"Mei, share sensor data." I ordered.
Lodos was now included to the defense fleets' data sharing network. Every ship on the Republic side now had the entire cumulative information on every single enemy vessel. We could see everything our fleets could see, and the fleets could see everything we could see.
"Look at this." said Tachibana, staring at the sensors console. I stood behind him to get a look. He opened up a 3D map view on one of the screens, and zoomed closer into the war zone. It was very cluttered, almost like we were having a sensor glitch. Hundreds of little red blips were crawling around, making patterns around much, much larger Republic ships; while others were orbiting the large red blips, which I assumed to be the 'motherships' we were told about.
Then I watched some of these tiny blips come together in a swarm. The swarm then raced towards a single Republic ship, about twice the size of Lodos. They started orbiting the vessel, and shortly after that, the green 3D model of the Republic ship turned gray. It broke apart, into 3 large pieces. From the middle one, a few smaller green ships appeared, trying to boost away from the battlefield - life boats, no doubt. None of them made it farther than a few kilometers at most before disappearing from the screen.
The other Republic ships were trying to come together to restore their formation, seeking a way to defend themselves against those swarms.
"Not to disrespect, but..." Tachibana said. "Diving into the area looks like suicide to me."
"Don't underestimate our power." said Mei. "I can take on them confidently."
I thought about it.
"Mei..." I said. "Rear Admiral is right. We can't take on them."
"We can't leave our comrades to die! They need reinforcements, they need us!" Mei said, filled with emotions.
"You won't fly us there in half a ship, that's out of the question, Admiral." I said. "We barely have armaments, and if we fly into this and die in the first two minutes, we won't be of any use."
"I understand why you are feeling like you are leaving them behind, the ship is under your command and all..." Tachibana continued to support me. "But there are more effective ways we can help our comrades. Let them do their jobs, while we do ours."
"Like... What do we do if we are not going to blast them out of the sky?" Mei asked. She was trying to hold her tears back. No one could see it through the helmet, but I knew it.
Tachibana looked at me.
"Okay, good question..." he murmured.
"For now, let's keep the governor and the other one safe." I said.
"Don't call me the other." said Nuan. "You are doing this on purpose."
She was right, I had done it on purpose. However, I had a reason to tease her one last time.
"Mei, can you come with me for a minute?" I said. "Tachibana, will you fly us away from Ceres, and the war zone?"
"I don't know how to fly this ship." Tachibana said.
"Don't worry, neither did I until just a while ago." I replied. "You will get used to it in no time."
Mei left the command chair to Tachibana, and I took her out of the bridge. I got her to one of the small observation decks.
There were two observation decks in Lodos II, one in front-port and one in front-starboard. They were small rooms with a great view of space and a quite high-quality optical telescope. They served more as recreation areas for long duration (a few months to a few years) flights rather than anything tactically useful. After all, even the most dedicated warriors had human needs as well; no one would like to see the whole navy going crazy in cramped crew quarters.
After I made sure we were alone, I closed the door.
"What are we doing here?" she asked me.
"I just wanted to talk to you for a bit." I said.
"What, are you going to confess to me?"
Observation deck confessions were classics, of course.
"No." I said. "I wanted to talk about Nuan."
"Hm? What about her?"
"So, you've known her for some time now..." I said. "Like, you know, you like talking to each other, being friends..."
"To be honest, I think you know her better than me, still." she said.
"Anyway..." I said. "Did you notice anything weird about her recently?"
"In what way?" she asked.
"Uhm... Like, she has been scolding just about everyone, for a while."
"I don't think she is doing that on purpose. It is her way of being friendly, and she seems to like sarcasm." Mei said. "You told us yourself, that's just how she is."
"I did say that, didn't I?" I sighed. "Well, it wasn't like that."
"Do you think something has changed?" she asked.
"Yes." I said. "She has been talking less and less, but every time she talks, she is more aggressive and confrontational than before. Hardly the proper attitude for an ambassador..."
"Do you think she is no longer fit for duty?" Mei asked.
"No, that's not what I'm focusing on. She knows her job, and does it extremely well in most cases... What I am worried about is... her, herself; as a person and a friend." I said. "However, if it comes to that, I might really consider putting her out of-"
"I will talk to her." Mei said. "I get what you mean. Don't worry."
"Thank you, Mei." I said. "Thanks a lot."
"Is there anything else?" she asked. "We were just trying to run away from our own planet-"
"I think there is something else." I stopped her before she opened to door to get out.
"What is it?" she was surprised a little.
"It is you." I said. "You need to calm down."
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Look, first of all, I admire your courage; but you need to stop sacrificing everything for the rest of the fleet or the Republic. You are a part of it too, and you deserve to live as much as others do - maybe even more so with your skills and advanced equipment. Your death wouldn't serve our cause."
"I don't intend to die or lose my ship, I just happened to-"
"Yes, yes, okay, I get it." I said. "Another thing is that... I think this new command and control scheme aboard Lodos II gives you some overconfidence. Controlling a spaceship as if it was your own body surely gives you the edge in spaceflight and combat, but design limitations still exist. If this ship can not take on an enemy with a classical bridge design, it is likely that it can't take on the enemy with this helmet thing either."
"I know." she said.
"Lodos might be a warship by classifications, but it is, by far, one of the worst ships to put in a fight right now."
"Okay." she said. "I know the limits."
"And lastly, you are thinking too tactical sometimes. Allocating everything to win a single battle can cause us to lose the war. Think out of the box sometimes, and look at things from a grand strategy standpoint. Sometimes, retreat is the better option, including permanent ones; if it is going to save us from more destruction. You will need to save your firepower if you want to start a counterattack."
"I know, Kagan, I know." Mei said. "We graduated from the same academy, why are you lecturing me?"
"Then don't forget your training." I said. She pouted.
"I will do my best, sir."
"But take heart, Admiral, I am proud of you." I said. "I am glad to have served with you, in the same navy, aboard the same ship. You are an example for everyone."
She went red.
"And I am glad to be your friend, Mei."
"Geez, stop!" she said, wiping her tears.
"Get some rest, we will try not to ruin your ship."
Just as I was getting out, I was hugged from behind.
"Thank you."
Suddenly, the ship's speakers came online. It was Tachibana.
"Lieute- I mean, Mr. President, please come to the bridge as soon as you are available. Over."