“Twenty hours ago, The Executioner finally finished its mission and is heading here to refuel before heading back to Earth,” Lieutenant Commander Sylvia Erikson said as she ordered her troops to gather around the space station’s window.

She pointed at a small black dot along the horizon and proudly said, “That’s our flag ship!”

She had wanted to shake up the morning’s routine, thus she shared the news that The Executioner was heading towards their base on the outskirts of Jupiter. To her surprise, everyone who heard her stopped what he or she were doing and quickly gathered and squinted in the direction she pointed in.

“That ship looks dope!” Ensign Jake Boyce shouted with glee. “Ten credits says I can convince the Admiral to let me on his ship!”

Ensign Boyce was their newest recruit—sent to them from the Academy. In the six months since he got here, he had quickly garnered a reputation for being a child in an adult’s body.

He really is a child. Sylvia thought. But at least he helps brighten the mood every now and then.

“Lt. Commander, sir, do you know what it’s last mission was?” Ensign Boyce asked innocently.

The moment he voiced his question, everyone in the room quickly fell silent. They focused their attention on their Lt. Commander, hoping that she knew and was willing to enlighten them.

Cheeky brat, Sylvia thought. Why does he always have to voice anything that pops up in his mind?

Sylvia lightly coughed before replying, “From what I have been told, a part of The Executioner’s mission was to explore the Andromeda galaxy and deem whether any of the planetary bodies are capable of sustaining life. If any of the planets are deemed worthy, expeditionary forces would be sent down and begin paving the way for our arrival. The second p—”

“Oooh! Did any of the expeditionary forces find any traces of life?” Ensign Boyce interrupted and asked.

“Ensign Boyce, if you interrupt me again, I will have you work double shifts cleaning bathrooms for the next three months,” Sylvia said with a stern expression.

She watched as Ensign Boyce’s face—flush with excitement—quickly transform into a mournful one.

“Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”

Sylvia resisted the urge to laugh at the face he was making.

“The second part of its mission was to begin construction of several outposts dedicated to monitoring events throughout the universe.”

“So, it’s true then? Over the past few years, we have heard rumors of The Executioner being deployed to various galaxies around us—testing the limits of its hyper drive engine as well as laying the foundations for outposts to be built everywhere The Executioner ended up at,” Ensign Boyce asked again.

“Yes. For now, any outpost built—outside of the Milky Way—will serve as a marker of how far humanity has come. Furthermore, under the world leaders’ new initiative, these outposts will eventually link together to form our first line of defense.”

“What do you mean?” Ensign Boyce asked

“Eventually the outposts will be outfitted with advanced sensors designed to warn us of any alien encroachment into our territories.”

“D-d-do you think we will be assigned to one of these o-o-outposts?” Science Officer Ronnie Lajovic asked with a worried look on his face.

“Who knows, but you should be honored if you are chosen,” Sylvia said with a stony expression.

It was no secret that many enlisted officers in the Syndicate dreaded being assigned to these outposts. They didn’t want to have to spend years stuck in the middle of nowhere manning an outpost no one was ever going to visit.

“B-b-but what if we don’t want to go?” Science Officer Lajovic asked.

“Man up. Orders are orders,” Sylvia said.

“Sir, if he’s chosen and he doesn’t want to go, can I go in his stead?” Ensign Boyce asked.

Sylvia laughed and shook her head.

Sylvia then took a deep breath and shouted, “Everybody, break’s over! Get back to work! When Admiral Ichika gets here, I don’t want him to think my troops are slackers.”

“Yes, sir!”

Sylvia headed back to her office and wearily sat down in her chair. She moved some reports off her desk, put her face in her hands, and sighed.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take, she thought.

She had spent the last few weeks reading top-secret reports and debating whether or not to divulge the information to her men.

The leaders of the Syndicate were debating over whether they should commission a few more star ships with the goal of going to war; however, they faced opposition in the form of Dr. Gregory who protested the need for rapid militarization. Dr. Gregory implored the leaders to take a peaceful route and focus more on research and exploring other solar systems; whereas, the leaders wanted to focus primarily on militarization.

The leaders did not want another repeat of the Battle, where they won the skirmish but experienced overwhelming losses. That was unacceptable. Over the past two hundred years, the Syndicate devoted 80% of their resources to outfitting the armada and updating their weaponry accumulating with the creation of the hyper drive core. The only problem was, the alien force had yet to launch another attack; therefore, despite their advances in technology, the leaders were faced with the question of whether their weapons will be enough to repel the alien forces.

One report, in particular, troubled her most—under the leadership of Fleet Admiral Hitchens, the Syndicate had begun devising a battle plan designed to take the war to the aliens. She didn’t know what to make of it. On one hand, she supported how aggressive the Fleet Admiral was being, but on the other, she feared the consequences of what would happen if they lost the war. She didn’t like how the leaders desired to fight a battle when they clearly knew nothing about the other party, but the other side knew much more about them.

When war eventually breaks out, I wonder how many of my men will live to tell the tale…

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Sylvia snapped out of her trance and looked up at her door. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t hearing things—her men knew not to disturb her when her door was closed.

Knock!

This time, she knew she wasn’t dreaming. She quickly straightened out her desk before saying, “Come in!”

Admiral Ichika walked in.

Sylvia immediately got out of her seat, snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “Welcome, sir!”

“At ease, Lt. Commander,” Admiral Ichika said.

“Thank you, sir!” she said. “Please, have a seat.”

Admiral Ichika sat down in an open chair and gazed around in silence for a while as he took in his surroundings. As she sat down in her chair, Sylvia quietly wondered why the Admiral was here—if he were merely here to refuel, he would never get off his ship; rather, he would delegate someone to transmit his request to her mechanics. Furthermore, there were more populated outposts closer to Earth to refuel at.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here,” Admiral Ichika said.

Sylvia nodded. He had basically stated what was on her mind.

“Have you been keeping up with the top-secret reports sent out over the past few weeks?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

“Sir?”

“Lt. Commander, I have had my eye on you for some time—ever since you ran your mouth off when you were talking to one of the stuffy old Syndicate leaders.”

“Sir! That wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t stand it when he kept bragging about his “accomplishments” and making up stories in an effort to impress me.”

“Relax, you aren’t in any trouble. In fact, I rather like that attitude of yours. You aren’t afraid to voice your own opinion, regardless of the consequences. I need someone like you by my side—someone willing to tell me I’m wrong or if what I’m doing isn’t moral.”

“Sir, are you recruiting me to be your conscience?”

“Precisely. We are at a trying time in our history and I don’t want to lose my morality in the ensuing chaos.”

“Oh.”

“Lt. Commander, we are on the cusp of war. The Fleet Admiral has ordered a meeting to be held, consisting of the top brass of the armada, in an effort to determine what path we should take—should we stay on the defensive or should we go on the offensive and bring the war to the aliens?”

“What does this have to do with me, sir?”

“I want you to be there to advise me.”

“Can I think about it? This is a difficult decision to make.”

“I will be leaving tomorrow at 0600 hours. I hope you will have a favorable answer for me by then.”

Sylvia nodded and watched Admiral Ichika leave.