On the third day, a call came from Eirik's grandfather.

"I expected this call sooner," He said as he pressed the button to accept the call. "What took you so long?"

"Bureaucracy, mostly. If you expected this, you should also know what I am about to ask Eirik."

"I do sir. And the answer is a resounding no. I am not re-enlisting and neither is my crew, so you are going to have to find another wonder squad you can throw at any problem you encounter in the war."

"Think of all the lives you can save Eirik-" Began his grandfather, but Eirik cut him off.

"I said no!! And if you enlist my brothers, I will personally abduct them and keep them locked up for their safety during the war. I will not lose any more family for your legacy as a commander!!"

Benny's face contorted with anger on the vidscreen. "Those are harsh and unfair words Eirik! You know I had no choice!!"

"No choice?!? You could have sent the battalion that had been gathered for that exact purpose!!! Instead, you send a commando squad of your own grandsons and then act surprised when most of us get killed!!! Eirik was trying, and failing, to rein in his anger. Years of resentment were spilling over and he had no way to stop it. "You say you are sorry, you say you regret it and you hide behind the oldest of all excuses *I was just following orders*. BULLSHIT!! You wanted to secure your legacy by showcasing your brilliant tactics. And Lasse and I were the ones that had to go back to mom and tell her we were the only ones to come home!! That we could not even retrieve the bodies to give them a proper funeral!!

SO TO HEL WITH YOUR OFFER, TO HEL WITH THE TERRAN GOVERNMENT, AND TO HEL WITH YOU!!"

With each sentence, his grandfather looked like he had received a physical blow to the face. In the end, he looked like a broken man. Endlessly tired and with no reason to continue living." Eirik-" but he never got any further as the connection was cut.

"KNUD!!!" Eirik called out. Within moments, the doctor arrived.

"What, Captain??"

"I need out of this bed, and I need it now! Things are moving too fast for me to take the time to lie here. I need to get moving!"

"But Captain, You are still weak. You need the rest!!"

"No Knud. I need to get things moving for this ship, otherwise, there is a moderate to a good chance we are gonna get drafted for the war, and I am done with military service. I have given enough to the government. If they want me or my crew to work for them, it will be consultant work and it will be at my price and choice!"

"....Very well Captain. Let me get some pills for you to take the edge off the pain." Knud rustled around in a cabinet for a moment before producing a small bottle of pills. "1 every 8 hours for 10 days, and I want you to come by daily for a check-up."

"Understood Knud. Now please, unhook me from these tubes and needles."

20 minutes later Eirik was making his way towards the bridge. He was slow and in pain, but he was up and moving. Now he just needed to actually reach the bridge and he could get things underway.

When he arrived, there were happy cheers and concerned calls, but he waved them off with a smile.

He sat down in his chair and his command staff looked at him for directions. "We set course for My brother's smuggler station. I need to talk to him and since the Kloxna and the Terran government have gone to war, we need to set our plans in motion."

His orders given, Eirik began typing out a message for his brother, detailing his need for information brokers and recruits, finishing the message with his estimated time of arrival being 5 days.

The trip was uneventful and Eirik spent much of the time preparing his crew for the arrival as he expected to pick up people in all departments and they would need training. security procedures were updated, patrol patterns changed, rooms had designation changes to optimize the ship for warfare. Anything that would improve their situation as a lone ship in a war, while keeping the crew occupied.

As they arrived, Eirik went straight for his brother's base of operations within the station.

"BROTHER!!" they both exclaimed as he entered the office and embraced each other.

"I didn't expect you back this soon, what gives?" His brother asked as they both sat down.

"I had a falling out with grandfather. A big one this time. I need you to contact mom and talk to her about why I cannot return to the family until after this war."

His brother looked confused and annoyed as he said "Really Eirik, you are going to run away??"

"This is not running away! This is between me and grandfather!" Eirik jumped to his feet as he defended himself. "Let me walk you through what happened, then, you can judge me!"

1 explanation later and his brother's opinion had changed drastically. "I will talk to mom, but you know she is going to bombard you with messages until you get home, right?"

Eirik nodded, "I know. Eventually, I'm going to reserve some time for family, but it is not right now." Looking thoughtful for a moment, Eirik then said "Eventually, I'm going to give you a call, telling you to inform mom to go to my cabin in Sweden. Only her, father, and our siblings can receive this message and they must all swear not to tell granddad. He would draft me and my crew if he found us. I want your word as my brother that you will do this for me!"

"You have it Eirik, but are you ready to be a deserter?" His brother was looking worriedly at him.

"They cannot charge me as a deserter when I have never been drafted" Eirik winked at his own comment but his brother grew agitated.

"That is getting caught up in semantics Eirik, and you fucking know that!!"

'"True enough, but think about this Lasse. I have given more than anyone currently serving in the Terran armed forces, except maybe granddad. If ANYONE has earned the right to forfeit this war, it should be me. Or rather, our entire family, by default."

This shut his brother up and Eirik hugged him tightly. "I love you brother, but this battle is one I have to fight alone, from start to finish. It's about my core beliefs, and if I do not stay true to them, then who am I?"

Returning the embrace, Lasse replied "Alright little brother. I will not pester you about this anymore."

After a moment they let go of each other and Eirik smiled and said "Now, let's go meet with some information brokers and recruits, shall we?"