We sat in silence for a minute before Ramos said, "I guess that's it for the attack on Loum, then. We lost a few guys, and they lost everything. That's a victory, I guess." He sighed. "What happened on that frigate, anyway?"
"I shot two people, committed two war crimes, and threatened to blow up the ship. The acting captain wanted to blow up the fusion reactor, but his second in command shot him and ordered the ship to surrender to me," I said with a shrug.
"Two war crimes? Which ones?" Ramos asked.
"Wearing a Federation uniform and faking a surrender," I said.
Ramos began laughing. It started quietly, but the laughter grew to an uncontrolled cackle after a few seconds. Between peals of laughter, Ramos said, "Compared to all the others, that sounds quaint!"
"Not all of my crimes are equally bombastic," I said with a smile. "I'm still wearing a Federation undershirt and pants, you know?"
"That's hilarious," Ramos said, giggling like a hyena. The annoyed doctor on the other side of the room glared at him. "What poor bastard did you mug to get the uniform?"
"The guy's name was, uh, Wahj-tek Sikorski, and I didn't mug him. I just took his uniform from his locker," I said.
"Hell of a name," Ramos said as he finally began controlling his laughter. "Where's it from?"
"Poland," I answered, surprised that Ramos didn't know that. "In fact, everyone I met on the Cyprus had a Slavic or Scandinavian name. That ship must have launched from somewhere in Eastern Europe. My guess is it departed from Warsaw or Moscow recently, based on the geographical distribution of the names," I said, deep in thought.
Ramos squinted at me in confusion before saying, "I have no idea what most of those words mean. Poland? Warsaw? Slavic? What? I'm pretty sure Europe is that continent next to Asia, but the rest is lost on me."
The state of geographical knowledge in the Earth Sphere was dire. There was no doubt in my mind that the fact I could point out Poland on a map made me one of Side 3s foremost experts on Earth geography.
"Never mind. It's not important," I muttered.
Another minute of silence passed before Ramos said, "You know, I realized something after our last conversation."
"The one where I held a gun to your head?" I asked.
"Yeah," Ramos said, grimacing. "I realized that, in times like these, none of us can afford to be good people. The Federation clearly realized that as well, since they were willing to sink to our level."
"That's how war goes," I said. "When one side stops following a rule, it's only a matter of time before the other side does the same."
"Mmm," Ramos grunted. I could tell he didn't fully agree with my conclusion. "Does it really matter who started it? One's morality isn't predicated upon the actions of others. You can't justify attacking civilians by saying 'they did it first.' Whatever. That doesn't matter. My point is that we can only really afford to care about those tied closely to us. Vultee, Yoshida, and Singh for example. Those are the only people we can really affect with our actions. From that perspective, the battle was a success. Everyone in our unit survived. Hell, Yoshida and Vultee will probably be honorably discharged from the military. Lucky bastards."
"If they survive," I reminded Ramos.
"Right," Ramos said quietly.
Silence reigned once more. It was my turn to break it. I said, "You're right, though. We got incredibly lucky this time. All of us took hits that could have killed us. If Dozle hadn't been there, Vultee would be dead already."
"Well, that's life. Sometimes you live; sometimes you die," Ramos said.
"It is what it is," I said.
"Que será, será," Ramos said with a smile.
"C'est la vie," I said, starting to laugh.
"Whatever happens, happens," Ramos said, bursting into laughter.
For some reason, Ramos and I began to laugh uncontrollably. It was a stupid gag, but the act of just goofing off with Ramos after twelve hours of danger and constant tension was immensely entertaining. Sure, we were undoubtedly some of the most evil people in history, but even we needed a break from time to time. I could feel the tension in my body lessen, and it was swiftly replaced with a powerful exhaustion.
Once I was done laughing, I said, "Hey, Ramos. This chair is pretty comfortable, actually. I think I'm gonna take a quick nap. You should find an actual bed."
I yawned, and a sympathetic yawn gripped Ramos a moment later.
Ramos said, "Are you sure, Captain? I can…"
I didn't hear the rest of his sentence, since I had already fallen asleep.
January 16th, 0079
"Captain? Captain Dogwood?"
Less than a second passed in the halls of my mind before I awoke to the sound of my name. Someone was lightly shaking my shoulder, and I rotated in my chair to remove the hand.
Groggily, I said, "Yeah, Ramos. I'm sure. Go get some sleep."
"Ramos? Who's that?"
My eyes fluttered open, and a young man with long purple hair entered my view. Garma Zabi stood next to me.
I jerked into action, instantly jumping to my feet. "Sir!" I said, saluting. "Hello, Commander Garma!"
"You outrank me, Captain. Officially, I should be saluting you," Garma said with a tight smile. My salute clearly annoyed Garma deeply, but he tried to hide it. The teenage Zabi cleared his throat before saying, "Do you know if Lieutenant Heinrich Vultee is out of surgery yet?"
"No, s…" I said, stopping my sentence short and lowering my hand. "No. I've been asleep for a while." Looking outside, I could see that the colony had switched over to the night stage. "How is Admiral Dozle?"
"Fine," Garma said. "He discharged himself from the hospital less than an hour after he arrived. My brother is fine, though my father did not fare as well."
Deciding to press my luck, I asked, "Did Sovereign Degwin say anything to you before he died?"
Garma looked over at me, deciding how much of the truth he would divulge. After a few seconds, he said, "It is imperative that you never tell this to anyone, Captain Dogwood. Father told me that he suspected my brother, Gihren Zabi, caused his death."
That one sentence almost made me collapse to the floor. I knew that Gihren was the direct cause of Degwin's death, but Garma's knowledge of that fact was a terrible sign for the future of Zeon.
The first domino had already fallen, and this chain ended with a civil war in Zeon.