Second Nature, an NOP rewrite (ch 22.5 - extra episode 2)
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command
Date [Standardized Human Time]: November 23 through 27, 2136
With the recent Human attacks, Governor Piri thought it wise to park most of our fleet around Cradle’s orbit. I stood by her side in agreement when she announced it. But it seemed that wouldn’t help the scolding I was about to receive… She had waited until the rest of the Goljidi top brass had left the conference room to approach me. She didn’t have to say it was coming, I could feel it in the air, in the way she’d glance at me, only for a slight sorrow to hit her face.
“Sovlin…” Her face was obscured behind her claws as she spoke with what I assume was the most disappointed voice she could muster. “What, pray tell, gave you the brilliant idea to torture a prisoner, not tell me about it? And worst of all, you tossed a Venlil who could barely walk into a hungry predator’s pen??” Her arms rested on the stone table. Her holopad quest buzzing intermittently and incessantly.
“Ma’am, although I agree my actions were at the very least uncalled for and outside standard protocol—”
“Protocol? Protocol?? You’re worried about fucking protocol??”
“As I was saying…you know as much as I do just how much we lost to the Arxur. And until yesterday, all of the Federation was in agreeance that the Humans were just like them. What, pray tell, would your excellency have done in my place? Would you have let the thing that took so much from you walk free?”
“...Is this supposed to be a ‘gotcha’ moment, Sovlin? It doesn’t matter what I would've or wouldn’t’ve done. What matters is what YOU have done and how it makes my job a million times harder…” I stood in silence as she drove her point home over and over ad nauseum.
“I’m afraid I can’t undo it ma’am.” As my words trailed off, all that followed was the unquenchable silence of her judgement. It felt worse, by orders of magnitude than being left in that rotten cell by Recel.
“…You’re being demoted, Sovlin. Give me your badge.” She held a paw outstretched. She spoke again once I hesitated. “I can overlook what you did to that predator, I couldn't care less if it lived or died…” She paused as she shifted her weight from her tail to her backpaws. She calmly made her way to me, holding her paw open still. “...but you failed to fully report the situation, willfully put a Federation citizen in harm’s way and let your entire ship be evacuated, giving cover for Recel. I’m sure you understand why I have to do this.”
I removed my badge from my chest and placed it on her paw, her claws curved upwards almost grazing me as she curled her fingers into a fist around the silver insignia. The shadow she cast over me could surely fully engulf me. I felt so… small, like I had gone back to being scolded by my elders as a child.
The day would turn to night and to day again, but that feeling never really left my chest.
As I boarded the Bastion I had the honor to inform the new captains of their promotion. They were still fresh but I had made them next in line. I waltzed into the mess hall, all spirit that I once had, completely drained.
“First Officers Jemic and Rumi?” Two heads perked up from the crowd. “Meet me in my- the Captain’s quarters as soon as possible.” I went up ahead of them, they finally caught up to me as I cleaned my things off the desk.
“Captain, may we come in?” The two officers meekly made themselves known.
“Come in.”
“What’d you need us for, sir?”
“No need for formalities, not your Captain anymore.”
“Sir? What do you mean by...?” Jemic stood stiff as I turned around, ceremonial rug underneath me and dagger in paw.
My eyes surely had a somber look, judging by their silent stares. But as I looked at them I didn't feel remorse or envy. They hadn’t spent that much time under my guidance but all I could feel was hope for their future and a little bit of pride. For having, in a roundabout way, brought them here.
A heavy sigh left my chest. “...Under the Protector’s guiding light I have gotten where I am today.”
“By Her will we are born.” Jemic and Remi continued, it was clear they knew it by heart.
“We are Her paws who toil the land. We are Her paws who care for one another. We are Her paws who deny the lust for blood.”
“By Her will we live.”
“We are Her and She is us. We are Her children and she cares for us.” They continued. And held their paws outstretched.
“And by Her will we fall back into the earth.”
“Today we part with our blood as a vow to Her wishes.” I sliced open both my paws, the glassy chiseled blade rendered my flesh open like a plow sowing a field.
“Today we part with our blood so She knows we love Her. And heed Her call.” The younger duo followed my lead as I passed them the knife, each cutting their dominant paw. As our blood dripped down, it seeped into the rug, it melding to that of those before us. Adding them to this ichoric tapestry to our achievements.
My left paw met with Jemic’s and my right with Rumi’s. “You are Her light, Her will and Her paws on this world.” I recited the verse over and over as they held their voices. It was the way of our people.
So much crossed my mind in that meantime. Was this part of Her plan? Were they supposed to take my place in Recel’s stead? Would I be here to watch them grow into the Captains I believed they could be? Yet all my worries faded away as I caught a glimpse of their eyes, so young and filled with determination.
I think they’d be alright…with or without me.
I tried to feign some pride as I carried on. “Jemic and Rumi, you are hereby crowned…” I placed on each of their chests a silver insignia identical to the one I once wore. “...Captains of the Bastion, under the Galactic Federation.” The two glanced at each other uncertain of how to proceed. I recognized that fear, that apprehension in the face of duty.
“What about you, Sir?” Rumi asked, concern flashing on his face.
“I’m afraid I'm just your Commander now.” I gestured to my new, smaller badge, which seemingly went unnoticed until now by the pair.
“We’ll make you proud, Sir.” Jemic lowered her stance and interlocked her claws in front of me, it was a gesture of respect. Rumi followed suit and so did I.
“I’m sure you will…now to the bridge, i gotta show you the ropes. You’ll have time to put your stuff here soon.” The next two days would be stressful, for them at least. I got them used to how the crew worked best. I bombarded them with hypothetical scenarios to test their wit; swarm attacks, fanning blockades, surprise bombers. There was a bit of everything. They went well but there was still stone to polish.
The dawn of the third day arrived slowly, I was still struggling to sleep. Those eyes kept creeping back into my mind every night. I waited in my quarters until I cleared my mind or was required somewhere else. The latter came first.
Alarms blared all throughout the ship. I got up in a jolt, and hurried to put on my uniform. Was this an exercise? Surely those two wouldn’t pull that on the crew so soon. Was it the Humans? We have the whole planet surrounded, were they brute forcing it?
As I reached the bridge, a cloud of red dots spanned our holomap coming at us from the Southern edge of the system. “W- what’s happening here?”
“Three Gestin class transports and three Tugsa shuttles left hyperspace around Cradle’s orbit. The Gestins deployed a swarm of small ships. Similar to the ones near the Colony outpost.” Jemic replied without taking her eyes off the monitors.
“What about the shuttles?”
“They're tailing the rear of the swarm.” Rumi announced in between barked orders at the bridge. It was clear, at least to me, he was hiding a lot of anxiety.
The swarm closed in, finally entering our weapons’ range. Captain Jemic issued new orders in response. “Cut power to the main thrusters and idle the laser gatlings at 90%! Everyone look alive, we’re NOT letting them touch our home!” Her words mirrored my own. With a drive for duty that reassured me further of having chosen her.
The hive soon broke off into smaller fronts. They seemed to want to surround the planet rather than invading it proper. What were they up to?
In any case, soon our starry backdrop turned to a smattering of our laser fire and plasma projectiles, and the Humans’ kinetic ammunition. Thousands of rounds streaked across the battlefield, it was a mess. The Human crafts were hard to pick off, moving as fast and nimbly as they did. But in turn, their salvos did little in the way of damage to our warships.
I leaned back on my tail to watch the battle unfold. My protegeés were doing well, there was minimal damage to any of our forces, and that didn't sit right with me. I knew for a fact the Humans' crafts were capable of taking out ours, so why weren't they?
Their ships were being taken out left and right. Even if they were quick, with the amount of ordinance we were spewing we were bound to hit something.
They weren't gaining ground in orbit, not were they going for the planet itself. Why were they throwing their own into a stalemate? They didn't seem to have a clear target like before, flying in confusing and ever-changing vectors…were they even the main force?
Or was this a ploy to distract us?
I stared down towards my monitor. Behind this ever-shifting sea of red dots I caught a glimpse of three crafts veering away from the group in unison, diving into Cradle’s atmosphere. The transports...these fighters are just a ruse.
But would they be willing to sacrifice so many of their own? There were at least 50 thousand pilots by our count.
I decided it didn't matter how many siblings they sent into certain death. “SEND A FIGHTER SQUADRON AFTER THOSE TRANSPORTS.” I blurted out on instinct. I could feel the confused stares all across the bridge. Had I lost this much respect?
Oh, right.
“The transports. They’re making a run for Cradle. I recommend a small squadron split into three groups, Humans dodge very wildly.” The silence was dreadful.
“You heard him, people. He’s still your commanding officer. Do what he said.” Jemic came to my aid.
I shed a sigh of relief. Rumi, in turn huddled closer to me. His gaze met upwards with mine. “Are you feeling alright, Cap- sorry, Sovlin? You look uneasy, you often look so stoic.”
“I…well, it's nothing. I'll be fine, Captain. Thank you.”
Three groups with two fighters each tailed after those predators. Diving into our home's skies. We weren't able to maintain a stable video feed as they descended into the cloud cover. IFF relays would have to cut it.
Our crafts were much faster than the dinky Tugsas the Humans' had borrowed from the Venlil. Three yellow dots blinked to life on our radar, we were closing in.
Our ships fired, taking out the rearmost shuttle. The rest of the enemy unit remained, gunning for our capital city. Another salvo was shot.
“Command, we clipped Target-1’s left wing.” The relay came through the radio. We fired again, and again, and again. They were as good as dead already…