Admiral Valken's quarters, NSS Destiny, en route to Nepleslia Prime
The evacuation had gone well. Or at least, well enough that Valken believed he could justify the loss of so many ships and personnel to the Sky Marshall. But there was one outstanding issue. It seemed that the holdovers from Admiral Wazu's tenure had not yet become accustomed to his style of operations.
The office he was in doubled as his bedroom. A hammock had been slung in the corner. He had insisted that Captain Ironside relinquish her office, not her personal quarters.
"Drei, summon Sergeant Volkov when she has finished refreshing herself. I have no desire to keep her away from a shower. I imagine she and the rest of the Marines are covered in sweat and blood," he said to the AI.
Correspondingly, a beep sounded on Phaedra's datajockey, alerting her to a priority message.
Just as she was finishing up her shower and throwing on a fresh uniform, Phaedra heard her datapad chime. She had fully expected to receive this message, summoning her to the Admiral's quarters to provide an explanation for her order to eliminate the apparently unarmed Nekovalkryja. Phaedra dried her hair and ensured that her appearance was pristine before she left her quarters and headed towards the Admiral's quarters.
Upon arriving at Admiral Valken's quarters, Phaedra knocked politely. Hearing permission to enter, Phaedra opened the door and strode into the Admiral's quarters. She stopped at the door and snapped off a salute.
"Sergeant Phaedra Volkov reporting as ordered, sir," said Phaedra, standing rigidly at attention.
"Come in, Sergeant. Have a seat. A drink?" Valken asked, gesturing to one of the seats in front of his desk as pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.
Phaedra was slightly surprised at the offer of a drink, but she did not let this show in her expression. She expected this to be either an interrogation, not a pleasant interview.
"No thank you, Admiral. Thank you for the offer," she said before walking over to the desk.
"And..." said Phaedra, "I would rather stand if you don't mind, sir. I tend to get...stiff...after showers and extended exertion. From my injuries. Sir." She placed her hands behind her back and stood at parade rest.
Admiral Valken looked at her, recalling her file to his memory. It was a skill he had perfected before Nepleslia had its independence. Subtlety was not something she grasped, which was one reason why she was a Non-Commissioned Officer. "Then allow me to rephrase it, Sergeant. I would like to have a drink with you. So what would you care for? I can only offer whiskey or vodka." He pulled out two small flasks and set them on the desk.
"Vodka then, sir," she said. Rather than awkwardly stand in what had become a somewhat casual setting, Phaedra decided to sit in one of the chairs. She lowered herself into one of them and suppressed grunt of pain.
Valken poured the right hand facing flask into one cup and handed it to her. He added two large cubes of ice into his own and poured the flask holding the whiskey into his. He stood and raised his glass as if toasting something, "Congratulations on accomplishing a miracle, Sergeant. Two hundred thousand UOC personnel were saved by our actions."
Phaedra stood and clinked the Admiral's glass. She tapped the glass with the metal fingers of her left hand.
"At what cost?"
"Much less than what we predicted, much more than we should have suffered. Parameters which allow us to count this as a victory. And that is the only solace we can give ourselves and our dead. But I suggest you talk to the UOC civilians or Petty Officer Motoyama Junichiro. I am sure their perspective of what you and I have done is different." He spoke somberly before drinking all the whiskey in the glass.
Phaedra took a sip from her glass as well.
"I noticed that Admiral Wazu was parsimonious with awarding medals. Seemed to prefer promotion. Your man, Greer, how is he doing? I've read the reports. He pulled civilians out before getting wounded?"
"He is stable, sir. Conscious, but will be out for a week to fully recover. And yes, he was tasked with escorting a small group of civilians we had encountered to the terminal while myself and the squad engaged a pair of NMX Ravagers."
"Good man, it sounds like. I'm putting him up for an Iron Fist and the Civil Defense Award. He didn't have to stick with the civilians but he did and that goes above and beyond, in my book. I have some other ideas but who else might you recommend?" Valken asked as he poured another drink.
"Private Jan Kancre, sir. A member of the Airborne who joined us at the Terminal. While a little overzealous in my opinion, he was able to destroy significant amounts of the NMX forces singlehandedly, with no regard for his own safety."
"More like reckless. And I noted he dove for cover rather than engage the first Ravager your squad encountered. Not an action to be held as exemplary. So, no. I understand he wants to transfer to your squad. I've approved it but I will say this now, keep him on a tight leash. Anyone else?" Valken frowned into his datajockey.
"Private Stenton sustained significant damage to her cybernetic legs while holding off the first of the two Ravagers. She and Private Matteo engaged the Ravagers while the rest of the squad moved into position. Reckless, but fearless as well. She is...difficult, but she follows orders."
"No," Valken said firmly. "Perhaps you are not aware but she murdered a Marine. The woman is a criminal, not a hero. She is an exception to the requirements, this is her penance," Valken explained his rejection. Both of them were still standing, neither wanting to sit first.
"I had read her dossier, and was aware of her criminal background. But her having murdered a Marine is news to me," said Phaedra, her brow furrowed.
"It is the reason she is... why she is right now. The IPG turned her into our version of a human cybernetic weapon. If that is it, I only have one more name to recommend to you, Sergeant." Valken sipped his whiskey.
"That is all that came to mind, sir."
"Then you will be pleased to hear that I am recommending you for the Combat Leader award. Credit where credit is due, Sergeant." Valken knew some would say what he was doing was cruel. He was boosting her spirits and soon, he would dash them back to reality. But Valken did not consider himself compassionate to begin with so a reputation of cruelty seemed trivial.
"Thank you, sir," said Phaedra with a nod.
"We were only successful due to the fact that my squadmates are skilled at their jobs, sir."
"A leader is a leader. No two ways about it. If I had put Private Witt or Private Romero as squad leader instead of you, do you think they would have performed as you did?" Valken asked, folding his arms. He did not like modesty much but this provided an excellent transition topic to the next issue of business.
"Perhaps not, sir. I do have the most experience out of the squad. But I do not wish to appear proud or arrogant. A leader of a squad that uses teamwork and trust is just another cog in a well oiled machine."
Valken took a breath and sighed. Clones. "Sergeant. I have been fighting since before you were twinkle in some technician's eye. If experience is the standard we're using, I outrank you. If rank is the standard we're using, I also outrank you there. So accept the fact that my view on the matter outweighs yours."
"And while we are on the topic of leadership, I would like an explanation of the order to gun down unarmed Nekos. I have the footage from Private Stenton's guncam. It's not pretty, they didn't even resist and now not one of them is saying a word."
Phaedra set down her drink, placed her arms behind her back and stood up straight.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted," Valken allowed.
"Protection and extraction of the civilians and of UOC personnel was our top priority. Upon receiving word of the incoming Nekovalkryja from Green Squadron, I contacted Petty Officer Motoyama, the UOC officer I had been cooperating with. I asked him if he could confirm the presence of the Nekovalkryja heading towards the terminal, and if they were part of the UOC. Motoyama responded that they had no Nekos, and that any here on the planet were NMX."
Phaedra paused before continuing.
"Sir, do you recall the 4th fleet's mission to Higaflan? We were aboard the NSS Asp, and we were sent into NMX territory to raid a prison camp on the planet of Higaflan. To summarize, the raid was a success, and numerous Nepleslians were saved from the clutches of the NMX. All of the survivors were placed aboard the Asp for medical treatment and the eventual transport back to Nepleslia. However, one of the survivors by the name of "Shion," was in fact an NMX infliration unit. An NMX Nekovalkryja, masquerading as a Nepleslian human. It was only due to stringent checks for contamination that we were able to discover this ruse. Shion had originally intended to make it all the way to Nepleslia, but thankfully, we were able to stop her. That was only after she nearly destroyed the entire ship. Fitted with phasing technology, she rampaged through the ship and was finally destroyed in the engine room mere moments before she would have been able to destroy the reactor."
"All that to say this, sir," said Phaedra, looking Valken straight in the eyes.
"I was not going to let a single one of those Nekos enter the terminal. Nekos, by their nature, are weapons. They may not have visible weaponry, but they are easily capable of killing Nepleslians. So I made a judgement call; a small group of Nekos, who were apparently not affiliated with anyone, and apparently unarmed, or the 200,000 civilians that we rescued from the planet."
"It was not a decision I made lightly sir. I fully knew the potential outcomes of my actions, and I am prepared to face any consequences and punishment that my decision has brought about."
Valken was silent for a moment. He had to word this properly. "We are Nepleslians, you are a Marine and I am a sailor. We do not commit mass murder. I want to impress upon you that, no matter what Admiral Wazu may have allowed, we will not have anyone smear the honor of Nepleslia. We are not the NMX or the Yamataians! If the opportunity presents itself, we will take prisoners. I have seen videos of the interrogations. The Nekovalkyrja may be a living weapon but not all of them are trained and equipped to be so. And not all of them are quite so happy to die. The ones we have are unarmed and from what the ship doctor says, malnourished, scared and abused. They look more like NMX prisoners than NMX soldiers."
Phaedra cast her eyes to the ground when she heard Valken's last statement.
He took a breath and continued. "In light of what you've just told me, I can see what led you to this decision. But that does not make acceptable the wholesale slaughter of unarmed enemy personnel without even giving them a chance to surrender! Petty Officer Motoyama suggested sending a level headed pilot to take them prisoner, Private Romero suggested Private Witt. And who did you send? Private Stenton. We need prisoners if we're going to understand our enemy, Sergeant. Corpses will only get us so far, in terms of intelligence."
"We will win this war without resorting to NMX tactics otherwise, we do not deserve to win! Fight dirty, fight to win, but do not ever kill before you are certain of your enemy! Never again, is that clear, Sergeant Volkov?"
"Sir! Yes Sir!" replied Phaedra loudly.
"Your punishment will be to be there when I start trying to get them to open up. I've served with Nekos, I've fought against Nekos. Don't think they're inhuman just because the NMX made them. When you're there in the prison cells with me, look them in the eye," Valken took a breath. "But all in all, Sergeant, stellar work. We will simply put this as a misunderstanding of operational procedure. Neither of us has gotten used to each other's way doing of things. Do you have anything else you wish to add?"
"Nothing, sir. I understand completely, sir."
"Dismissed, Sergeant. My compliments to the squad. And keep the commendations secret." Valken downed the last of his whiskey.
"Sir," said Phaedra with a salute. She then turned and strode out of the room.
Valken sat back down and wondered to himself whether he was biased. He had called the Nekos allies long before they were his enemies. The Elysian wars were won by Nekos. He'd been there, he'd seen them like he'd seen any other human or humanoid. They laughed, cried, felt pain and joy. They married and had kids like Nepleslians and Geshrins.
Though what Sergeant Volkov said made sense, intellectually. If there was a sleeper agent, then the civilians were at risk. He didn't believe there was one but he hadn't been there to judge the situation. Who was he to berate Sergeant Volkov, who had to make a snap decision in seconds while he had hours to contemplate what she could possibly have done. Well, he thought to himself, now they know they have an Admiral who thinks nekos are human. Whether Sergeant Volkov and the Marines agreed with it or not was none of his concern as long as they followed his orders. In the end, that was what made him Dominic Valken, Rear Admiral of the Nepleslian Star Navy and made her Phaedra Volkov, Sergeant of the Nepleslian Space Marine Corps. Or maybe he was just getting old.
