If Maki was seething, she didn't show it. In fact, she drank the toast and set her cup down gently, staying silent while considering her reply. It was true, they were acting as if they were invincible or special. The latter was also true. Any member of the 101st would testify gladly to that fact - no one got in without being [i]excellent[/i], not just good, at something.

If they had stayed for a little longer, they would have thwarted the Coalition attack long enough for more people to get off the Ulysses. If they had taken just another squad of Ferirs or downed another ship, the battle might have been more favorable for the remaining forces. They might also have gotten killed, true, but Maki had been raised on a simple belief - that people only benefited when the needs of the many are put before the needs of the few. It was hard to justify sacrificing so many lives on [i]one[/i] man's whim.

[color=00a651]"There is one thing you're forgetting, Trapp. We're all stakes that are sticking out. It's why we're here in the first place."[/color] Maki reminded her squad leader. Perhaps it was arrogant of her, but she didn't appreciate someone using Tori's death to make the squad feel shitty. [color=00a651]"[i]Any[/i] idiot can follow orders if you yell loudly enough at them. What makes a soldier is their willingness to stand in the line of fire so others don't have to. So, don't give me that bullshit, Trapp."[/color]

She knew somewhere else on the ship, the captain was listening in. Alexis had a bad habit of doing that when she thought her subordinates were going to tear each other's throats out. [color=00a651]"I get it. You don't want us to piss off the royal pain in the butt. I'll behave as long as he's around, but don't expect me to jump out the airlock because the man gave an order. After all, we're just disposable weapons to them, right? Point at the enemy and fire? We'll just be replaced with someone new like Tori was after we die. We're expendable to them."[/color] She tipped her cup over so it'd fall, as if to demonstrate her point.

[color=00a651]"I don't expect praise or medals. I certainly don't think I'm indispensable. What I do expect and think is that every life we can save, we do our utmost to do so. So forgive me if I feel abandoning people to die is distasteful. I'd rather keep my soul and integrity than my job."[/color] If anyone doubted her words, they weren't worthy of being called her squadmate. Every person in that room knew well enough that Maki stuck to her guns and beliefs like glue. It wasn't the first time she got in trouble for standing up for her own values, and it wouldn't be the last. What difference would it make if it was some regular officer or a royal dick?

[color=00a651]"[i]Nobody[/i] is expendable. I'll gladly dishonor Tori's memory to keep others alive. Don't pity the dead, but the living."[/color] She muttered softly, not caring what else Trapp had to say on the matter, before leaving the room. She raised her volume so their uninvited guest could hear her parting line. [color=00a651]"I'll be in the gym if you need me."[/color]

[hr]

At the gym, it was dead quiet. Well, almost. A few people were here to ensure nothing had been damaged, a few were looking around and checking to see if anyone had been missed out in their roll calls, desperate to confirm even one more member of their crew hadn't been left behind. Maki was just there to unwind and channel her anger from the earlier events and the stress of battle.

Even with people asking around if they had seen this or that person, nobody came to ask Maki. Partly because they knew she had hardly left the ship and had been in the battle, but mainly due to the fact that she was giving off a palpable aura that threatened to kill those who drew to near. The loud clang of metal from the salmon ladder she was on drowned out the noise in the background, as she brooded on Trapp's words.

She had to admit he was right on some accounts - the 7th had a reputation that meant they got away with minor misdeanours, but it wasn't as if anyone would stand up for them against a member of the royal family. It certainly hadn't been smart to do so right within earshot of the Imperial Service, not that she would have cared either way. Perhaps a little more consideration for the squad was in order the next time she mouthed off about the royal fuck up.

Still, if there was one thing she was never to agree with, it was abandoning the Ulysses to its fate. [i]Nishizumi, for fuck's sake, don't come back for us! You have the intel! Get it back home![/i] Memories returned to her as the voices of dead ghosts returned to haunt her. 

[i]Johnson's KIA! You're the fastest machine still capable of making the trip back! Just GET THE FUCK OUT![/i]

[i]There's no way you guys will-[/i]

[i]Fuck that! We're expendable! Just get that intel back to HQ! It'll save more lives than one squad! Now go![/i]

She reached the top of the salmon ladder, doing one chin up and gritting her teeth as she fought to keep the memories out. The began the descent, throwing the bar down to the lower rung and let herself feel the impact. It was nothing compared to her crash landing back at base, and the sound of the metal impacting its purchase was nothing compared to the explosion she heard.

This time she flipped herself up over the bar just to exert herself, the tight tank top now soaked with her sweat and baring her midriff. It was almost sexy if a battle hadn't just occurred. Maki would have flashed a grin and teased the closest person she was familiar with if another memory wasn't surfacing.

[i]I'll be there in a minute, Astelion, just stay alive till then![/i]

She shook her head and let herself go, dropping from the salmon ladder and venting her emotions by smashing an elbow through a training dummy's wooden arm, using the speed from her fall. The move startled a few people but they got the message soon enough and cleared the area. When she was finally alone, she sank down to the floor against a wall, panting and looking up, asking a question to a man she hadn't spoken to in a long time, a man who wasn't there to hear her. [color=00a651]"Hey, ojii-san, how many friends did you bury before you were done fighting in the war? I'm already sick of seeing off caskets."[/color]