The area was quiet as the Victory roamed through the cold expanse of space while its sensors scanned the perimeter of the Trafalgar colony. It was the kind of silence that always followed a big battle, the kind that Elias had become accustomed to during his time as an officer in the Navy. The Kagetaka pirates, a foolish band of space marauders, had been neutralized. Actually, neutralized might not even be a good enough word to describe it. In truth, the band of pirates had been completely destroyed. As one would expect, their heavily armored ships were simply no match for Elias Thorton's squadron of elite stealth vessels and their state-of-the-art weapons systems.
However, even with the swift victory, the aftermath of the battle came with consequences that Elias couldn't easily shake off.
As he observed the ships of his elite squadron patrol the colony on his screen, there was a notable level of uneasiness that weighed heavily on the man's mind.
The near-loss of one of his ships in the fight had shaken the man more than he was willing to admit. For all the perfection that Elias demanded from both himself and his subordinates, there was a toll that came with such a lofty pursuit. Every loss, every mishap, and every near-miss gnawed at him whenever they happened. And this particular one had bitten the man deeply. He had never lost a single man during his time as a commander, and the last thing he wanted was to start today. Fortunately, all of the sailors and marines on board the damaged ship were still alive. So, at the very least, Elias wouldn't be writing any somber messages to their relatives. At least not today.
"Damage report?" Elias asked while looking over his shoulder at Commander Nakagawa. The woman's expression mirrored his own, tired yet still proud of their resounding victory.
"Minimal." The woman replied, her fingers flying over the console. "The Victory is still intact, and the rest of the squadron is in one piece. However..." She then paused before quickly regaining herself. "The Blue Saber was hit in its rear thrusters and took some serious damage. She and her crew will need to dock in the colony to immediately begin repairs before she can go back out. And some of the sailors on board will also require medical treatment for their injuries."
Elias nodded, still feeling the burden of almost losing some of his subordinates in the battle. It wasn't a catastrophic loss, not by any means. Yet, the thought of any member of his squadron being taken away from him struck the man at his core.
"We'll need to send a request to have headquarters send over a team to come look at the Blue Saber, pronto. Our ships are much too valuable to keep them sitting in a civilian port for too long. We'll have to get the best engineers available to fix it up as soon as possible." Elias said, his voice firm but tinged with an undercurrent of concern. "I don't want any corners being cut. Anything less than a full clean-up job is nothing but a waste of time."
"Yes, sir." Nakagawa responded. "Anything else?"
Elias hesitated before answering. "No. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my quarters. I need to go check on something real quick before I give an update to Rear Admiral Rousseau."
The man then stood up and exited the bridge while his mind raced with questions that had been buried in his head for years up until this point. Could he keep this up? The weight of the responsibility, or the constant threat of losing lives? It all felt so overwhelming at the moment, more so than it ever had before.
As the Captain entered his quarters, the soft hum of the ship's engines was the only sound that accompanied him. He was no longer a young officer, full of raw ambition and thirst for exploration. He was older now, with a family to consider, and the thought of putting them aside to pursue of some ideal of perfection felt less and less like a noble cause and more like a selfish obsession. One that he didn't even need to have.
'I've really changed, huh?' Elias thought to himself as he inspected his reflection in the mirror. 'When did I become such a stick in the mud?'
It was then and there that Elias decided that he was going to take his aunt's advice and actually go on a vacation. All this stress was starting to get to him. He needed some time away from his job to clear his head. And he definitely needed to spend some more time with his family instead of chasing criminals around all the time. Something he was certain that Marida would agree with.
'I'm glad that I have so many leave days saved up.' The man said to himself before exiting his quarters and going back to the bridge. Although the battle was over, there was still work to be done. And the sooner he brought this matter to a close, the sooner Elias would be able to finally take a break.
-(o)-
Once he got back home, Elias found his wife waiting for him by the door of their nice, three-story house. The man couldn't help but admire how her long, dark hair flew beautifully in the wind as she welcomed him home with open arms. She always knew how to bring him back from the edge, to ground him when the weight of his uniform felt too heavy. And this time appeared to be no different.
"Good to be home?" Marida asked with a soft smile. Her voice was warm, but laced with the concern that Elias had come to know so well over the years.
The man simply nodded before speaking. "Another battle, another victory. But..." He trailed off, unsure how to express the unease that had settled inside him over the last couple of days.
Marida turned to face him, her expression softening as she took a moment to inspect his face. "But you're not celebrating this one, are you?"
"No, not this time." Elias shook his head before grabbing the woman's hand. "But...on the bright side, I've decided that I'm going to be taking a break for a while to clear my head! All this talk about me being promoted is starting to get to me. And I need some time to myself. I just put in my leave request this morning, so hopefully it'll get approved by tomorrow night."
Marida, with a much more cheerful smile on her face, stepped closer before gently resting her arms around her husband's shoulders. "Well...I certainly like the sound of that! I get that everyone loves having their strong, badass, national hero around to keep them safe. But, I wouldn't mind being able to spend some more quality time with my husband."
The couple then shared a long kiss before walking into the house. Once they were inside, they wasted no time in sitting down on the sofa and talking about how the last few weeks had been for them. Elias always appreciated moments like this. The slow, quiet kind that you only really learned to enjoy after facing death a few times. The kind of moments where he didn't have to worry about being the hero of the Federation and an inspiration for everyone else. Right now, he could simply be himself.
"I used to love that, you know...." Elias jokingly admitted to his wife after one of her questions. "The mere idea of going out into space and seeing what no one else had seen before. It was literally my entire reason for joining up in the first place. But I've been so caught up in being the perfect Captain that I hardly even think about it anymore. I don't know when it happened, but I lost sight of what even made me want to do all of this in the first place."
Marida smiled, her hand resting on his cheek. "It's not too late, Elias. You're still you after all. Besides, I know how much you loved that Jupiter mission. Maybe it's time to embrace that part of yourself again and do a bit of exploring."
"Maybe you're right." Elias said as he considered the woman's words.
-(o)-
Later that evening, as the stars danced in the darkness of space, Elias was sitting on his rooftop along with his son, Remy. The boy was notably quiet as he stared out at the view through the colony's massive window. However, it wasn't the kind of silence that seemed rancorous in nature. It was more like the kind that came from nervousness, more than anything else.
For weeks now, Remy had been struggling with finding his own path in life, unsure of what he wanted to do or who he wanted to be. Although Elias still thought things like that weren't what a ten-year-old should be worrying about, he could definitely understand the burning desire to go out and do something at that age. After all, Elias wasn't much older than him when he decided to dedicate his life to being in space. So, at least to him, it made sense that the boy would start thinking about those kinds of things around this time in his young life.
Elias placed a hand on his son's shoulder as a meteor flew past the colony's window, a gesture that spoke volumes without a single word.
"Hey, I have an idea! How about we take a trip, just the three of us? You, me, and your mother. We could explore the other colonies and see what all they have to offer. Maybe that will help you figure out what you want to do? We can even take the ship that your great-aunt Kara gave me after she retired."
Remy turned his head towards his father, his green eyes wide with a mixture of both excitement and uncertainty. "You mean it?"
Just like most of the kids his age, Remy had never set foot outside of Trafalgar. So, it only made sense that the idea of getting to see other colonies and how they operated would excite the boy.
"I do!" Elias said with a smile. "Besides, what better way to spend our first family trip than to see all the cool stuff that space has to offer?"
"Yeah!" Remy said with a wide smile on his face. "Let's do it! That sounds fun!"
"It sure does, doesn't it?"
As Elias looked at his son, he felt the weight of the world slowly lift off his shoulders. For the first time in years, he felt the pull of the unknown, the excitement of exploration, and the warmth of his family by his side. The path forward was clear; right now, he wouldn't worry himself over perfection and heroics. Just discovery, and the love that had always been there, waiting for him to embrace it.