Opening the door to Maria's quarters, Seth noticed the room inside was small for someone ranked so high in the military. It always shocked him why it was so small. The room smelled of a faint odour of flowers and alcohol. In the middle of the hallway, on her desk was a dishevelled Maria, almost asleep.
"You look tired, guess you didn't go for that sleep after all" said Seth
"Sit down Seth. I hope I don't look that bad" said Maria as she straightened her shirt and tightened her falling apart ponytail.
"That better?" Maria said after she was done.
"... No"
"Haha, there's no getting anything extra from you"
"Did Esteve give you a hard time?" asked Seth
"No, but he did have a point. The main ship has a strict hierarchy. Scouts do throw a wrench into that, you guys operate outside of the hierarchy and yet inside of it. If a mission is active and in field you have the command of your squad, otherwise I have command"
"Is that a bad thing?" asked Seth
"They don't know how to adapt and the anti-scout sentiment is rising more in the general ranks of the military these days"
"Well what do they want? They made us, plus no one else could have done what I do"
Maria leaned in closer to Seth and whispered like the walls had ears "Some argue it isn't necessary to have scouts. To not have you and to just wage all out war to exterminate the Druin"
"What about all the casualties that will cause"
"They are either too egotistical to think there won't be any or too dumb to know how many"
"How can they be so short sighted"
"They are detached from the conflict, they sit away from the war making decisions, but that is beside the point. You need to take a back seat and let me take control of my squad when not on missions"
"I don't step on your toes normally, but today was necessary"
"No it wasn't necessary. You need to trust that I will handle it"
"What difference is it then who gives the command if they would be the same command?" said Seth.
"Don't make me write you up for insubordination as well" said Maria with a chuckle, ignoring what he was saying.
"You don't have to fake a laugh. I know you mean it" said Seth as he rolled his eyes.
"Do what I say then. Don't make me do it, as I really wouldn't want to. Take a step back. I need my men to listen to me without question. I have done too much to get command to have people question weather it is my order or yours"
"Is that what Esteve said?" asked Seth
"Does it matter?" asked Maria
"It does"
"He is just an idiot. Ignore him, I do" said Maria
"If I don't will you write me up for insubordination" Seth said with a chuckle
"Maybe if you make me"
"ooh no, the horror"
"oh stop that" said Maria
"Is that a command" said Seth
"You are impossible" said Maria
"Doing the impossible from birth Ma'am" said Seth while trying to hold a straight face, saluting to Maria while she laughed.
"hahaha, thank you Seth. You always know how to cheer me up"
"I am always here to help as long as that slime isn't involved" Seth said with all seriousness making Maria laugh even harder. When she finally stopped she looked at Seth wanting to say something, but she stopped herself. Instead she said
"When we get back to the ship, ensure everything is beyond scrutiny. I am sure the General will try to find any fault with you that he can and please try to take a back step when it comes to commanding the men" Maria said looking into Seth's eyes.
"Please Seth I need you to do this for me"
"I will try Maria, for you"
...
On the mothership
"Kraft, abort mission" said General Maple
"I am in position, I can launch the bomb any second now"
"Abort, did you not see that signal"
"I did" replied Kraft
"Then abort, we cannot fake the location of the scout anymore"
"General Maple, is this line secure? I am assuming it is from what you have said but I need to be sure"
"Yes Kraft it is secure"
"Good, has the mission objective changed or is the scout still to die?"
"We still need to kill them, but we cannot do it now, they have exposed their location to everyone on the ship. I cannot justify it now"
"The mission from High Command is still the extermination of all non-humans, correct?" "We still need the non-humans exterminated, but the men will question why we attacked the scouts after they revealed their location"
"General Maple, how do you know what that signal meant? How would your men? The scout team could be calling the strike in as they are overrun and cannot escape. It was a noble sacrifice for the good of the human race"
"Abort mission Kraft, that is an order. I cannot continue this mission with the location being exposed"
"It is your decision General Maple but all I am saying is that you are the only one who decided what that signal meant, not your men. The pen is in your hands, so use it to write a different story"
"Thank you Kraft, I'll take that onboard next time, but for now abort this mission"
"Anything you need general" said Kraft
"The high command will not be happy with this. I'll need to figure out a way of swaying their opinion. I need a grand slam win"
"Calm down General, you just have to make a new story. Maybe the morale of the men would be boosted from his demise in the next operation or come up with a reason to discharge him then kill him. You control what happens on the ship and how the crew on that ship think and thus what they will understand" Said Kraft as he sighed, tired from the back and forth with General Maple.
"Kraft, I will never understand how a man with your mind did not climb higher in the military"
"I do wonder about that myself sometimes General. Sighing off" Kraft said in haste, not wanting to dwell on his failing in front of the General.
'I was too late at learning how to play this god damn game' Kraft thought with a sigh.
"Wrap it up here boys. Kill any Druin that is fleeing they all need to die" said Kraft walking away from the bridge
'A failed mission, they will not be happy indeed. If I had gone to a different faction, maybe I would have been better off, maybe in a higher position. Ahh it is in the past' Kraft lamented how his life turned out this way while watching from the side of his eye, he watched the ships under his command slaughter any Druin, riddling bodies with bullets until they were red puddles on the ground.
He yawned 'What a boring day, I was not needed here' he thought before walking off the bridge completely.
'I wonder how many Scouts I would have to kill to get to high command ... Probably 50 with how old I am' he thought to himself as he chuckled 'Maybe this one can be the first of many now that we have the green light for Scouts.
Yeah I can do fifty Kraft thought opening the desk in his chambers. He pulled out a cube that looked wooden on the outside, but when he pressed his finger on it, it changed. The outside shimmered and the wood was replaced with a metal that moved and flowed. The top of the cube
opened out and inside a small amount of liquid was condensing down the petal-like metal pieces that had opened outwards.
Soon, a man's face was projected in the air above the cube.
"The mission failed"
"Copy that. Reason?" "General Maple. He called off the mission" "Thank you Kraft, we will be in touch"
"Of course Sir. Over and out"
'Sorry Maple, you will have to learn the hard way'