Sigma
Inactive Member
Mwigflukbajik, NSS Dauntless
"You know, it's been almost a year since Tange. I wonder what has happened there," Valencia Ironside mused to her superior, "Do you think about it, sir?"
"No. I don't," Grand Admiral Dominic Valken replied curtly. His attention was divided between watching the NMX fleet's erratic maneuvering and his flag captain. "It will always feel like I never did enough. I don't want to be haunted by the ghosts of those I couldn't save." He was a man who had reached the pinnacle of the Nepleslian military but that didn't mean he didn't have his share of failures. His initial feelings about the outcome had changed as he kept going back to the raw numbers. As much as his logical mind tried, he still felt guilty that he hadn't done more, saved a couple thousand more or stayed an hour longer.
Instead, he shut out his guilt and focused on keeping as many of his living subordinates alive. Too many of them had already died under his command. And every so often, he would have dreams where the images of the deceased came back to haunt him. Captains of warships destroyed under his command, sailors who had died on the ships he had commanded, even a few Marines who had died on Tange. And more ghosts were going to be added before the day was up.
Valken had heard of those who had these sort of dreams, nightmares, or hallucinations. Most of them cowered in fear, if the stories were right. Dominic Valken was the opposite. He always faced his ghosts defiantly, justifying himself to them, and arguing that they should leave him alone so that he could prevent more people from dying. But such dreams always left him tired and exhausted despite the sleep. And on those days, Valken rarely worked with his usual efficiency. Adding the ghosts from Tange, especially ones whom he had no way to truly argue against, was only self-destructive.
"That's kind of cold, sir. I mean, it always leaves a chill in my blood when I think about it," Valencia said to him. Her voice sounded disappointed, as if she expected him to sympathize. "One must be cold, Captain, to do this grim business of sending men and women to their deaths. Dwelling on the past and working on hypotheticals does not earn us any reprieve from the fact of the matter," Valken replied quietly, watching the NMX formation loosen and then tighten like an amateurish gaggle of flyers. Either the Marines were screwing around with the NMX comms or the squids were having a power struggle over leadership. Either way, their sloppiness and lack of coordination was good. Now, if only Valencia would stop harping about Tange.
Like a good flag captain, Valencia Ironside shut up when she noticed the tone in the Admiral's voice. She wasn't done with this subject but there were probably better things to spend her time doing.
"You know, it's been almost a year since Tange. I wonder what has happened there," Valencia Ironside mused to her superior, "Do you think about it, sir?"
"No. I don't," Grand Admiral Dominic Valken replied curtly. His attention was divided between watching the NMX fleet's erratic maneuvering and his flag captain. "It will always feel like I never did enough. I don't want to be haunted by the ghosts of those I couldn't save." He was a man who had reached the pinnacle of the Nepleslian military but that didn't mean he didn't have his share of failures. His initial feelings about the outcome had changed as he kept going back to the raw numbers. As much as his logical mind tried, he still felt guilty that he hadn't done more, saved a couple thousand more or stayed an hour longer.
Instead, he shut out his guilt and focused on keeping as many of his living subordinates alive. Too many of them had already died under his command. And every so often, he would have dreams where the images of the deceased came back to haunt him. Captains of warships destroyed under his command, sailors who had died on the ships he had commanded, even a few Marines who had died on Tange. And more ghosts were going to be added before the day was up.
Valken had heard of those who had these sort of dreams, nightmares, or hallucinations. Most of them cowered in fear, if the stories were right. Dominic Valken was the opposite. He always faced his ghosts defiantly, justifying himself to them, and arguing that they should leave him alone so that he could prevent more people from dying. But such dreams always left him tired and exhausted despite the sleep. And on those days, Valken rarely worked with his usual efficiency. Adding the ghosts from Tange, especially ones whom he had no way to truly argue against, was only self-destructive.
"That's kind of cold, sir. I mean, it always leaves a chill in my blood when I think about it," Valencia said to him. Her voice sounded disappointed, as if she expected him to sympathize. "One must be cold, Captain, to do this grim business of sending men and women to their deaths. Dwelling on the past and working on hypotheticals does not earn us any reprieve from the fact of the matter," Valken replied quietly, watching the NMX formation loosen and then tighten like an amateurish gaggle of flyers. Either the Marines were screwing around with the NMX comms or the squids were having a power struggle over leadership. Either way, their sloppiness and lack of coordination was good. Now, if only Valencia would stop harping about Tange.
Like a good flag captain, Valencia Ironside shut up when she noticed the tone in the Admiral's voice. She wasn't done with this subject but there were probably better things to spend her time doing.
