The starship explodes under the barrage of my Gatling gun.

Elated, I gaze across the field watching as the burning ship hurtles downward. My men cheer. 

Surely we can win--

"Stand down," crackles through our comlinks.

The private looks at me in surprise before collapsing, a bullet hole splitting his forehead open, showering me with his blood. My finger tightens on the weapon, the screams of the dead are a macabre chorus all around me. We pledged to never surrender.

I pull the trigger.