Three years later
"Well ladies and gentlemen, this should do it. Three full invasion teams of the shifters. Our intel was woefully off on this. Had we the truth, Sigma wouldn't have died that day, they would have had the backup they needed. Therefore, the finding of this investigation is, that Sergeant Jayse was in no way at fault for the death of Sigma Company. There will be no court martial. Furthermore it is found that by his actions he actually managed to obtain the objective of his mission in the face of overwhelming odds thereby he will be cited and awarded the highest honor of our military as well as receive a promotion to Lt. and the back pay that goes back to that battle three years ago.
"I further stipulate that due to the stresses of said battle that Lt. Jayse will be honorably discharged but due to his mental instability he will no longer be allowed to stay on Gaia. He will be allowed to choose a planet of his choice outside of the core planets. His transfer will be effective immediately." The general says and sits down. The weight of this investigation is obvious, the fatigue is imprinted on his face as is the sorrow.
"I disagree with that last general. Should you try to force him to leave now he'll go berserk. Truly, I don't know how he's managed to hold on for as long as he has. If you force him to leave Corporal Thompson now he will go berserk. Not to mention it will likely take Thompson over the edge as well. Of the two I'd rather deal with Jayse he'll only kill a third to half of this planet before we could take him down. But if Thompson goes over this planet will be dead and unlivable.
"Those two are keeping each other from going over but I'm not sure how they are doing it. Lt. Jayse has come so close to losing it that we should have a shadow trailing him, but anyone doing so would have to be invisible," the doctor objects.
"The only one that could pull it off would be Thompson." The Colonel says turning white at the thought. Sending someone so close to redlining and going berserk to shadow another that close to going berserk is just asking for trouble. They need a miracle to save Gaia.
The general snorts. "Oh, Thompson will do it. This is right up his alley. He'd find it hilarious, but if Jayse goes over not even Thompson will be able to stop him. Sgt. Rory is the only man I've ever met that matches Jayse's speed. But Thompson...likely Thompson would resort to explosives to take out Jayse if it comes to that. But if he's forced to take out Jayse I have no doubt that he'll go over. There won't be any other members of Sigma left."
"What about Rory himself? He survived the carnage of that battle as well." An admiral questions, he's new to the group taking over when his predecessor was hospitalized for a stroke that has left him bedridden.
The general looks down and silence becomes absolute. Finally the general breaks the silence, "With the findings of this court Lt. Jayse will be allowed to do his duty to Sergeant Rory. The hospital informed us just last night that Rory has requested Jayse. He hasn't been eating or sleeping for days. Rory didn't survive the carnage of that battle admiral, he lives it everyday endlessly replaying the hell in his head. He's been locked up in a high security mental ward at the hospital since that battle. With the clearance of this court Jayse will finally be able to give him the final grace."
Now it's the turn for the admiral to turn white. "You can't let him, chances are that will set him over the edge. From what I've read he, Thompson and Rory were tight friends before that damn battle."
General Rueton rubs his temples in a vain attempt to get rid of the headache building up. "Oh yes, the best of friends. Those three were inseparable before that day. If it wasn't Thompson leading the way into trouble than it was Rory. If it hadn't been for Jayse keeping them on a leash as it were those two would have been court martialed long ago." Just thinking about the antics of those three is enough to give the general another ulcer.
"What do you mean? If the other lead the way wouldn't that mean they are the leaders?" The Admiral is really feeling out of his depth here.
"Jayse should have been made into an officer long ago and would have. There isn't a better man suited for it which is shown in him reaching that rank irregardless of the black marks caused by the mischief of the other two. If all our officers were like him we'd be able to end this war with far less casualties.
"But not even he could keep those two out of trouble and he went along with them to keep the damage down to the minimum. He deserves a medal for that alone," Rueton finishes sourly.
"But none of that is here nor there, Jayse is the only one that can give poor Rory his peace. It would be an insult to Sigma, Jayse and Rory to assign someone the duty. An insult that Jayse wouldn't be able to overlook. Nor would any of our other companies. Jayse is the commanding officer of Sigma until the last duty is accomplished. After tomorrow Sigma will officially be classified as dead."
The doctor says calmly in the uncomfortable silence that follows Rueton's words. "My father will shadow Lt. Jayse and should the Lt. go berserker he will take him down. But there will be a price if he does." The doctor lets the silence drag on for a while before finishing her words. "If it comes to the point where my father, Corporal Thompson, is forced to take down the only other surviving member of Sigma the price will be the final grace for him as well. It's the only way he won't destroy this planet. He's longed for it, in his sessions with the psychiatrist he's talked about it. He's never asked for it because Jayse would never allow him to have it and would kick his butt and he knows it. But understand this, that battle has affected my father as deeply as it has Rory. He's changed," the doctor looks at Rueton as she states this next part.
"He's more reckless than ever before now. He won't let anything stop him at this point. If you want him to shadow Jayse he will and Jayse will never spot him. He knows that he's no match for Jayse one on one so he'll have to take him out with either a gun or an explosive of some sort. But he damn well better have the final grace pill in his possession or we are all dead."
Rueton seems to deflate at her words. "Very well, give him the damn pill when you give him his orders. Knowing Thompson he'll be able to find his own weapons. Make sure he has the proper surveillance items as well."
With that Rueton dismisses the men and women seated around the conference table. The subject has left them all with a bitter taste in their mouths.
"General, what about the report?" The admiral asks as the others file out of the room quickly.
"What about it?" Rueton says tiredly. To the civilians the warriors were beating the shifters but this is the fourth company lost since the war commenced. The shifters didn't seem to show any let up in their relentless attacks, on the contrary they seemed to be sending even more to each battle, even change tactics by taking large amounts of humans hostage instead of just eating them. The reports of what they do to their hostages is enough for him to lose his appetite.
"Are you going to give the findings of this court to the Lt. and Corporal?" The admiral wants to know.
"No. I'm going to bury this damn report as deep as I can in the hopes that those two never find out. If they do it might trigger them and if they work in tandem as a berserker team, they'll do the work of the shifters for them.
"We're losing this war due to attrition. I can't, indeed none of us can afford for those two to find out the truth of what happened." Rueton says heavily. "But, if Thompson wants to find out then there is no way of hiding it. Not only is he the best damn explosives expert we've ever had, but there isn't anything that man can't find out if he wishes to."
Rueton looks up at the admiral when only silence meets his words. "What? you think a mere corporal would be left in charge of Sigma's demolitions if he hadn't been? Every time that man came up for promotion he did something to keep himself from gaining it. But, he informed the Commander of Sigma, that he's not going to allow some fool to put his life in danger when it comes to the explosives. I think the Commander of Sigma was afraid of Thompson and with good reason.
"If Thompson decided the Commander needed to be killed then he'd kill him. He could do it with onlookers watching the Commander and nobody would even see him and he wouldn't kill anyone else in the doing of it either. The Commander rarely denied anything Thompson asked for. I think the only person Thompson has any real respect for is Jayse, that's why Jayse could rein him in."
The admiral looks at Rueton in stunned silence. It takes him several minutes to find his voice. "I was well acquainted with the Commander of Sigma. That man didn't scare, didn't even flinch at danger or overwhelming odds and Thompson had no respect for him?"
Rueton gives a twisted smile, "Thompson is perhaps the most talented person in this whole damn society. With the exception of the medical services he can easily do any of the necessary jobs." Rueton looks away and then looks inward.
"Thompson could be a leader, an officer of even higher caliber than Jayse except he detests leadership and its inherent pains. He could do heavy artillery and not miss his mark even without the help of a targeting computer, but he detests being in one place almost as much as leadership. He should have gone into intel and would have except he loves explosives. There is no finer ghost, and only a very few intelligence officers that can do better than him at finding out things. You don't see him unless he wants you to see him and if you're his enemy you won't see him until it's too late. Commander Parsanns knew that. He also knew that Thompson is the finest explosives expert to ever come out of the Warrior Society. When Thompson wasn't off on missions he was training our other demolitions leaders. In all the years he's hosted a class not one person has ever passed the final. He's that good. And he terrified Commander Parsanns.
"I don't know why he respects Jayse more than he ever did the Cmdr or anyone else for that matter but he does. He'll take Jayse out if necessary and it will kill him to do so. And if they ever read the report on what happened at that battle they'll both come gunning for us at Command. All Companies are tight knit families but Sigma was something more, something special. Tanker made that happen and his legacy lived on until that battle, Sigma pulled off a miracle, but not a big enough miracle this time."
The Admiral protests, "But if Thompson is so good at finding out information won't he look up this report? I'd think he'd want to know."
Rueton gives him another twisted ironic smile. "Sigma has been our salvation against overwhelming odds more times than is convenient for either of us to count. Part of what made Sigma so special were the people assigned to her. Only the best." Rueton stops smiling and looks directly at the admiral. "Thompson won't look because he doesn't want to know. Jayse won't ask him because...they both feel responsible. Jayse, because he was shoved into the leadership role when the officers were killed with the very first salvo shot by the shifters during a command meeting. Thompson because his team was blown up by what he feels is a poorly trained member of his team. No one could have done a finer job of fighting against such incredible odds as Jayse and if the shifters hadn't landed a lucky shot on one of Thompson's own bombs more of Sigma would have survived."
"But shouldn't they be told those things instead of thinking that the deaths of their family, Sigma, was their fault?" The admiral persists.
Rueton shrugs. He's beyond weary by now, the war and this court and it's findings have exhausted him. "To what end? They will still be angry. They will still be redlining. They will still have lost their family. If they want the truth they have but to look for it. Dismissed admiral, this court is over and there is a war to be fought."
The admiral holds his anger in check, stands and gives a salute to the general that is turned away from him. There is nothing he can do for the sole surviving members of Sigma.
He shivers at the memories. It had been his ship that had been the aerial backup for them and he'd gone down and witnessed the carnage for himself. He can still hear Jayse's angry call for backup and will forever have that voice echo in his head. He can't believe even now that anyone had survived that.
His people had managed to save Jayse that day, but now there is nothing he can do for the Lt. The anger that he feels because of that builds. But Rueton is right, that if they did read that report they'd likely destroy Command Central. The admiral sends a silent apology to Jayse and Thompson for not telling them the truth. The survival of humanity is more important than two warriors, but that didn't stop him from hating himself over the necessity. He hopes that someday they will read the report and know that none of it was their fault.