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I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad.
“I don’t know everything that has led to this. I have every reason to believe you were carrying out your duties as you understood them. But I must emphasize that whatever violations of the laws of war that took place before this must stop. We are the Alliance. We have honor. If we hold to that, we will win. If we don’t hold to it…we don’t deserve to win.”
“Captain Desjani…all of you…your past actions are between you and your own ancestors. Ask them for forgiveness, not me. I wish…I wish to remind you all that someday we will be judged for our actions. I will not judge you. I don’t have that right. But I’ll not permit dishonorable actions by forces under my command. I’ll not permit some of the finest officers and enlisted personnel I’ve ever met to sully their own service. And you are fine officers who command fine sailors. Sailors in the Alliance fleet. All of us are, together. There are things we don’t do. From this moment forth, let us all
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“Do they? I guess there are some skeletons in everyone’s family closet. A few of my ancestors were lawyers.” “Ah! My condolences.” “We’ve learned to live with it.”
“That’s why we have the laws of war. That’s why we try to teach honor to those who have to fight.”
His face began to take on the glow of an engineer presented with a complex problem that he might have the means to solve.
“But they went off anticipating a glorious death. Instead, they came home unconscious, and their ships tore up their own bases. No glory there. What some of them got instead was death at the hands of their own side. Maybe all that’ll make the next set of suicide volunteers a little less enthusiastic. When someone’s ready to die, killing them just furthers their own objectives. Mind you, I’ll grant their wish if it comes to that, but I’ll do it on my terms. I don’t want their deaths inspiring anyone.”
“This fleet fights for victory, not pride. It is held together by honor and courage, the belief in what we fight for and the belief in each other. Pride is nothing by itself. Nothing but a weapon in our enemy’s hands, a weapon he will gladly use to help bring about our destruction.”
“Audacious, be advised that if you are attempting to mate with Resolution, you might try buying her a few drinks first.” Off to one side, Geary heard Captain Desjani almost choke on her coffee. He heard no reply from Audacious, but the warship finally angled away and back toward its assigned station. A moment later, Resolution called in. “Alliance battle cruiser Resolution wishes to report that her virtue remains intact.”
“The iron-willed hero of legend is damned tired today, ma’am. What can I do for you?”
The three things you need to worry about the most during the hours leading up to an engagement are acting too early, acting too early, and acting too early.
“Security and logistics. Those two things keep getting in the way of a lot of good ideas.”
