“We're almost there!” The Commander roared at the top of her lungs, before ordering her men to stick close to the still-shut bulkheads. The plan was to form a singular mass pressed against it, so that when it was opened, they could go in and close it quickly. But, this also meant that their defenses would thin.

Still, it was a gamble that she'd rather take.

Needless to say, the militia was exhausted. Even her men were slowing down and their attention was beginning to stall. A near 40-minute, painfully-slow march through soaked lawn-mud until they reached the asphalt, during which they were under constant attack, in pitch black darkness; had taken a massive toll on every single person present. Not to mention the extremely low morale that they started off with.

But, it was the homestretch. She'd previously received information that the area behind the bulkhead, was relatively free of infestation and that it still had power. That hadn't been rescinded yet, so she just needed to give the signal for them to open and close it remotely.

If their forces were able to move quickly, then theyd already been through by now. But the right flank was slower than she wanted them to be and left flank was falling behind the right. The center was also bulging out a lot.

“Children at the center! Center group, spears up! Outer layer, spears forward!” She gave the commands. Though it might have been better to give them in sequence, rather than together, she chose to trust that they could discern what they needed to do by themselves.

She still had to deal with the problem they’d been running away from all this time. The survivors they'd left behind. They were the reason she and her troops acted as the rear guard.

“Aim!” She commanded, and her men followed. Their targets; the only existence that could completely destroy their tattered morale.

They only wanted to survive. She knew that. Even from where she was, she could hear them begging to be saved. Even though they were no longer capable of speaking anything beyond incomprehensible cries and garbled groans due to the insects trying to escape through their throats.

All of her men knew that too. In fact, even if they couldn't see them properly. Every single one of them knew that they were still alive. Despite their terrible, horrifying states, and all the agony they must be experiencing. They were still clinging to life.

Federation citizens. But above all else, passengers whom they swore to protect, as Serenity's chosen security forces…

“FIRE!”

Red-tinged laser blasts, bright blue charged bullets, yellow sparks, and tracer bullets; the evacuee's rear was bathed in light, tearing right through their enemy's once-unyielding sea of black. One by one, then by the dozens, every humanoid figure was torn apart by gunfire, along with any insects that got caught in massacre.

It was the most heinous thing she could have possibly done, and she knew that some of the civillians had caught on to the situation, but she bet on the adrenaline. No, she prayed that the mob mentality would remain strong, that they would be too focused on fighting the insects to realize what they were doing.

Then, once her infrared vision finally stopped picking up any standing heat signatures, she yelled. “Spread out!” Before finally turning it off and ending her searing headache. However, she remained at the rear, keeping her eye on the massive, pale leapers steadily closing in.

She only had a laser pistol, but… it hissed, and a mid-leap Oozer landed with a thud, never to move again. Then, she aimed at another one, but that one couldn't even leap, before a different soldier killed it. The Oozers may have been faster than their marching speed, but their large forms made them easy targets for saturation fire and their talented snipers.

Step by small step, she got closer and closer to the bulkhead, while the soldiers grouped up and scattered like veins throughout the mass, and their flanks got closer to the bulkhead's ends. The plan was working, slowly, bit by bit. Even as screams and yells echoed before being silenced, or people were dragged away into the darkness.

One or two didn't matter. Not even ten. Not even thirty. She’d rationalized it a long time ago, but even so… She growled at the hateful insects that sought nothing but to kill, consume and desecrate. The enemy, far worse than the Empire that defiled her. The enemy that took everything she had left from her, and turned her into the monster that she now was.

But her thoughts were towards those she had forsaken.

‘I'm sorry!’ She cried, tears running down her bloodied, cut-up cheeks. Yet she welcomed the sting of salt seeping into her wounds. Then, she pulled the trigger again.

One more Oozer and three more Peons to her name.

4 more screams disappear into the distance.

‘I'm so sorry!’

Another shot fired. She missed, but another scream resounded, and she knew that whoever it was, had been pulled into the sky.

‘I'm sorry!’ She fired again, this time two more Peons but only a wounded Oozer.

If only she was a proper Commander. No, if only she wasn't their leader. They might’ve succeeded by now. But this was her best, and sacrifices had to be made. Because she couldn't think of any other option. Because she was the only one left. So, all she could do was ask them for forgiveness, and to try and save as many as she possibly could.

“Commander, the flanks have reached as far as they can!” A soldier reported. But they were still only at the halfway point. The bulge hadn't evened out yet. She knew that even if the area beyond was not as infested, entering with a thin flank made them especially weak to a possible pincer. The only logical choice was to follow the plan, even as more bodies piled up.

And so, more people died, because their cover fire was spread out and ammo was depleting.

“Commander! Open the gate!” A civilian begged.

But she held fast, facing the rear with her troops.

Two more lives.

Three more.

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She took five more steps backward, and nearly tripped over a mangled woman that had been trampled on by those ahead of her. How many of them are dead now, because of her choice? She glanced around and saw at least five more bodies being dragged away.

Each flank still had only 30 or so people. They'd be wiped out.

“Commander, please!”

Still she refused. But then, she heard the cries and the begging behind her.

‘Fuck!’

“... Open it! Open it now!!!” She grabbed her earpiece and screamed at the top of her lungs.

One second.

Two.

Five.

Six.

The deafening sound of insect wings and chittering legs gave way to the boom from several hundred tonnes of steel being moved by powerful hydraulics. But the distant screaming reached her ears almost immediately after.

She was right. The flanks were pincered.

Because the enemy had their own Commander.

“... CHARGE!”

So many more would be trampled over, but it was her job to make sure they passed through as quickly as possible. They could not let the sea of insects pass through with them and get another path towards the Evac sites. Not when they were being led.

12 seconds.

13 seconds.

17 seconds. The thick bulkhead was now directly above her.

21 seconds. She was finally past it, letting her see at least a hundred corpses and wounded begging to be helped up. But…

This was her last sacrifice. Except them, everyone else will be saved.

“Close it now!” The last of her tears dripped off her chin as she yelled.

Then and there, she vowed; she'll never cry again. Only people cried, and even the worst Imperial was still better than her.

She was no longer a person.

Wait…

What?

She couldn't believe her eyes, but beyond the haze and shadows, she thought she saw a boy standing amidst the tsunami of approaching insects. However, before she could pull the trigger and end his suffering, the bulkhead closed back down with a thud, crushing insect and survivor alike. The few dozen insects that made it past were quickly dispatched by their last remaining guns, and exhausted frontline spearmen.

She breathed in deep and exhaled slowly.

Who knew what her own people now thought of her? Maybe her soldiers would mutiny the moment they reached safety. It shouldn’t even be a stretch to say that she was worse than the Traitor. But that was only right, and it was also something that she no longer needed to think about.

They were already home free.

It was a straight shot from here to Loading Dock 2, where the Ceres Parlton awaited. But, with one look at her men, all of which stared back with equal parts terror and anger, she knew that they were not prepared for the march that awaited them. Not even her own soldiers were enthusiastic. But again, she need not worry about that anymore.

She was the Commander.

“All personnel gather close. Medics, help the injured. Spare no supplies. We'll be boarding soon anyway. Do not hide your injuries, we won't be able to carry you if you collapse along the way. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Commander…” The soldiers responded, but not the civilians.

“Good.” She then clicked her earpiece once more, and connected with the bridge comms officer.

“This is the Head of Security and acting Commander of Serenity's Armed Forces, Sibel M. Corteza. Reporting that we've arrived at Deck C, and will resume our march at 2250. In addition, please screen for any unnatural or moving growths on injured survivors. These are signs of insect parasitization. Death generally occurs in a few hours and the infection will spread to any nearby person.”

Why did she only say it now? She wasn't sure. It might’ve been better if she informed them, after they arrived at the Ceres Parlton. But… as Commander… she couldn't let those already aboard, experience any sudden surprises. Everyone had to be prepared. Satisfied with the comm officer's affirmative, she scanned her group once more.

Roughly 4,500 survivors. Barely above half of what she started with… No… they weren't even a quarter of the survivors that were in B Deck before the blackout. She'd already failed her mission a long time ago. She was just salvaging what she could.

“We will depart in 13 minutes!” She yelled once more. “Those with light injuries keep watch on our perimeter.”

None of them confirmed her order, however, they still performed them, and that was good enough for her. Finally, she scanned their surroundings properly. They were right underneath the outer surface of Serenity, with large panes of thick, pressurized glass, separating them and the emptiness of space. A viewing area, it seemed, since there was scaffolding for them to climb and get an unobstructed look at their surroundings.

She could see several presumably filled Union and Imperial ships, parked amidst a torn-apart Capital ship that she could no longer identify, as well as the Ceres Parlton's front end. All of which were repeatedly illuminated by flashing white lights from some unseen source.

That was the light the Count described? It was hard to believe that light could affect sanity.

Just in case, they had to move deeper in where there were no windows. But there was no way they'd move immediately after being told to rest. That’s what happens with militias. So she let the medical work progress, and proceeded to supervise. Even though she was the best medic… she was no longer considered one. She was just a butcher, and their shared hatred was far more conducive to survival than her trying to earn back their trust.

Eventually, her next command resounded. “Everyone get up, we're resuming.” But this time, nobody did as told. Instead, they just kept glaring at her. Surely, one of them would stand up soon and complain. Then, it'd become a mob trial. Yet, she wasn't worried, instead, she was angry - surely they could wait a bit longer to condemn her to death.

That was, until the entire ship trembled like it was experiencing a minor earthquake, even throwing some of them off their feet. Little did they know that it was because the Antimatter explosions had reached Serenity.

Panicked screams immediately resounded, but to her horror, Sibel saw the Ceres Parlton detach… and Serenity turned to face the moon.

‘Why us…?’ Was her final thought.