leading the swarm on a wild goose chase. However, her luck would not hold out long. A red mecha-drone cut off her escape route and threatened to finish her off with a charged shot from its main cannon appendage. Gasping in surprise, Klan accepted her fate and closed her eyes in anticipation of the kill shot.
Just as the mecha-drone finished charging its cannon, a white-hot beam cut its way through the Vajra's body. The bug remained motionless as the microseconds seemed to tick by like regular seconds. Klan opened her eyes just in time to see the Vajra in front of her explode violently. As the smoke cleared, Cal's white RVF-171EX zoomed in front of her to engage the next target. His well-placed particle cannon shot saved Klan from destruction. However, Klan was not about to thank him for the favor.
"Lieutenant, you need to fall back and rejoin your squadron! There's no way you will survive this without more support. I will remain here and hold them off until the reinforcements arrive. Move it!" Klan barked over the comm lines. "Sorry, Commander, but I have my orders. You're going to have to use my help," Cal casually responded. "Wagner! I have no time to deal with your insubordination! You will leave now or face the consequences!" Klan angrily yelled. Cal continued in combat and ignored Klan. Realizing that her orders were not going to be followed, Klan re-engaged in combat. "Goddamn you, Wagner!" she yelled, accepting that he was going to have to die alongside her.
The two pilots worked furiously to cover each other's backs. Still outnumbered nearly ten to one, the odds were very bad, but better than just a few moments ago. Using Cal's help, Klan managed to wipe out a few of the attacking Vajra. Cal focused his efforts on keeping the bugs out from behind her so she could focus on her strength as an assault-style pilot. Even Cal was able to score a couple of gun and missile kills.
Klan was glad, even if it was a tiny bit, that she finally could fight these bugs with a competent wingman. However, she was going to let him have it if they came out of this alive. If it's one thing she cannot tolerate, it's insubordination of her orders.
The Vajra swarm continued to follow the double corkscrew maneuvering that Klan and Cal were using to keep their opponents from locking onto them. Two separate lines of Vajra drones formed a multicolored ribbon trail; creating a sort of double-helix effect while they chased the two fighters. "You ready, Wagner?" Klan radioed. "Ready!" Cal responded. "Okay, do it!" Klan ordered.
The two fighters converged their paths out of the double corkscrew and Cal released every flashbang countermeasure he had. Hoping the Vajra would at least either be distracted by it, or blinded by it, the two pilots took a bit of a gamble to pull the win out with this move. Cal had maneuvered his RVF into a 360 degree "wiggle" to give the multiple flashbangs a spread of trajectories behind him.
The flashbangs quietly spread out in the empty space while their timers counted down. The darkness of space was temporarily torn asunder by a barrage of high-intensity light from the flashbangs. As the light subsided, Klan and Cal both stopped their forward progress and turned around to engage the oncoming Vajra swarm. Both pilots exhausted their complement of missiles and opened fire with their primary weapons to fill that area with as much destruction as possible. Hoping to reduce their numbers to a more manageable amount, the two pilots finished their barrage and separated from each other to pick off the rest of the remaining swarm.
When the smoke cleared, the two pilots could see that there were still several Vajra left. Their barrage had cleared up some of them, but the danger was not over yet. The surviving Vajra swarm gathered itself back up and began to chase their targets once more. "Shit, I had hoped it would finish off most of them. We're not out of the woods yet," Klan exclaimed. As she turned to see Cal's position, Klan realized that Cal was about to be overtaken by a subset of drones who had broken away from the rest of the pack.
"Wagner! You've got two of them coming at you 10 o'clock high!" Klan yelled. Cal reacted by banking right to dodge the incoming fire, but the Vajra were using an incredible amount of teamwork to fight more effectively. Klan broke her flying pattern to cover Cal, who was about to be overtaken by one of the groups of swarms. "I'm in deep shit!" Cal exclaimed. Klan took a shot with her beam cannon, hoping she could get one of the lead drones and give Cal a chance at escape. Her quick shot nailed the lead drone on the head, resulting in its destruction. The remaining Vajra continued to attempt to overtake Cal. However, with the additional space to move, Cal was able to pull out of the pattern and escape harm.
Klan sighed relief as she had just saved Cal from certain destruction. Before she could re-engage, a charged blast lanced through the backside of her Queadluun. The blast cut a swath down the back, severely damaging the exhaust ports and rendering her engines completely inoperable. Electricity coursed along the backside of the Queadluun, as the power armor listed away from it's previous trajectory.
"Commander!" Cal yelled over the comm line. "Get out of here, Wagner. I'm of no use anymore..." Klan said. The swarm of Vajra began to circle around the disabled Queadluun, like a pack of carrion birds. All of Klan's motor movements were disabled and only her avionics and life support remained, running on battery power.
One of the fighter-drones moved in for the kill from the front. Cal would have none of this and he moved in to defend Klan's disabled Queadluun from the remaining swarm. Switching to battroid mode, Cal drew his Ka-bar and tackled the fighter-drone out of the way from its kill trajectory. Cal quickly planted the knife into a critical area on the fighter-drone's body. He pushed the flailing carcass away, as it slowly expired.
Cal's targeting system indicated 8 remaining Vajra. "Not looking too good," he said as he maneuvered himself into Klan's blind spots, doing what he could to block incoming fire with his shield. Klan watched as his battroid slowly revolved around to the front of her disabled Queadluun, continuing to fire upon the passing Vajra and keeping them at bay. This image was eerily familiar to Klan...
As the horrifying feeling of dejavu fell over Klan, she noticed a fighter-drone begin to move towards Cal's backside. "Not AGAIN..." Klan thought to herself in an instant. "Watch out!" she yelled over the radio. Cal's battroid turned around to see the incoming attacker. He fired upon the Vajra drone, but it ducked underneath his fire and swooped up into melee range for the killing blow. Klan's mouth hung open in disbelief that someone else was going to die in front of her in the same way as she had seen before.
Cal's battroid coiled in defense of the incoming melee strike. As the fighter-drone began to thrust its flagella forward to impale the cockpit, it was hit by a barrage of gunpod fire; knocking it away and causing it to explode. Cal looked to the side just as he saw a squadron of VFs flying into the battle area and scattering the remaining Vajra. The fighters split up into groups of 2 each and picked a Vajra to pursue.
The lead VF transformed into GERWALK mode and stopped in front of Cal and Klan. "I heard you guys were having some fun out here, so I decided to bring my friends to liven things up a bit," Commander Junzou said over the radio. Cal's face returned from pale white to its usual color as he responded. "You guys are more than welcome to join the party!" Cal exclaimed in relief.
He continued to defend the Queadluun, while the rest of Helios Squadron mopped up the remaining Vajra drones. Klan remained silent, still upset at Cal for disobeying her orders. Somewhere buried deep inside that animosity, she was glad that she was still alive and that Cal managed to survive as well.
On the other side of the fleet's deployment range, the real battle raged on. The Vajra carrier opened fire on the fleet again, taking another one of the carriers out with a blast of its beam cannon. Wilder was becoming frustrated at this and opened a channel to Ozma, who was in the thick of things. "Commander, why is that carrier still firing on us?" he demanded. "Sorry, Captain but these Vajra are doing an incredible job at keeping us away from their carrier. It's as if their combat capabilities have increased since our last meeting. We didn't have time to load out any MDE bombs to soften their numbers before attacking, so we're having to destroy them one at a time. We've taken a pretty good chunk of losses too," Ozma replied.
Wilder did not like this one bit. This means that his fleet has been caught completely off-guard and has sustained notable losses. "This is quite unacceptable. We need to end this right NOW, before any more lives are lost," Wilder said as he cut the message off. "Bobby, move into firing position. We need to take out that cruiser before it does any more damage," he ordered.
Ozma and his squadron struggled to break the defensive line that the Vajra held to keep their carrier safe. "Goddammit! These damn bugs seem to be fighting with a strategy on their minds," Ozma yelled over the squadron's comm line. "Someone ordered a meat tenderizer?" Kanaria chimed back. Her Monster had finally made it to the front lines and began to search out a spot to fire from on top of some poor ship's brittle hull. "Clear me out a spot so I can punch a hole through these pesky drones," Kanaria requested.
Ozma ordered the fighters to regroup in order to minimalize the chances of anyone getting hit by friendly fire. Kanaria used the derelict hulk of one of the destroyed carriers as a firing base. Several fighters took up a defensive position to make sure that the Monster would be able to fire its salvo without being hit. Taking the time to properly position and anchor her VB, Kanaria called out the incoming artillery strike on the fleet's comm lines. Fighters began to scramble out from in front of the Monster, and from the designated strike area.
The shock blast from the rail guns firing caused the empty hull to jolt backwards. A few seconds later, the shells reached their target zones and flooded the area with destructive annihilation. Scores of Vajra drones were destroyed in the blasts. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!" Ozma chimed over the radio. "Let's get in there and hit that carrier!" he ordered.
The Vajra carrier began to orientate itself to fire its cannon at the hole in its defenses before the attacking fighters could penetrate the defense line. Luca opened up the comm line with the warning, "Watch out, Commander! They're about to fire their main cannon right at us!" "What? Clear it out, everyone!" Ozma frustratingly ordered. The carrier's cannon reached its firing position and began to charge the energy up for the burst.
Before it could fire, it was pierced by a single shot from the Quarter's Heavy Quantum Reaction Cannon. The green glow faded from its cannon array and the ship's structure began to dissolve at the subatomic level, before it listed away and exploded in an impressive light show. Ozma turned around in time to see the Quarter passing by one of the NUNS carriers into the line of sight it needed to fire on the Vajra carrier.
"Wilder to all squadrons, mop up the remaining Vajra and secure this area! All fleet ships need to contract to standard defensive positions. All perimeter patrols return home for redeployment of new defensive positioning." Captain Wilder barked over the fleet-wide channel, "Phase One of our operation is now over. Preparations need to begin to move forward to the Kihnes Asteroid Belt as soon as possible! Ship captains report to me on your status in ONE hour."
Alto opened up the squadron comm line. "Captain Wilder sounded pissed. Looks like this operation just turned into a search-and-destroy," he said. Ozma responded, "I'll be honest. We just got our asses handed to us by a bunch of hive-minded bugs. We may have survived, but those Vajra took out two of our capital ships and severely damaged another. We lost a lot of VFs too. At the cost of what, one carrier and about 150 drones? I'd be pissed too, if I was in his position."
On the Quarter's bridge, residual explosions could be seen in the battle area as the NUNS fighters finished off the remaining Vajra drones. Captain Wilder began to receive damage reports on his console from the fleet. As he read on, he started to lose his composure. He took off his hat and sat forward to put his face in his hands. Monica glanced back to see him reduced to his current state. She began to empathize with the Captain and fought hard to keep the tears from getting in the way of her work.
On the other side of the fleet, the call for retreat was received by Helios Squadron. "C'mon, guys. We're going home!" Junzou hollered out to his squad. Cal was still standing vigilant as Klan's bodyguard until it was safe to bring her back home. "Commander Junzou, I'm going to take Commander Klang back to her ship before returning to the Azusa," Cal said. Junzou felt that this was an important thing for Cal to have to do, considering his knowledge of their history and recent interactions with each other. "Alright, be sure to stop by my office for debriefing when you return," he replied.
"You ready to go home, Commander?" Cal said as he flew up in battroid form to grab a hold of her derelict Queadluun. "Don't touch me," she said, "Just go with your squadron. I need to be left alone." Cal was confused by her attitude, but began to find her churlish ways to be unacceptable for a pilot of her skills. "You heard the recall order. You need to return home," Cal said. "I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!" Klan yelled over the radio. Cal recoiled his battroid's hand before it came into contact with the Queadluun.
Cal knew that bringing her home was the right thing to do. He convinced himself that Klan was just being irrational. He proceeded to grab the Queadluun and push it back towards the Quarter. "Did you hear what I just said? I ordered you to leave me here, Lieutenant!" Klan yelled again. "It wouldn't be safe to leave you out here. The Fleet Captain ordered the return of all fighters and that means you too, Ma'am," Cal responded. "To hell with his orders! I don't need you to lecture me on following the rules! Stay out of my busi-" Klan said, but Cal cut off the comm lines. He'd had enough of her nonsense and proceeded to follow his orders.
Cal's console indicated he had an incoming connection from the Queadluun, but he ignored it. He used the quietness to reflect on the chain of events that led him to this point. Had he not been warned through his dream, more good soldiers would have been lost. Even Klan would not have survived if he had hesitated for another moment on his decision making. Whether or not it really was Marie communicating with him through his dreams, it certainly seemed like things worked out just well enough for him to be able to fight at Klan's side, like he had wished for since their duel a few days ago.
Escorting Klan's Queadluun, Cal began to approach the position of the Macross Quarter. "Helios 14 to Quarter Tower, come in," he said. The tower didn't respond initially. Maybe the FCO is busy with another routing request. After a moment, the tower responded and opened a channel to Cal's RVF. The video feed showed Jen Wentz at the flight control station. "Lieutenant Wagner!" she exclaimed, with a blushing face. "Jen- I mean Lieutenant Wentz?" Cal responded. Immediately, he sunk into his seat realizing that he'd run into Jen again. The odds of this happening were supposed to be astronomical! "I completely forgot that she was serving on the Quarter..." Cal thought to himself.
"It's so good to see you again," Jen said. Cal could see Bobby, Mena, Lam, and Monica starting to creep towards each other in the background as they watched on. A couple of them were covering their huge grins with their hands. "You too... uh, I need an approach vector to your flight deck. I am returning Commander Klang and her disabled Queadluun," Cal requested. "Oh! Of course, uhm... here you go," Jen said as she punched some numbers in on her console.
Cal received his approach vector and headed towards the deck elevator on the Quarter's deck. The hangar was in full motion, as crews rushed to restore the VFs back to deployment condition, in case they were called up again. "Someone give me a hand here..." Cal spoke on his loudspeaker towards the hangar crew. Nene gasped, reacting to seeing her sister's power armor in its disabled state. One of the Work Destroids onboard made its way to Cal, who was still standing on the elevator. By himself, he was only able to hold the Queadluun up from falling over, due to the artificial gravity in the hangar.
Following an order from Ozma, Cal helped the Work Destroid get Klan's Queadluun set up on the repair riggings and needed to get his RVF secured for a meeting in the hangar office. Cal disembarked from his cockpit onto the catwalks set up along the walls while workers attached a motor to the Queadluun's cockpit hatch mechanism. The motor slowly turned the gears to the hatch and revealed a very pissed off Klan.
As soon as she could, she hopped out of her power armor and dropped her helmet on the ground, before lunging towards Cal. As Cal was about to make it to the access lift, he heard his name being called out by a very loud and boisterous voice. "Lieutenant Wagner!" Klan yelled out, charging towards the catwalk where he was walking. Cal was expecting some sort of confrontation at this point, but he jumped anyways when he heard Klan. He turned around and stood at attention.
"Ma'am!" he responded with a salute. As Klan approached him, he suddenly became captivated by her appearance. He'd never seen her before in person and was finding it difficult to stand upright, both from his weakened knees and because he was about to be chewed out by an officer whose physical stature was many times his own.
"Apparently, you still have a problem following orders! I will no longer tolerate your insubordination! Consider your career with the NUNS over!" she yelled at him, while pointing her finger at his face. Still having difficulty maintaining his composure, Cal reached inside of him to find the strength to stand up to the Nephilim. There's no way he was going to take this chewing-out when he was in the right.
"I followed my orders! Yours were superseded by a higher-ranking officer's and I followed them. I told you that I had orders and you refused to listen!" Cal shot back. Klan did not expect him to fight back. She's always gotten her way when ordering around miclones. Even in her miclone form, she still got things done, despite her smaller stature. Cal's insolence further enraged Klan and her hand turned into a shaking fist, as if she was about to hit something.
"How dare you argue with me! You even had the audacity to cut off my communications when I was giving you a direct order and then you ignored me? I should recommend corporal punishment for your transgressions!" Klan yelled as she slammed her fist onto the catwalk, as if to drive the point home. The walkway could not support the force applied to it and it bent under her fist, but didn't break. Everyone on it, including Cal, had to catch their balance after being thrown by the shock.
Cal still remained steadfast in his convictions that he was right and that she was blowing it out of proportion. "With all due respect, Commander, I maintain my innocence on the matter and would gladly defend my position in a court martial, if it was necessary," Cal said as he saluted again.
Klan could only see red at this point and the more Cal argued, the more enraged she became. Klan raised her fist again and before she could do any more damage, Ozma's voice barked from behind her. "Lieutenant Commander Klang! Stand at attention!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Hearing the order from her superior officer, she turned around and stood at attention and saluted. Her face was beet red from the burst capillaries under her skin. She trembled in anger as Ozma walked forward a few steps. "You will bring your micloned ass into my office in ten minutes, understood?" He yelled. "Yes, Sir..." Klan responded. "Move out!" Ozma ordered. Klan stormed away towards the micloning tanks.
Ozma took a glance at Cal before turning around and heading back to his office. He expected Cal to be in there any second behind him. Up on the catwalk, Cal violently exhaled as he leaned forward to catch the railing. A technician, who happened to be standing nearby, approached Cal and put his hand on his back. "You gonna be okay, buddy?" he asked. Cal nodded in response. The technician laughed, "Man, I do not envy you right now!" Another technician who was working nearby laughed as well. Cal smiled as he drooped his head below his arms. A slight chuckle started to come out as he stood back up, turned around to walk to the lift, and patted the technician on his back as he passed by.
Somewhere on the command deck, Captain Wilder sat in his office just outside of the bridge. The only light in the room was from the active display screens on his desk. Having been in communications with most of the ship captains in the fleet, he worked hard to summarize the damage sustained and create a report to submit to NUNS HQ. He was noticeably distraught at the information going through his mind.
The door chimed, alerting Wilder that someone wanted to see him. "Enter," he responds. Monica Lang stood on the other side with an inquisitive look on her face. Wilder did his best to restore his usual demeanor, hiding his actual state of mind from Monica. "Captain?" she said as she moved to sit down in the chair in front of his desk. "What is it, Monica? Now's not the greatest time to talk," Wilder said, casually pointing at his monitor.
"I just wanted to see if there was anything I can do to help," Monica asked, placing her hand on Wilder's desk. He stopped typing for a moment to look at her hand and then her face. "I'm fine," Wilder said with a sigh. Monica could immediately tell he was hiding his true feelings on the matter. "Nonsense, I saw you earlier. You're making yourself responsible for the lives of the soldiers that we lost today, aren't you?" she asked.
Wilder knew that she was right, but he desperately wanted to bear the burden himself. "The responsibility is mine. Lack of preparation and alertness was the cause, and it's my job to keep the fleet on guard at all times," he said, trying to justify his desire. Monica was not about to let him beat himself up so much, though. "We were in the middle of training exercises. It's not like we were out there looking for a fight just yet. It was against an enemy who we, before today, thought had left the system entirely," she said.
Wilder was not quite comforted by Monica's words. Monica continued, "Up until now, we haven't really seen the Vajra attacking with such coordination. The only time we saw any tactics like that was when they had a brood queen in the battle. This was just a carrier with a large complement of drones." Wilder started to become incensed by the fact that these bugs had actually gotten the drop on his fleet. The very concept of bugs with intelligence seemed to offend him. "This just means that we will have to deal with an even more dangerous swarm of Vajra. Before we can secure the asteroid belt, or even a portion of it, we may be looking at a very tough series of battles ahead. I was hoping we would be able to enjoy this peace for as long as needed," Wilder responded.
"For what it's worth, I think that tactically, this encounter was handled in the correct way. When we picked up the mysterious fold wave, we put it through intense analyzation. You ordered the deployment of additional RVFs to reinforce the defensive perimeter somewhat, while giving us more 'ears' out there. When we were attacked, you did not hesitate to put the fleet into action. I really can't think of any way the situation could have been handled better," Monica said. Wilder smiled and thanked her for the complement, "I just wish that we were better-prepared."
Monica was getting a little tired of his verbal masochism. She reached to put her hand on top of his. "Jeffrey, don't forget that we are all in this together. Not only are we here to follow you and your orders, but we are also just as responsible for the outcomes of these conflicts. I don't want to see that look that you had on your face on the bridge earlier ever again. We will share the burden of consequences with you because we all know that you truly want to make the right decisions," Monica said.
Wilder was surprised that Monica referred to him by his first name. Sensing her sincerity, he smiled upon her with gentle eyes and thanked her for her words. After Monica left his office, Wilder began to type into his computer again, but stopped after a few moments to rethink the conversation over again. It's been a long time since he's been able to appreciate kind, sincere words of support. The last time he was able to do so was probably about the same time that his wife was still alive...
Elsewhere on the Quarter, Klan sheepishly enters Ozma's office. Having taken time during her micloning to reflect on her conduct, she fears that her meeting with Ozma is not going to go well. Ozma was watching Cal's RVF ascend on the deck elevator, on his way back to his mothership. He did not react to Klan's entrance and allowed her to stand at the door for a moment, to accentuate his mood.
"Ozma?" she asked. Ozma turned around, after letting out a sigh. "I'm going to start this out on a positive note. Obviously, we have a lot to discuss, Klan. Have a seat," he said while moving around the desk to his chair. Klan already didn't like how this was starting. She hadn't seen Ozma so concerned about something since she started flying for SMS.
"You did the right thing in staying in combat with that smaller swarm of Vajra, despite being sorely outnumbered. Had you retreated, our casualties would have been considerably higher in the fleet. For that, I commend you wholeheartedly," Ozma said. Klan wasn't convinced that this was something to take as a complement just yet. "What happened out there in the hangar is not what my main concern is, either. We will talk about that in more detail a bit later," Ozma continued. Klan was a bit confused at this point. She had figured that her temper problem was what she was in so much trouble for.
"My biggest concern is this recent string of behavior that's giving me the impression that you just don't want to be here anymore. And I'm not talking about flying for the NUNS and this fleet, but that you really just have lost your sense of value for your own life," Ozma said. Klan could not figure out how this came out of left field. "What? What makes you think that I'd given up on myself?" Klan demanded. What an audacious accusation!
"Lieutenant Wagner gave me his complete report of the battle, including his interactions with you. Even he seems concerned for your well-being. He told me of the conversation you two had last week about losing a loved one. He knows that you're still hurting and that the temptation to rejoin your loved one is a difficult one to deal with. I had been getting inklings of that impression, based on my conversations with you, but now I am sure that you're entering into a dangerous state of mind," Ozma said. Klan fought with herself on whether or not to agree, since she had accepted death as her fate not but an hour ago in battle.
"Okay. I will admit that I had no qualms about sacrificing myself to hold off the Vajra attack, but isn't that what any good soldier should do?" Klan asked. "Yes, but what about when Wagner showed up to assist you and you tried to order him away?" Ozma asked. He continued before Klan had a chance to answer the question, "What about when you tried to order him to leave you floating alone in space? There's only one reason you'd make such a ridiculous order. You had no intention on remaining with us."
Klan could not believe that someone else is telling her what she really knew about herself all along and did nothing to correct. "Why the hell does that chickling pilot give two shits about me anyways?" she thought to herself. "I don't know, Ozma. It was all in the heat of the battle. I just got caught up in the moment," she replied. She knew her answer was thrown together without any sense of logic.
Ozma laughed at the ridiculousness of her reply and then gained a very serious look on his face. "That's a bullshit answer and you know it. What you need to do is stop kidding yourself on this issue and face the reality of it." Ozma leaned forward and changed his demeanor to a concerned one. "You would probably agree that counseling is not part of the job of a squadron commander, but I will do it simply because I care."
Surprised by his sudden sense of humanity, Klan unfolded her arms and turned to Ozma to listen to what he had to say. "You've shrouded yourself in your grief over Michael's death. That shroud makes it impossible to see the people who are still around you, and it also makes it impossible for you to see yourself introspectively. Everyone on this ship sympathizes with you because we care for your well-being. We understand that it's hard for you to cope with, but many of us have lost loved ones too," he said.
"Because of this, you also have not been able to take a real good look at yourself from the outside. Your lack of self-respect has gone unnoticed for too long. Needless to say, this isn't how you were before Michael died. Back then, you were one of the best pilots in the colony fleet and you knew it. Everyone fed off of your confidence back then. That's why I promoted you to my XO," Ozma continued.
By now, Klan was deep in thought, as she tried to imagine herself as she was back then. Ozma wanted to finish his thoughts on the matter, "This squadron is going to need your strength. I know I will need you more than ever when we bring in the new pilots. But most importantly, we need you here as a part of this family." Ozma's words began to form a seemingly tangible feeling in Klan's mind. She needs to remember that there are others out there who depend on her to be around.
Ozma leaned back into his chair once again and put his hands in his lap. "Now, let's move on. I want you to give me your opinion... and I want you to be completely honest... what do you think of Lt. Wagner as a pilot and soldier?" Klan's eyes opened up as if she was about to complain about him again, but she remembered that she needs to give her professional opinion as an answer. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's quickly realized much of his potential. Tactically, he's got what it takes to be effective. Obviously, as you saw earlier, I have a problem with his unwillingness to follow his orders."
Ozma smiled at Klan's answer because he knew she'd bring up the insubordination issue. "When Wagner gave me his report, he made sure that I understood that he did not want to disobey you, but that he was, in fact, following orders he had received from his squadron commander. He seemed to be a little upset, not from the fact that you were chewing him out about it, but that he doesn't want you to think that he's intentionally trying to infuriate you." Once again, Klan couldn't understand why Cal would be so concerned about her impression of him.
"If you ask me, I think he looks up to you, Klan. His commanding officer told me that he has tried to make amends with you since your duel with him. What ever happened with that?" Klan was a bit surprised at Ozma's opinion. "Yeah, he did send me a message. I never did get back to him on it, though." Ozma smiled upon hearing Klan's confirmation. It looks like he's found himself someone to get Klan motivated again. He stood up to look out the window again.
"I've decided to bring him into Skull Squadron. His skills as an RVF pilot will come in very handy as we move into the asteroid belt for the second phase of our operation," Ozma announced. Klan was still not okay with awarding Cal a spot in the squadron. "Ozma! He's going to be nothing but trouble!" she replied. "Both I and his commanding officer see that he's willing to make the changes he needs to become an exemplary pilot. I am more than willing to give him a chance to prove it," Ozma said. Klan re-folded her arms and shifted away from Ozma in her chair.
"It gets better," Ozma turned to say, "I'm putting him under your command. He will be flying in Team Pixie as your RVF." Klan could not believe what she was hearing. She tried very hard not to lose her cool in front of Ozma. Sensing her inner strife, Ozma walked up to Klan and leaned forward to grab her shoulders. "I want you to trust me on this. Do me that favor, at least. I'm counting on you, Klan." She begrudgingly nodded in agreement. "Your orders are to make sure that he stays alive, okay?" Ozma added.
Ozma walked back over to the window he was looking out of before. "I don't want to see you lose control of yourself like you did out there earlier." Klan looked at the floor, embarrassed by her lack of self control. "You are my squadron XO and I want to make sure that you represent that rank. If you can't handle that, then I will have to find someone else who does. I want you to take a 24-hour leave of absence to put yourself back together," Ozma ordered. "Yes, Sir," she replied.
"Take some time for yourself. I want you to do what it takes to bring back the old Klan and prepare yourself for the new pilots in your team. I don't want you to be cooped up in your quarters all day, either. You will be joining me for lunch in the galley tomorrow, okay?" Ozma said with a smile. "Yes, Sir," she replied again.
Klan left Ozma's office feeling a little dejected, but relieved that things were progressing despite her misconduct. Her melancholy complexion slowly grew a smile as she realized that she was going to get a chance to get back at Cal for the irritation he's caused her the past week or so. "This might actually be a little fun," she thought to herself.
