Jupiter is still a little groggy from the injection he was given earlier, but he is well aware of his surroundings. The Council is meeting in the Needle and he takes his seat at the circular table with Mars, Pluto, and Saturn. The faces are stern, his heart is grim. What he has condemned his daughter to breaks his heart, “You have to let me get her. Give me access to the God Armor and let me bring her back.”

“The entrance is overrun. The fighting is fierce. It is an important tactical site and we will get it back. But when we do, why should we let you go through?” Mars is barely containing his fury, “Your actions have already cost the lives of many of my soldiers, and endangered the Chosen Ones on top of that. She deserves to die, and she will. Why should we let you through?”

“Because that is my daughter.” His words come through gritted teeth, “And she is bleeding to death as we speak. And I will not let her die that way. She deserves a proper trial, and if found guilty, a swift departure.”

“If we allow you through, it will only further endanger the Chosen Ones. If she dies in the forest they will be none-the-wiser and remain safe from our influence.” Pluto sits back and shrugs, “I see no benefit to her retrieval beyond paternal responsibility. And that is something you evidently failed at years ago. Our mission is a higher call than your failed parenting.”

“My failure has been to accept your heartlessness and thinly veiled arrogance, Pluto. As much as you might want to be, you are not a god and your position does not grant you judgement over me, nor determine what I can and cannot do. The Chosen Ones are our mission and this rebellion is endangering them. Do you understand that? Do you understand that Siff has been in direct communication with our enemy’s leadership? Do you understand her value to us as an asset? To protect the Chosen Ones? Your arrogance is not an excuse for idiocy.”

“You would do well to hold your tongue, Jupiter. I have the final say in who goes into the Habitat.”

“Then understand the value of it! Weigh the risks and rewards. If we retrieve Siff alive she could provide intel to shut down Diana and protect the Chosen Ones, along with our way of life on board this ship. Without her this war could last a long time, and many will suffer for it.”

Mars interjects, “Since when were you so interested in intel? Your duty is to guide Janus to Vesta and protect us from any outside threat. What happens inside the ship is my responsibility and I am taking care of it.”

“Are you? That must mean you are aware of the foreign systems that have been placed about Janus allowing Diana to hack the AI, Right? And if so, what are you doing about it?”

“Janus’ AI will eventually overcome her hacks, those systems are inconsequential. However, my spies in the rebellion have been receiving reports of an operative hitting targets with EMPs. They say he comes out of nowhere and disappears without a trace. Like a ghost. In fact, that is what they have started calling him: Ghost. Like some superstitious moronic primitives. I think someone has been secretly crafting advanced stealth tech and has been operating a mission outside of their jurisdiction. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” He pauses, “It is a pointless endeavor, regardless. We can quash this rebellion quickly and we will do so through superior combat and advanced weaponry.”

“Is that what happened at the Gate earlier?”

“That was a father’s foolishness getting the better of him. We will retake the Gate.”

“You don’t get to blame your failures on me, Mars! Take responsibility for your actions.”

“Coming from you?! What a joke!”

“Listen!” Saturns voice penetrates the fog of rage overcoming the Council, “Do you not think our enemy is intelligent? She has hacked our systems and forced us to meet in the Needle. She has contacted and manipulated the daughter of our Chief Pilot in order to gain intel on all of us. I will not underestimate her. To do so is to invite failure, and that we cannot accept. This rebellion needs to be stopped. Now.

“We need to send armed forces to retake the sections we have lost, and then quash this rebellion at its source. We need to protect the Chosen Ones. We need to get our AI back. And if you suspect Siff has intel that will help us we should retrieve her.”

Mars takes a breath, “Seeing the forces positioned against us at the Gate — even if I thought it was a wise idea — it could take several days to break through. She will be dead long before we can reach her.”

“What are you saying? That I just killed my daughter?”

“Doing so was the right thing. That gate is a high priority but the enemy has some powerful artillery protecting it. We can’t risk damaging the Gate so cannot use similar artillery. To retake it will require tactics and demand calm minds. I will lead our forces and we will win, but your desperation is a liability. You need to keep yourself in check.”

“She’s bleeding out. She’s going to be eaten. Saturn, she’s your daughter. You can’t agree with him.”

“She stopped being my daughter a long time ago. She must be treated for what she is: a traitor and a liability. If we could retrieve her for interrogation that is one thing, but if not it is better that she dies before infecting the Chosen Ones. We must remember our mission in the midst of all this. My job is to make sure our people are alive and safe so they can further our mission on Janus. Yours is to make sure we make it to Vesta. Pluto is to take care of and prepare the Chosen Ones. And Mars is to protect and secure the ship itself. This current mission falls to Mars and he will take point on its execution. I will continue evacuating the necessary levels and save as many as I can through supply lines and refugee camps. You. Jupiter, “ She looks at him with eyes that he once loved, “You need to go back to the Bridge and guide us on. Let Mars do his work.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing! She’s your daughter! You are all agreed on this? I can’t believe you are. How can you be so heartless?” He stands from the table, “I take my leave of you. I will be on the Bridge. I am bitterly disappointed in each of you.”

He turns and walks away, Saturn follows him out the room and lets the door close before speaking, “Baldr, wait.”

“You don’t get to call me that, not any more. Not since you abandoned us for your own selfish ambition.”

“This is not a decision I make lightly. You think I don’t love my daughter? That I don’t wish the best for her?”

“No. I don’t. If you cared at all you would have stood up for her in there, but you bowed to their arguments the second they spoke.”

“This mission is bigger than all of us. And it’s bigger than her.”

“That’s been your justification since you left us. Humanity is dying in your ambition. It is dying in the Council. If we cannot show compassion and love for our own children, what are we even fighting for?”

“You take that false speaking and you bury it deep! This is no place for your soft-heartedness. We need to save humanity by saving the Chosen Ones. And we do that by stopping this rebellion. By stopping any rebellion. So you had better take control of your thoughts and get back in line with this mission or everything that’s happening here will come to your door as well.”

“You don’t get to threaten me! Your selfishness is everything that led humanity away from its true calling in this universe! And if our Council continues to be led by such heartlessness we will deserve the ending we shall inevitably reap. Go back to your war-council and bury your humanity. I will take myself to the Bridge and await Vesta.”