OOC Warning & Notes
This thread consists of war stories from the Stoino-Venterran War and describes graphic instances which may not be suitable for all readers. If you’re squeamish about the depiction of heavy wounds, this thread may not be for you.
Additionally, this thread continues the final arcs from the previous thread on the old forums.
14:18 shiptime, 18/02/1620 PD
Admiral’s Command Room, HMS Dahu
Vaud’s orbit, Elysium Sector
High Admiral Mireille Le Sueur’s face looked pale as she watched the reports from the medbay. Now her red cheeks lacked any sort of colour as if her soul had left her. No one had forced her to look open up the reports, let alone watch the severe wounds or documented corpses. Though something in her had driven her to do so. A sort of debt she felt was owed as she thought that being a naval officer shouldn’t be an excuse to be isolated from the horrors of war that historically took place in ground combat. The Velutarian War, the First Mardakii Crusade, the War at Home… She had seen the vids of the horrors, but this new war was so much more striking to any Stoinian. For they were now facing against their own Terran brethren. Or so it was thought. Mireille was high-ranking enough to know of the investigations that had lead Stoinian High Command to believe the Venterrans were genetically modified Terrans. However, that didn’t help the fact that new reports of Venterran ripping out the spines of Stoinian soldiers had been found again during the Battle of Vaud. In a last ditch effort, the stranded Venterran troops threw away their lives in a last charge as the Venterran naval forces were finally forced to leave the system after a week of tense fighting. The War was turning, but Mireille feared the frenzy of both Stoinians & Venterrans would now only increase.
Suddenly a tune rang across the room. She dropped her datapad and looked at the call. It was Grand Admiral Winton! She straightened her uniform and took a proper military posture befit of her rank before answering the call.
“Grand Admiral Winton.” She replied sternly.
“High Admiral Le Sueur. I take it the Vaud System is back under the Crown’s full report?”
“Aye, Sir. The last remaining Venterrans groundside made a last attempt to earn glory. They ended rather shortly. As for the naval forces, they have been repelled in the last 13 hours.”
“Excellent. Casualties?” Winton asked caringly.
“Not enough halt our planned advances.” Mireille replied thinking Winton wanted to get to the point.
“How many?” He asked again, lowering his tone. Making it clear he wanted to know how many Stoinians had died.
Mireille swallowed her regret before taking a few heartbeats to respond. “458.235 civilians, 163.342 groundside forces and 23.852 naval personnel including 32 ships.”
“Venterran zealotry?”
“Heads, skulls & spines, Sir.” She replied with a hint of desperation.
“Almighty…” Winton stopped for a second before continuing. “How has morale been with such reports?”
“If anything it only strengthened resolve. The troops are eager to give them payback.”
“I see… And you?”
“It won’t affect my command, Sir.”
“Wrong, it already has.”
“Sir?”
“You forgot to close your datapad, Mireille.”
She glanced back at it and indeed the reports were still open.
“Sir, a small pass time during these times.”
“Mireille… This isn’t the first time I see an Officer with naval regret. I’ve seen it plenty of times in every war. You can’t control what happens down there nor should it affect you. Reading reports of horrors for fun won’t change anything.”
“I understand, but it seems unfair.”
“I know plenty of High Generals who would be scared to death serving on ships. Flying around in a box with walls only separating you from complete nothingness. If only the right rupture at the right time would come close near you, you’d be drawn into the eternal abyss.” Winton let the words sink in. “I’ve known for some time, Mireille. You needn’t concern yourself of actions outside your control. Nor should you compare yours with others. We’re all facing the same threat on different fronts. All are equal and all have their parts to fulfill.” Winton finished quoting a Stoinian saying from the founding of the Stoinian Kingdom.
The reminder had helped Mireille realize the fault she was making. She couldn’t help but smile and colour returned back on her face as she faced Winton.
“Thank you, Roger.”
“You’re welcome. Just remember it for the coming two weeks. We’ll need you at your best if operation Lion’s Thunder is to succeed.”
“Aye, Sir. I’ll be there until the bitter end.”
"Excellent. Now I’m afraid I’ll have to cut our friendly talk short as Commander Recklez’s trap needs some final touched. Take care, High Admiral.
“You too, Grand Admiral. Godspeed.”
The two Officers saluted each other one last time before Winton cut off the comms. Mireille took a deep breath again and closed the tab on her datapad. She then turned to her holographic table and began to run some more simulations for the coming offensive.