FSE

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My fingers caressed the image on the cold silica plastic screen; the message had arrived a few minutes before we had gone silent and a part of me couldn't help but think it would probably be the last message I'd get from them. On the screen, the broad figure of my husband was so clear it seemed real. His once straight red hair was now messier and clearer than before, his verdant skin betrayed his age. A calm smile, full of glee of life decorated his face, bringing back memories of the crazy shenanigans we got up to when we were younger and lowering my fears with a supernatural ease. His rough voice came from the discrete earpieces placed in my ears, relating the latest antics of our son while pride slipped into his voice. His shoulders carried a smaller figure, the gray tanned skin didn't look anything like his father's. The small orc's eyes shone with an innocence and happiness typical of kids; his fingers finger pointing towards the small tusk that barely stuckout from his mouth; the same one he never stopped talking about, his words coming out a mile a minute.

"One day he will be a great orc, just like his father." said a fleeting thought. Tears fled from my eyes and slipped down my cheeks until they hit the screen, blurring the image.

A chiming broke the silence of the room while at the same time the monitor near the door showed the image of my first mate in his clean black and silver uniform, surrounded by what seemed to be the entirety of my whole fleet. I quickly put myself together, wiping my tears with the sleeve of my uniform and returning the tablet to its usual cylindrical shape. With a brusque gesture I unlocked my office's door while my other hand stored the cylinder in one of my desk's many drawers.

I leaned back against the armchair, the hard material barely letting my body sink in it while it straightened my back and my hands came to rest over the table. The door to my office opened with a soft noise of metal on metal. The twelve admirals entry with an orderly and heavy step, wearing excessively neat uniforms and pale but stoic faces. My first mate stepped in last, unlike the other soldiers in the room, there was nothing keeping the anger out of his steps or hiding the fire in his eyes. At his command, all the officers saluted before he took his usual place at my left side.

"Only 10%" shouted my first mate, only I could see how tightly his hand clenched around his wrist behind his back. "What kind of joke is this? Couldn't High Command come up with a better idea?"

"If that had been the case, they would have told us." replied Admiral Marisma, his grayish skin showing more wrinkles and tiredness than should be in an orc his age. "They have as much riding on this plan as we do."

"Those cowards are in our home system. Not fighting here with us."

"Would you prefer to leave our planets open to attack? At the hands of those mollusks?" shot back the Admiral, his red eyes burning with anger. My first mate didn't back down, baring his tusks in challenge.

The rest of the admirals watched the conflict in silence. This was a conversation that had repeated hundred of times since the beginning of the war in one way or another; the sides had been picked, the arguments had been presented and the insults had been thrown. But they repeated this fights over and over again in a meaningless dance to assign the guilt to someone, something.

"They're as scared as I am," I thought, observing the two soldiers behaving like reckless teens, "At the academy they never teach you how to survive this tension."

"I say we need a better plan" replied my first officer, using the caustic tone he had adopted after the fall of our outer colonies. "We can risk it all with a weapon we don't even know it's going to work."

"It will work, you can be sure of that much." cut in admiral Merkatz, the old orc charged with protecting the device. He turned towards me and in a low but clear voice told me. "My engineers have checked the weapon, they have assured me that all system are in orders. As soon as we're in range we can begin the attack."

"But that's the problem, righ? Getting close enough to fire." pointed our admiral Mar'kiz. "Your Excelency, given the weapon's range I beg you to reconsider the plan. If we focus our attack on their center-"

"We would ruin the whole plan and condemn our entire species." I said with finality, fulminating the admiral with my gaze. I slowly stood up, trying to ignore how all the eyes in the room fell on me. "Admiral Mar'kiz, all present have spent the last three weeks trying to come up with a plan that has a better shot at victory. And, for the first time in my whole life, I'm certain that High Command has done everything possible to ensure this will work."

I let the words han in the air for a moment, looking into each officers' eyes. Fear, anger, despair and resignation dwelled within and I was sure mine were no different. I gathered all my courage with a deep breath, releasing the dagger at my side with one fluid moment before I set it on the table, its edge pointing towards me.

"You know how this is Mar'kiz. You can use the dagger and should the whole responsability of this operation or you can choose to trust and live."

The orc's eyes glanced at the dagger, his hands trembling for a moment while the rest of the Admirals stepped away from him. For a moment his hand extended towards the dagger, nearing the handle with trepidation. But then, it fell defeated at his side, joining its partner behind his back. Mar'kis retreated, hiding as much of his tusks as possible.

"Very well, if no one else has a complaint," I said while I returned the blade to its sheath, "Make sure everything is ready for battle. I don't want to be taken by surprise by those damn mollusks. You're dismissed."

---

The battle had begun 4 hours ago and from that moment, tension had taken the center stage, using the bright colors of the hologram to enhance its presence. A murmur of disapproval ran through the room while the transmission ran its course. We could all see how our ships, spread like in a cone formation, disappeared in green bits under the enemy fleet's assault. The numbers were against them, three blue holograms for every green one. The decimation of our fleet was no surprise to anyone in the room, even an amateur would have seen how bad the odds were stacked against us. There was nothing we could do, nothing that I could do but clench my teeth in righteous anger. More explosions followed, each one signalling the lost of hundreds of lives. It was a massacre.

The left side of the cone started to collapse under the concentrated fire of the mollusks; more than half of the ships having lost their ability to move, felt into a festival of green dots. The enemy fleet had barely taken any damage, a mere 7% against the 40% of our own losses, the numbers accusing us from the top of the hologram. The collapse of the fleet was imminent, the growls of my companions becoming deafening in the closed room. I counted the seconds before the fall, the images of my wive and our daughter flashing in front of my eyes. The thought of my grandson, who would never get to live, broke my heart, but still I hoped against all that things would turn around.

Suddenly, silence reigned again, no one dared to even breath while the eyes of every orc in the room focused in the white dots that had left hyperspace behind the enemy. Their attacks opening a gap in the enemy's rear guard moments before a beam of light broke the enemy force's center. Their curtain of death lighting up with sudden explosions that spread like a wave throughout the whole fleet. The pointy ships crashing against each other. Some were stuck, others lost control and the rest burst into orbs of light before they disappeared.

A wave of relief washed over my body as their fleet was assaulted by total chaos. The haughty 7 that had mocked us just a while ago, now raised reluctantly. New beams cut through the holograms, while some of the more damaged ships teared open a way for the singular origin of the victory. Unlike the other ships that possessed an elliptic and stylized appearance, the cubic and less versatile one of the ship made it stand out even without the silver light that shone in one of its edges. Our last hope and the only thing that seemed to pierce the enemy's ship's armor with ease. A warp drive modified to release the energy from the space folding in a single shot.

"Inefficient, lacks precision and its range is too short to be used in battle. Or so we had thought. Silver Lantern. The guide of the god of War." I mumbled to myself, the grip of despair finally releasing my heart.

The battle continued, the enemy fleet crumbling as they threw themselves against the weapons. Those that didn't find death that way, fell at the hinds of their allies or the relentless lasers of our own destroyers. The rhythm of the battle changed dramatically, the chaos had consumed the enemy lines, their chain of command incapable of recovering fast enough. Eventually, death changed sides, reaping the remnants of the once mighty conquering fleet while they fled the system.

---

I paced around the way too small room like a caged animal, the music coming from my son's tablet marking my pace. At times I wished I was as naive as him, without the jumble of feeling that churned in my stomach. The pungent smell of sandalwood invaded my nose, the relaxing effect it used to have on me nowhere to be found. It had been weeks since I had received the message. Just a couple of lines that felt as cold as the cylinder that showed them:

"Grand Admiral Terdes was injured in battle. Her condition is stable. You shall be notified of further changes."

But there had been nothing else. Not one hint from the military, neither friend or acquaintance. They just droned the same old platitudes that made my blood boil. Then, there was the crying from my son, the nightmares that woke him up every night screaming and crying, the acidic scent of his fear setting up every red flag in my head. His tiny hands holding mine for dear life as I hummed him a lullaby, promising him a tomorrow I didn't knew if we would have. Then, out of the blue, a single message comes in, the blue letters equally as cold as the first ones:

"The Grand Admiral will arrive today at your residence, around 1300hrs local time. Present yourself at the nearest Star Navy HQs."

I huffed at the last sentence, wondering if they paid the personnel to make the messages as annoying as possible, maybe even gave them an extra to put worried orcs in white spartan rooms. Warm blood pumping through my veins as I struggled to keep in control, the metallic flavor of blood seeped into my mouth as a wobbling step forced me to bite my tongue. A deep growl threatened to leave my throat, my hands barely able to muffle the sound.

A high pitched beep rang through the door, the whooshing of air preceding the opening of the black glass door. The scent of freshly moved earth and pine reached my nose, the stone colored skin covered in white gauze over her right eye. My son cried out in joy, dropping his tablet while the salty smell of tears filled the room. Three long strides were enough to pull her in my arms, the warmth of her body and the crushing hug she gave me banishing my fears. Our son joined us next, almost bringing his mom down when he tripped her plastic cane. But somehow, it didn't seen that important. Their scent, their warmth, their cries of joy. Those were more than enough.