Chapter Text
Admiral Camilla L. Walther paced across her apartment in one of the habitation rings of the TNSS-1 Solaris, the pride of the Terran Imperial Navy, and the largest warship ever built. She had just received news that they would remain stationed in high Earth orbit for the next week, supposed to act as a deterrent, despite the original plan having been to launch an assault on an Alliance base on Europa the next day. Her crew was growing tired of the lack of action too; after all, you'd expect at least some excitement serving on a ship with weapons powerful enough to warrant their own, dedicated reactor.
She sighed as she headed to bed, expecting tomorrow to just be more of the same daily grind. She couldn't deny that she too wished something would happen, despite not usually being one to really crave action like some of her crew.
Thinking back though, it wasn't like she could complain that much. She wasn't from a well-off background, having originally joined the navy in the hopes of free housing and healthcare, which she had received. Much to her surprise, even HRT was included, despite the Empire's staunchly conservative values. It didn't take long until she was rising through the ranks too, as it had turned out she has a talent for strategy; specifically managing to make seemingly unreasonable, high-risk plans work out in her favour.
Eventually this had landed her in more and more ambitious roles; a strategic officer on the TNGS-27 Apollo, the captain of the TNCR-14 Trident, among others. Thanks to her reputation, she was a natural choice to lead the newly built Imperial flagship, the TNSS-1 Solaris. That had also signaled her promotion to an Admiral, as Imperial officials thought only a Captain wasn't grand enough for such a vessel, and demanded it have an Admiral.
As she fell asleep, the mundanity of her current status did eat at her a little anyways; not many particularly memorable things had happened since the Apollo days, and she wished she had more to remember, and more stories to tell her possible future friends or partners.
The captain of the Alliance destroyer Spirit of Mars couldn't believe her luck. The Imperials had left their titanic flagship off-guard and barely defended, thinking it'd deter an attack through its sheer scale. Little did they know, the Spirit of Mars and her sisters were armed with orbital siege cannons, designed for massive surface targets and vastly overkill against most ships; perfect for taking down a colossus like the Solaris.
She laughed gleefully as the Spirit of Mars opened fire, approaching the front of the colossal vessel just above the field of fire of their main weapon. With the Spirit of Venus leading a second charge from the flank, the Imperial monstrosity wouldn't stand a chance
Camilla practically launched herself a metre into the air as she woke up; startled by the blaring of alarms across the Solaris. She quickly grabbed her uniform, not even bothering to button up her shirt as she sprinted to the bridge as fast as she could.
"What the hell is going on!?" she demanded to know as she barged onto the bridge, silencing the chaos that had overtaken it moments prior.
After a few long seconds, the ship's navigator approached her. "Admiral. They... took us, by surprise."
"This is the best equipped ship the Empire has ever built, how in the everloving FUCK did you miss an entire invasion fleet!?"
"I-I don't know, ma'am..! There was some fault in the computer, I think."
Camilla felt a stab inside her. "The damn computer is fine!" She shouted, her intent to chew into the poor man interrupted by a jolt shaking the entire city-sized vessel. "Admiral, they're using planetary siege artillery, the Solaris isn't built for this, our shields won't hold for long!" an officer exclaimed before she could resume her verbal assault.
"Does anyone have any suggestions? Can we return fire?" Camilla asked after a moment to collect her thoughts. She was known for unconventional and risky plans, but in this moment, even she was out of ideas.
"Negative, ma'am, we'd need to rotate the whole ship to aim!" someone explained.
"Anyone else?"
Another jolt shook the Solaris before anyone could answer. "Shields are nearly down! We need to abandon ship soon!"
Camilla thought for a moment. feeling a conflict brewing inside her. On one hand, despite her occasionally harsh exterior, she still cared about human life, and it would be a waste to let the thousands of crew members aboard the Solaris die. However, on the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure how her own fate would unfold if she survived.
After all, a ship like the Solaris being destroyed would not go down well with Imperial leaders, and who knows what they would do to the first-in-command in retaliation. In the best-case scenario, they'd throw her in jail, and Imperial prisons were not known for their accommodations or general comfort, let alone access to gender-affirming medication.
"Ma'am..?" The officer from earlier interrupted her thoughts.
"Ugh. Do it." She settled.
"The evac?"
"What do you think, dumbass!?"
The TNSS-1 Solaris' onboard AI knew she was on borrowed time. Escape pods poured out of her by the hundreds, and it was a matter of time before the incoming artillery barrage broke through her shields. At this point, the only thing the AI could do was hope that at least her crew could make it. She wondered if anyone, like her Admiral, would remember her as anything more than a tool of mass destruction.
As the final crew members aboard the Solaris stuffed themselves into the tiny escape pod, Admiral Camilla L. Walther hesitated at the door. She recalled her thoughts from a moment ago, as she glanced back towards the bridge. Could she really live her life in the aftermath of all this? Even on the off-chance that she managed to avoid imprisonment, was the Empire ever going to truly accommodate people like her? Would it simply discard her as a failure like it did so many others?
She eventually gave her final order: "Leave me behind."
"Admiral, what in God's name are you thinking!?" The navigator objected. "There is nothing you can do!"
"That is an order! Go, you idiots!" Camilla snapped back, slamming the pod launch override button, leaving her alone on the enormous vessel as her former crew hurtled safely towards Earth.
Camilla sprinted back towards the bridge, she had just had an idea, risky even by her standards, but one which may just work.