When the first shots rang out, panic arose. I ushered what little occupants of the bar into the back room, leaving the Bartender to defend them, an old war Winchester as their only defence. When I left the bar, shit had already hit the fan. Militia and IMC, all fighting within the district. Neither cared about the civilians, so I did what I could. When the Sentinel warped over the city, I had thought it would be over. I was right, just not in the way I thought. And now, I'm left to deal with the aftermath.

~Captain Alexander Miller, 5th Guards Troop

"Captain Miller, where were you on the day of the attack?"

I stood straight, keeping my eyes forward as I replied. "I was in the Harbour district sir, in a bar down on 12th avenue." The hologram infront of me flickered, while Blisk, Vice Admiral Graves and spyglass sat flanking it.

"Why was the Captain not a participant in the battle?" Spyglass inquired. I looked to Graves, and seeing his nod, I continued. "When the battle started, I ushered the civilians in the bar to the backroom, and left them with the bartender who had a weapon. Upon leaving the bar, I spotted Captain Bracken shooting down hornets."

I struggled to keep my voice level. "Sir, what I saw was a reckless engagement that endangered both civilians, and their trust in the IMC to protect them. Therefore, I took the steps to protect and escort the civilians to proper shelters until the battle was over."

The commander frowned as Spyglass made a small noise disapprovingly. "Pilot, you're one of the most effective weapons of this fleet. You cannot let civilians distract you from your duty!" The hologram flickered in sync with the shouting.

I grit my teeth. I knew civilians had become nothing but numbers to the men back in the core, but I thought they'd at least care about their image.

Spyglass stepped forward. "I believe this hearing has concluded. Pilot Alexander Miller's penalty shall now be decided. I vote to strip the pilot of his rank, and place him in the 12th squad."

Blisk shook his head. "Can't do that. Morale would plummet if someone as noticeable as him was relegated like that."

"Morale, such a useless human concept."

"With your permission sir," Graves interrupted the spectre, turning to face the hologram. "I propose that the pilot be demoted to a second lieutenant for a probation period, and be transferred to a different ship."

"Through this, I believe that the punishment will be heavy enough that others may learn, yet light enough that Morale won't drop in the soldiers thinking that we're discarding valuable personnel."

"I think it's a good idea." Blisk nodded.

"Then it is decided." The hologram grew taller as the person stood up. "Pilot Miller, from now on you will bear the rank of second Lieutenant for a period of 2 months, or until Vice Admiral Graves or other commanders deem you ready to step up again. Is that clear?"

I snapped to attention. "Yes sir."

"I'll leave it to your commanders to figure out your transfer, while I go and figure out how to appease the public. Hammond out." The hologram flickered out as I lowered my hand, returning it to my side as I kept my gaze forward.

Spyglass left the room first. Blisk followed soon after, stopping beside me and placing his hand on my shoulder. "You fight with your values held tight kid. Keep your head on straight, and it'll all be over soon enough."

"At ease pilot." I shifted to clasp my hands behind my back as Graves walked up to me. "Walk with me." I spun to follow him as he walked out the room.

"What did you join the IMC for son?"

"Revenge." Graves turned his head to look at me, silently asking me to continue. "When I was younger, I was adopted by this couple after their daughter took a liking to me. A few years later, some IMC officers came by the house and 'relocated' them."

I tried to keep the venom out of my voice, though judging by the look I got from Graves, I was failing. "So revenge against the IMC? Kind of suicidal, telling the commander of the 1st fleet, don't you think?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "I rose through the ranks after I got recommended for pilot training, and when I got high enough, I searched through the records for the men, but what I found was something else."

"They had turned up dead, barely 2 weeks before the incident. I found that my anger was misdirected, and I threw my entire self into combat."

Graves was silent for a minute. "So what changed?" he leant on one of the railings overlooking the hangar, the technicians and engineers rushing around the titans and goblins below us. "You obviously have something else for you now, or you would have surely fought back in Angel city."

I stayed silent, observing the bustle in the hangar. "I fought with nothing but rage and anger for two years. But with every life I took, every settlement I helped raze for the IMC…"

I stopped, searching for a way to describe it. "You found a new purpose then?"

I nodded numbly. "Yeah, that works. I decided to stop fighting for myself, and start for them you know?"

I turned to look at the commander, to see him staring at me in wonder. He chuckled, smiling to himself. "If we had more men like you, we would have won this war years ago."

"If you had men like me you'd have to sit through more hearings with Hammond." We shared a laugh, before he took a look at the display on his wrist, frowning slightly. "You better not change during your transfer Lieutenant."

I turned to face him as his tone changed. "Lieutenant Miller, you have been re-assigned to the IMC Infinity, in the Curtis system, effective immediately. Dismissed."

I snapped into a salute. "Yes, Vice Admiral."

I turned around, walking back towards my bunk in the officer's quarters. I ignored both pilot and crew who turned to look at me as I passed, stopping outside the door.

"Heard about the hearing. Tough shit man."

I turned to face the man who was leaning against the doorframe of his room. I smiled, shrugging slightly. "Had to be done, I got off lightly." I opened the door to my room, entering and throwing essentials into a spare bag I had.

"Light my ass. A demotion and reassignment to a Symphony class destroyer seems pretty bad to me." The man shook his head, peering into my room.

"It's only temporary Dane. And besides." I grunted, shouldering the bag. "Always wanted to explore a bit more."

As I moved to walk past him, he placed his hand on my shoulder. "We'll be here, if you ever need to talk. I'm not the best with stuff, that's more of Shauna's thing honestly. Point is, what happened with Jacobs, we know it bothers you, and all, but we're still here if you need us."

Dane's face was serious, a change from his normal deadpan as he searched for words. I smiled at him as he let go off my shoulder. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."

"Try not to destroy too much out there."

I laughed, throwing my hand up in farewell as Dane called out to me. The Curtis system was far away, and I still had to find a way there.

~ 3 Days Later

"Lieutenant Alexander Miller, reporting for reassignment as ordered sir."

The man in front of me sat in his chair, eyes roving over me. He looked to be in his late 40s, and had long since seen combat judging by his figure.

"Put him under Captain Sly."

The soldier who had brought me in saluted the commander, before turning away and leading me out of the room. He kept casting looks back at me. I didn't like it.

"The captain can be a bit… untrusting of new people." He spoke, seeing the question. "The commander knows this, but he probably did it on purpose. So…" The man trailed off, leaving me to wonder the reason.

We stopped in front of a set of closed doors, the plaque announcing the room behind it to be 3rd squad's. From behind it, shouting and laughing.

I pushed open the door as my guide retreated back down the corridor.

The room were full of bunks, some clean, most messy. The clean one's all had people sitting on them, while in the centre of the room, a table was set up, with a good 15 men gathered around, bottles in hand.

As they took notice of me, one of the occupants at the table got up, laying down his cards and staggering towards me. "Yer my new pilot yeahhh? Millerrrr?" The smell of whiskey wafted off his body, filling the gap between us.

I nodded, and suddenly, I was receiving a half-empty bottle of alcohol, as it was hastily pushed into my hands. I looked at the bottle wearily, before putting it down on the table.

"I don't drink, and I'm rather tired from the trip. Which bunk you want me in?"

The man narrowed his eyes, and I swear I could see both coherence and cunning flash in them, before they disappeared as he shrugged, pointing at a bed with another pilot sitting on it. Said pilot stood up as I made my way over to him, extending his right hand as I approached.

I gripped his hand loosely before introducing myself. He introduced himself as Sergeant Francis. No last name, just Francis. "I sleep on the top bunk, so you can have the bottom."

I nodded, sitting down on the bunk as Francis started talking. Off in the other parts of the room, the laughter and merriment continued. I frowned as I watched them, and seeing my gaze, Francis spoke up.

"They're usually like this, so you ought to get used to it. All the Infinity does is sit in this system to give the locals some security." I turned to face my bunkmate as he told me of this.

"Most of our guys are either fresh out of training, or those looking to end their military careers but still want the pay." He sighed, turning to face me. "Though for what it's worth,"

"Welcome to IMC Infinity's 3rd Squad"