3 long days ago, Junior Navigation's Officer Cally had died.

 No that wasn't quite right, 3 days ago she had suddenly been discovered dead, 5 days ago she had actually died.

Scarlet sat in one of the two old armchairs in Kolme Nilas'es quarters, the man himself sitting opposite - They sat drinking the usual crap tea, a brew she was rapidly coming not to hate so much anymore.

 Sitting here across from him was also becoming a habit - It had been coincidence that they started sleeping together just a few hours before she discovered Cally's death - But it was coincidence she was grateful for, right now she needed a place to sit with quant company drinking bad tea.

The story had spread across the Fluchtig fast and she hated that.

 The words you heard in the canteen and break room being spoken in hushed whispers, were all about her and Kolme being an item now - It felt wrong, shouldn't they be talking about Cally's death, or the dead pilots from the Valliere, or anything other than a stupid workplace relationship?

 But she could hardly blame them, life goes on, especially for soldiers - And besides most of them probably didn't know the two dead pilots from the Valliere, most of them wouldn't even know of Cally, a low ranking night-shift officer.

 Perhaps she was more upset with herself for not caring much more than they did - She didn't know the woman either, she could barely describe her if asked.

But it was different for the others.

 She wasn't there to see it but apparently Sabban had gone off the handle when he'd heard, thrashed a whole room before returning to his mech's cockpit to practise even more. Hoki had somehow found ways to work even more then had already been the case - The faint glimmer of hope that had been kindling in Kolme's eyes, now seemed to be entirely gone.

 And then there was Una.

Scarlet had told Una herself, the others were in no condition to do so.

 She had watched as the colour had drained from the girl's face in real time, as her whole body language changed as though to roar in pain - Watched her curl in on herself and clasp her hands to her head - And then scream and cry all at once.

 The doctor later explained that it probably wasn't a reaction to Cally's death per se, but a repressed grief - A sort of mental build up of people Una had lost over her short lifetime, hitting her all at once.

 It was being classed as a catastrophic mental breakdown with accompanying episode of depressive mania, or so she was told.

Kolme coughed from across the coffee table, Scarlet looked up to meet his tired eyes.

 "I've been thinking of givin' her a secretary position." He mummed.

"Una? Why?" Scarlet replied, not really paying full attention.

"Well, she won't be combat ready again for another month or two, not that I have a mech to give her anyway - But I think her just laying in bed all day ain't gonn'a do her much good right? So I though maybe she could be assigned as me or Hoki's aide, no one can say we aren't short staffed."

Scarlet nodded, holding back the words she really wanted to say, she instead chose a different topic,

  "Ya I guess that makes sense... Hey Kolme, I heard someone mention Remembrance in the corridors today, then I remembered you saying it too - Something happening with those guys?"

"I meant to tell you but it got away from me. Word is that Remembrance have suddenly lunched a whole armada and are headed for Bhaile's shadow."

"No kidding?" Scarlet added - It wasn't that surprising, Remembrance had been secretly rebuilding its forces for half a decade, still it could be an issue, "They just showing off their weight or?"

Kolme shrugged, "No one's sure, all just rumours and speculations - The higher ups might know more--" He added a little bitterly, the constant lectures and reprimands he and Nate had been receiving from HQ on the daily had not lightened up over the last few days,

 "--but we don't know much for sure. We do know this, that side of Bhaile's orbit where they're going, is where we think TSU-s is building its new weapon."

Scarlet's eye opened wide;

 "Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is sounding like one of those good rumours right? If they're heading there to attack TSU-s, to stop them finishing this new weapon, that's great news!"

Kolme raised a hand, "That's not the end of the rumour."

"Huh?"

"And this is only just a rumour ok, but, well - People think there have been communications sent, that Remembrance is in talks with TSU-s, not against."

"Oh... Not the good kind of rumour after all then." She finished sombrely.

At the end of the day the war between IAFS and TSU-s was small - TSU-s was an experiment of sorts, a group of just a few dozen ships and a couple bases, tasked with keeping peace across the Nation-Satellites and Abhaile by any means necessary, however authoritarian, as long as they kept their resource usage to a minimum.

 IAFS was a group of a few dozen ships and a couple bases, trying to stop TSU-s - They may have spent a couple years rallying sponsors to commission new vessels like the Fluchtig and new mechs like the Nemo - But they were still small scale.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

By all accounts the actually Goverment, The States Union home-fleet, the real force of regular TSU - Seemed entirely content to let IAFS and TSU-s keep duking it out amongst themselves, 7 months of small scale warfare - Little flotillas like the Tristain group, fighting ships like the Curadh - The Tradech out there somewhere poking the beehive of TSU dominance across the solar system.

 But were Remembrance to get involved, to side with TSU-s simply to boost their political standing, perhaps in a deal for them to be recognised as an official force rather than as terrorists - That many ships could be more than enough to turn this war into a simple massacre.

 It made her head spin just to think about it.

Everything made her head spin these last few days - She had made the mistake she'd sworn at the start of this conflict, not to make again - Thee Scarlet Scourge, had got invested.

 At first just in Una, in teaching the Rookie some skill - Then she had found a comradery in battle with Hoki - And now of all the things, she was sleeping with Kolme Nilas - And so she once more cared, about this ship, this war and the people in it - And once you started to care, you couldn't just stop.

It was exhausting. A day ago there had been a meeting of the flotilla's senior staff, the stories from it made her head spin even more.

 Tomo had apparently had another go at Kolme. Commander Batty had torn into Nate, blaming him for everything under the sun and then some, while Commander Louise sat on the side-lines snipping.

 And then someone had asked the obvious question: Where was Emilia Sheen?

If only the Fluchtig's real squad-commander was here, with her Casnel, the real ace of the Am-Fluchtig - What better way to fight the enemy Casnel, than with one of their own?

And of course neither Kolme, nor Nate, could give an answer as to why HQ still felt the Tradech needed Emilia more than they did.

The whole ship had a horrible atmosphere to it - Beneath the talk of her and Kolme as an item, was an endless rumour mill - A building sense of defeat.

 Scarlet stared drearily into her teacup;

"Did I ever tell you I was almost the leader of Remembrance?"

Kolme furrowed his brow, "Err, no?"

She laughed - "Yup, after the Bane of Konpei did his whole final stand thing and died, only a handful of us made it home.

 The Grand Admiral was dead, almost everyone was dead - And people looked to me, some even asked me, to take up the leadership. My old Naikima even said I should, told me I could preserve Abhaile's legacy, be the one to lead to a third war of independence."

"So what happened?"

"Nothing really." Scarlet sighed, "It wasn't that I'd just lost almost everyone under my command, it wasn't that there was much opposition to me taking the role - I just couldn't.

 All I did with that considerable power and influence was insure a hospital bed for my old friend, where he stayed until the day he died, and that was it. The Grand Admiral's daughter seized the power vacuum, formidable woman, I'll bet it'll be her behind it if they really are in talks with TSU-s.

 And I just let the one chance I ever had to really make a difference in the world, slip through my hands."

Kolme looked at her with sympathy, though clearly unsure what to say in return.

 She did her best to grin;

 "Eventually I released all the shitty stuff they were doing, project A.M.I, you saw that for yourself - And so I left - I could of stopped all that, but I didn't...

 Kolme why don't we send Una home, hasn't she fought hard enough?!" She let the words she'd been holding back roll out.

He smiled softly back at her - "Ya that thought keeps crossing my mind too, she could easily get an honourable or medical discharge at this point and the shuffle bringing our reinforcements won't be staying, I could get her put on it."

"Then!"

"Then what? Send her home to her gran-aunt? We both know TSU-s arrest people even tangentially connected to IAFS.

 Maybe get her somewhere to stay in Bannerman, a job with Bailey Mechanics? But who does she even know there? Her classmates are all dead except Sabban, likewise her old teacher is Hoki, her mentor is you - Right now the Fluchtig might well be the only safe home Una's got."

Scarlet suppressed the urge to scream in frustration, instead softly nodding her head, she had already thought all this through but hearing it aloud still hurt.

"Speaking of, Doctor Hasain talked with me earlier. Listen I can't ask you to do this, its way out of the scope you can expect from comrades, heck it might be out of the scope of most friends."

'Ah' Scarlet thought as she listened, it was time for this chat then?

"But the Doc' thinks Una should be around people right now, not in a hospital bed - I obviously can't send her back to her old room, not that'd solve much. I'd let her stay with me but, well seems inappropriate considering, if Sabban was about maybe, but still, I think it would be better if...."

Scarlet smiled best she could - "I'll talk with Hoki, two of us will take her in, you don't need to worry about."

"Your sure? 'Cause this really is more than anyone could ask of a 'mentor', the girl ain't well right now and--"

"Kolme, I said its fine didn't I? And anyway some DIY sounds nice right about now." Scarlet said, while looked to the window in the wall between this room and Sabban's.

"Your not planning something in violation of a dozen protocols are ya lass?" Kolme moaned.

"Ohhh you bet'cha I am, don't worry, I'll make sure no one complains." She winked with an even more forced grin.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

****