The Galaxy

Zus Llewelyn was usually on the main deck sitting next to the Captain, that was the customary position for the XO aboard a military vessel. This was a special moment and made for exceptions, the fleet's last ditch effort had proved effective. The victory came at a great cost though, no man knew this more than Zus. He found himself in the Decistor's chapel, one of the last these days with a devotion to his faith. The compartment had originally been another storage section of the ship, Zus retrofitted it into its current use. A few crewmen had come and gone, saying prayers for the dead or those in death's grip, the XO found himself alone in the room.

He sat at the front pew on the far side by the wall, staring at the podium where he gave sermons. Usually a good number of people would show for them, religious convictions or none, perhaps they found him entertaining. Spreading faith into the heart of his crew was a secondary mission objective, one that helped to give strength in times of trepidation. Fighter Pilot Davin Cole had been one of the few who attended all the time, a true devotee. They had shared life stories, many conversations about their faith and life. Cole had been the crewman Zus had found himself with almost as often as being with the Captain. That made his death during the battle harder to bear. It wasn't the first time he had lost a friend, and it wouldn't be the last.

The large steel cross he had erected on the far wall behind the podium was shining from the overhead lighting, giving it a divine feel as he had intended. He bowed his head in prayer. The Captain came over on the PA system, a good speaker as always. Zus waited until he was finished to begin. "Lord, I thank You for defending us in our day of battle. I ask that You continue to be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of all that is evil. Cast into hell all those who prowl through the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before You, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." He pulled the flask of liquor out of his pocket, a mixture of liquids known as an alcohol iced tea, and poured the drink into his mouth. The orange and lemon soared through his mouth, followed with a short bitter aftertaste of the strong liquor. Zus flipped the cap back on, moderation was key.

He sat in silence.

Smoke spat in irregular bursts from one of the fighter's right side thrusters as 1st Lt. Cabrice Venner guided it towards his designated docking bay. Every now and then the craft jolted fiercely but years of training and razor-sharp reflexes prevented it causing much in the way of problems. It had been the most brutal assault in recorded history and the Captain of the Decistor's Fighter Pilots was just coming down from his adrenaline rush. It had left him exhausted, drained physically and emotionally. He had witnessed good pilots, good people, dying en masse for a united cause. It left him with a mingled feeling of pride, loss and unimaginable hate for his enemies. Few knew it but Lt. Venner cared deeply for each and every one of his team and today he had seen many of them obliterated and scattered to the stars in the line of duty. It took it's toll but he never let it show, never wavered in appearance and never admitted the hurt he felt.

"You are cleared for landing Liutenant, bring her in steady. Maintenance and medics are waiting for you."

The voice over his intercom snapped the stern man away from his thoughts, returned him to the officer with a facade of steel in a nanosecond. He pressed a button, correcting another jolt with one hand as he did.

"Tell them to clear out, the medics are needed elsewhere and repairs can wait until we get home." There was no arguing with his tone.

So, no more than 30 seconds later, he landed his fighter and stepped out into the pandemonium that was the hangar. People sprinted every which way, carrying equipment, documents and even other human beings. A rogue medic ran over to him and attempted to examine him.

"Sir, let me look at-" He was cut abruptly short.

"There's plenty to look at everywhere else son. Go do your job." It was then, as the final remnants of battle fury ebbed out of his veins, that he felt a warm trickle down the right side of his face. After watching the medic scurry away with a hurried salute he pressed his hand to the location of the sensation and looked at it. There was blood on his fingers, quite a lot of it. He traced the trail up and located a gash just below his hairline which he had been previously oblivious to. Mind working far above the level of efficiency he felt, Venner remembered taking the hit near the end of the battle. An engine had taken the brunt of the round but the shudder it caused had whipped his head forward into the path of an exploding monitor. A minor wound and certainly not his worst. He would attend to the injury himself in time.


Reports flowed thick and fast and no one seemed to know the exact number of casualties but one thing was clear: Many lives had been lost, including a substantial chunk of his pilots. A few emergency landings had been made and Venner studied the debris littering the floor of the hangar as he heard the Captain's announcement. He was moved by the words, as he imagined every man and woman aboard would be, but he appeared emotionless as he listened and chose instead to set about doing his own job. He needed a definite list of pilot casualties, so he grabbed a passing engineer and sent him to find the information. Next, he needed to check on his pilots. The destination was clear with all the chaos, he headed in the direction of the infirmary.

On his way there the ship jumped, not even causing him to break stride as he walked. Having been through this process enough times by now he hardly even noticed when the Decistor began to warp space-time around itself, it was just another way of travelling and one which had long since lost it's overwhelming wonder.


When Lt. Venner reached the infirmary he proceeded not directly to those being treated but instead to the medical staff who could help him get through this task as swiftly as possible. He still had to start his report of the battle for the Captain.

After saying his prayers in the chapel, Zus decided it would be best to make the rounds at the infirmary. Typically in this scenario the XO would take charge of the maintenance and let the Captain do the visitation, but Cassin enjoyed his work too much and left Zus with little to do at times. It allowed him to keep close relations with the crew. As he walked the rooms some of the crew began to salute him but he waived them off, standing by military formalities in time like this was unnecessary. He greeted people here and there, consoled a female ensign as someone she obviously cared for had passed away from his battle wounds. It would be nice to say he knew every member of the Decistor, but that would be a lie, the man's name tag had been burned off and he couldn't recall the face. Zus's hand found hers and he whispered a prayer only she could hear. Perhaps she wasn't religious, but she seemed to appreciate it.

Many had died in the battle, and quite a few were wounded. There were a few serious injuries; head wounds and broken limbs. There were also minor wounds as well, still important to treat. Zus passed one of medrooms, members of the kitchen staff were talking to a medical officer, Ensign Zharkov lay unconscious on the table. Further down the medbay First Lieutenant Venner was being stubborn about having a head wound treated as a nurse dabbed away at it. Venner was waving her off as if his medical needs were nothing important. The nurse stormed off, frustrated.

"Maybe you shouldn't have that treated at all Venner, it'd make for a nice scar," he chuckled. "I wanted to commend you on how you handled yourself and our fighters out there, truly a great job. I saw you and wanted to get an informal battle report of sorts." Zus gave a stern look to the Captain of the fighter pilots, a man known for never letting his emotion show, even after his former ship, the ACV Glorify, had been destroyed in battle. Different officers took their losses in different ways, the last thing the Decistor needed was someone blaming themselves for all the death that had taken place, Zus could read people well but Venner was one that continued to elude him. It naturally made him a little more interesting. The Lieutenant was an impressive man and could easily be the commanding officer of a ship someday, capable of handling any orders, though he lacked some of the charisma necessary to inspire a whole ship. As long as he kept bringing back results, his statistics would overpower any social shortcomings.