Content Warning:
Strong Language and Death is very prevalent in this story, Later there is some short impications of suicide so if you want to skip this week's chapter be my guest! Have a nice day!
“Sir, the uranium is running out! At this rate, the enemy ship will be able to turn around by the time we fire!” Sandra (First) blares out to me. My heart is racing, but I can’t let my mind do the same.
“You know what to do! Keep your voice down and switch to copper!” I snap back at them. The vessel heftily turns, trying to face its large cannons.
“But the damage lauded is nowhere near enough to take down a spaceship of that size,” she replies in a more determined tone.
“Aim for the cannons, they’re the weakest spot, and if we can get a clear shot, the backwash of the explosion of just even one is enough to vaporize it entirely,” I say with a stern face. I stare death in the face once more. I dare to test it, but I’ve done it so many times. Surely this time will be no different.
“Sir, if we need only one shot, then there should be enough uranium to shaft it without taking a large hit to our own supply,” she looks at me, desperate for my reply.
“You’re right. Proceed forward. And everyone else, get in your damn spots. We don’t have time to be toying around!” I yell as they rush to their positions. Every second I waste is a second under their belt. They continue to turn as their cannons begin to light up a bright green. They’re trying to use our weapons. Who are these people?
“Sir, We’re getting word from Sister Ship 35!” Ahamad (Seventh) yells from behind.
“Finally, those asshats need to fix their damn comms! Patch me through!” I groan. He nods and continues.
“Sir, we’re encountering a ship as large as the mother’s!”
“What?!” I explode. This couldn’t be a worse time. Commanding two ships at once could put both of us in danger.
“Get the hell out of there, David! You can’t do this!” I desperately call.
“This mother has cut off our means of escape! There are too many smaller ships surrounding us to fly around!” He quivers in his voice.
“Shit.” I begin to get choked up. I look down at our blast monitor. Two sources. One in front, One behind. I can’t let the pressure get to me. I wipe the sweat off my brow. I take a deep breath and speed back to the helm.
“Tristine, give me a report of the ship’s current status,” I say with confidence, in the hopes of keeping their nerves down.
“Sir, The pressure on the boosters looks to be cleared after our last run, Our Cannons are low on Uranium due to the constant encounters on the last planet. Current staff morale is quite high today!” The enemy continues to slowly turn. The hauntingly bright green lighting up the void of space.
“Good, Keep it that short always. Luchini, We need a view on those cannons, how close are we?” Its small stature makes it similar to one of our sister ships, but the colors and parts are entirely different. I expected a quicker turn, telling me just how weak our enemy truly is.
“Capin’! We got aim on some vantage points, but there’s not enough room if we plan on using our Uranium.” On the blast monitor, the ship behind us hasn’t moved an inch. Is it worth worrying about? I try and pinging it to get a response of any kind, but there’s nothing.
“Continue on it! David, how much longer til your ship is fully aiming at the Mother?” The ship in front reveals its windows with the many people inside running it, similar to us. I can’t let that cloud my judgment. I have my own people to take care of.
“Sir, we’re 10 paces off course, but are getting close! The cannons have been prepared in advance.” The sounds of the many alarms begin to ring in the main cockpit. A preemptive warning to the amount of radiation detected from outside. For a moment, I thought of what it would be like outside, but remember there’s just emptiness.
“Damn-it, David, we don’t have time for you to play. Did Cassandra teach you nothing?! If you need more torque, use a counterbalance to push towards the side you’re turning. Get Cardigan on it, now.” The energy from the cannon begins to heat up the entire ship. Little by little.
“S-Sir! We’ll counter the weights now!” The ship in front begins to move substantially faster. Alerting speeds, considering moments ago it was inches per second.
“Good. Serine, How much time do the cannons need to be warmed up?” My heart slows down, knowing that it’s almost time.
“232 seconds.” Serine promptly responds.
“Love the enthusiasm, Alright people, prepare for hell! Luchini, we better have that weak spot ready, or you’re responsible for our asses, you hear me?” I clap to get people’s attention and grab my sunglasses, preparing for the light. The ship’s entire front fades as the green covers all the area.
“Capin’ a weak spot has been spotted, we’re locking the ship in place.” Luchini scoffs.
“Hell yeah.” I smile, knowing that we can soon provide backup to David (Fifth) and his crew.
My face goes pale. I didn’t realize it fast enough.
“Fuck, Stop the Fucking Cannons!” I yell towards Reeves (Seventh).
“Sir, We’re no longer in control the beams are at their maximum capacity, if we stop them now the thermal reaction will cause the entire ship to implode.”
“I’m not asking you for fucking reasons, stop those god-damn-” A light thump is heard as the ship jostles for a moment. I heard David scream. I heard him scream in my ear. A light red mist trails outside before fading as the twinkles come to replace it. What had I just done?
A small bit that somehow had survived the crash fly towards the large glass plain that bounds us in the ship. It was Lucile's Daughter’s doll. A little hand, but clear that nothing had made it out besides that.
I look over to Stan. Dear god, Stan. A mile yard stare, as a single tear rolls down his face. I look back down at the blast monitor, desperate to see two signals.
We were alone.
“We have lost contact with Sister 35.” Not a soul responds to Luchini.
I cover my head as the looming failure as a captain has finally come. Millions of thoughts plague my head. How do I tell their families? What was that second ship? Why didn’t I realize sooner? I killed children. What about Marlene?
“Sir, what should we do now?” Pearl asks.
“Don’t call me sir.”
“Sir, we-”
“Listen here, there were 327 people on that ship! I killed every single last one of them because I didn’t notice our own fucking colors! I do not deserve your respect, I do not deserve your interactions, I do not deserve to be your damn captain! If anyone wants to continue calling me such, I will kill you right here, right now!” I screech at the top of my lungs. Kenny would have stopped me if he were here right now. Samantha backing him up because he couldn’t find the right words. Naria trying to stop both of them before they get fired because of their reckless behavior. David… David would have been a better leader to yell at than me.
I walk off the platform back into the living deck without a word more. My next move didn’t matter, but I knew I no longer had free will. I sat in my room for hours, replaying the scene over, hoping the scenario would change, at the very least, in my mind. Every time, the same scream from David before the comms lost its power because of me.
I hear my door open, and I point my gun towards it.
“What did I tell you?” My heart rate almost frozen.
“Drop the gun, Arthur.” Reeves puts his elbow on the door.
“Why?” I swing it back and forth.
“You’re not 16 anymore. I know it’s about to run out of charge. You can try and shoot me, but at most, I’ll lose an eye.”
“Aren’t you scared? I have nothing to lose.” I laugh. He walks up to me and punches me in the gut. I can feel the wind soar out of my chest.
“That’s about all the solace I can provide. Arthur, you can’t walk away from this. You know this is far from your battle alone. We worked as a team, so we killed them just as much as you. Get back up there and command your squadron. We need you, Arthur. None of them want to go on if you give in.” Reeves solemnly asks.
“I’m sorry.” I whisper. I felt the weight of the world, and when it mattered the most, I crumbled. I can’t truthfully believe they want me. It’s not possible. But what I hate more is pitying people. Especially myself. I get up, and Reeves (Seventh) grabs me. We hang and hold tight.
I walk back to the main deck, barely a man. It was cold silence. They were at the sight of the atrocity I… We committed. They look at me, mixed with emotions.
“S-Sir!” Howard (Twelve), the statistic analyst, stands up. I lock onto him. He barely talks because he’s afraid of me. He salutes me. My eyes widen as he continues.
“I cannot think of a better person… A better captain to be killed by. If that’s our fate ultimately, I want it to be by your hands! You have given us a place to not only survive but be a family even if we don’t have one. So if we all must die, we will take the blame with you!” His meek voice rings out. I couldn’t believe he would say such a thing. The room is silence as the ship hums. One by one, they stand up, saluting to me. I had abandoned them in my moment of weakness. I needed to recompose myself for their sake.
“My crew are the most morbid people in the Galaxy, aren’t they?” I scoff as they let out relieved cheers. Though my moment of peace had lasted for a moment. My eyes searched the room looking for one person.
“What happened to Cassandra?” I slowly ask.
“Gone.” Serine replies. I drop to my knees, sobbing. Rather than the world crumbling, I had crumbled. My crew surrounds me, comforting my only time of weakness.
