Chapter 5: Stress of the Job

The hum of the engines was like a heartbeat—steady, unwavering, the sound of absolute control. He commanded with precision, his orders clipped and clear, each word cutting through the air as his warship tore through space, closing in on a world. A world covered entirely by cities, sprawling like veins across the planet's surface.

Kia could see it—see the cityscapes, the shimmering towers, the endless labyrinths of life below. He could almost feel the pulse of the millions of souls living their lives, oblivious to the fate that was about to befall them.

His hands hovered over the controls, and he ordered the launch of a devastating salvo. The warship's weapons fired with devastating precision. Explosions bloomed across the planet's surface, cities crumbling like sandcastles under a tide of destruction. A cold shiver ran down his spine as the planet erupted, fire and ash rising into the sky.

But then something strange happened. Faces flashed through his mind; the faces of the people he'd just annihilated people whose lives he had taken without a second thought. He saw children, their innocent faces twisted with fear as the ground shook beneath them. Parents screaming for their children. Soldiers, once loyal to their own cause, now broken and lost.

Each face lingered in his mind, like an imprint he couldn't shake off. A weight pressing down on him, suffocating him. Their eyes were wide, pleading, demanding an answer that Kia couldn't give. He wanted to look away, to stop the destruction, but his hands remained frozen at the helm, unable to relinquish their grip on the course he had set.

A distant voice echoed through the void, a voice that was both foreign and familiar, saying only one thing: "What have you become?"

Kia tried to respond, but no words came. The sound of the crumbling world below drowned out everything else. His heartbeat raced, his breath quickened, and then—suddenly—everything went black.

The alarm screamed, piercing the silence of his quarters, dragging him from the nightmare with a violent start. His body jerked upright, heart pounding in his chest. Sweat clung to his skin as his mind struggled to make sense of the dream. His breath came in shallow gasps, the echo of those faces still lingering in his mind.

Kia blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the feeling that something had shifted within him—something that shouldn't have been there. He reached for the alarm, silencing it, but the coldness remained. The sensation that his dream had been a warning, a premonition. But a warning of what?

Pushing the thoughts aside, Kia forced himself out of bed, running his hands through his disheveled hair. The sharp edges of reality slowly pulled him back. He was aboard the Destiny now, not commanding some vast warship in a distant dream. The weight of his position in the Union was real, not imagined. The faces in his dream were just that—dreams. But they felt so real.

The mess hall was bustling with the usual energy of early morning routines. The clatter of trays, the soft murmur of voices, and the hum of machinery filled the air. It was strange how normal things felt despite everything. Despite the war, despite their roles aboard this massive ship. They were just soldiers trying to survive. For now, at least.

Kia, still carrying the faint remnants of his dream's unease, walked in behind Elias, who was already chatting with Sam and Ally at one of the tables. His usual grin was gone, replaced by a more subdued look—one that suggested something was on his mind.

Elias looked over his shoulder, flashing a smile. "About time you showed up. I thought you were going to sleep through breakfast." He turned back to Sam, who raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah," Kia grumbled, sinking into a seat beside Elias. "I was having a crazy dream and almost slept through my alarm."

"Dreams, huh?" Ally chimed in, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. Her smile was playful, but there was something sharp in her gaze that made Kia wary. "What, you dreamt about being in your first battle or something? The enemy crushing the fleet beneath their boots?"

Kia shot her a look, but his lips twitched. "Not exactly." He didn't tell them about the faces—the faces that haunted him. Not yet. There was no reason to worry them over something so trivial. Besides, he'd probably just get a chuckle out of it if he did.

Elias leaned closer, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "He's probably imagining himself the captain of a warship, blasting planets to dust. You know, the usual fantasy stuff." He flashed Kia a grin, clearly poking fun at his discomfort.

Before Kia could respond, a sharp voice interrupted their exchange.

"Watch where you're sitting."

A man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stood by their table, his stance rigid, his eyes narrowed. His uniform was pressed perfectly, but it was the sneer on his face that drew the attention of the group. He was tall, with dark eyes that flicked over each of them with open disdain.

"Well, sorry," Elias said with exaggerated innocence, raising his hands in mock surrender. "We didn't realize we were sitting in your spot."

The man's lip curled. "I don't take kindly to people who think they can just sit wherever they please. You're new, right?"

Ally stiffened, her eyes flashing as she stood to face the man. "What's the problem, Dax? You trying to start something over breakfast?"

The man—Dax, apparently—sized her up before sneering again. "I'm just making sure you don't forget who runs things around here."

"Yeah, we'll remember," Sam muttered, his voice low but firm. He stood up, facing Dax, his posture rigid. "But if you think you're going to throw your weight around here, you're going to find out pretty quick that we don't take kindly to that kind of thing."

For a moment, the air thickened, ready to snap. The tension between Dax and Sam was more than just this moment—it was years of rivalry, of resentment.

Dax had been the top of their starfighter class, but only barely. Sam had been right behind him, despite coming from nothing—a nobody with no connections, no fancy tutors, no years of private training in sleek, state-of-the-art flight simulators like Dax had enjoyed since childhood. Dax's family had wealth, prestige. Sam had raw talent. And that infuriated Dax more than anything.

Dax's sneer deepened. "Don't pretend you're on my level, Sam. We both know why you even made it this far. Pure luck. No refinement, no discipline—just a street rat who got a break."

Sam didn't flinch. "Yeah? Funny, because I don't remember your family name being on the flight scores. Just you. And you barely stayed ahead of me.

"Dax's jaw tightened. "That's because I worked for it."

Sam tilted his head. "And I didn't?"

Kia, still seated, watched them closely, every muscle in his body coiled in case this turned ugly. He could see the fire in Sam's eyes, the arrogance in Dax's stance. If this wasn't settled now, it was only a matter of time before things escalated.

Just as Dax opened his mouth, Elias clapped his hands together loudly, breaking the silence. "Alright, alright. Let's all calm down," he said, a wry smile playing at his lips. "We're all here for the same reason, right? To make this ship run smoothly?"

Dax glared at him, then back at Sam, as if considering whether it was worth pushing further. After a tense beat, he huffed, straightened his jacket, and took a step back.

"This isn't over," he muttered before turning on his heel and stalking off.

As soon as he was gone, the four of them exhaled collectively. Ally shook her head. "That guy's got a serious ego problem."

Sam rolled his shoulders, still watching the door Dax had disappeared through. "He's used to being the best. Can't handle the idea that someone else might just be better."

"Yeah, well," Elias said with a chuckle, "I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of his tantrums."

Kia finally relaxed, though something told him this was far from settled. Dax wasn't the type to let things go. And Sam wasn't the type to back down.

Elias let out a chuckle, grabbing his tray. "That was fun, huh? Nothing like a little morning drama to get the blood pumping."

Kia couldn't help but laugh, the tension from the dream slowly melting away. It had been a strange encounter, but Elias's ability to defuse the situation with humor made everything feel lighter.

They sat down and dug into their breakfast, the conversation shifting to more trivial matters. The kind of banter that helped them forget, if only for a little while, the weight of their roles aboard the Destiny.