Uncle Augustus, I received your reply.
That was a long time ago. I recovered from my illness ages ago, and apart from losing a few pounds, I suffered no real loss.
I'm doing well now.
Ironically, after the battle at Innisfree ended, I was promoted again and formally took command of the 101st Marine Battalion, even though the promotion board that approved my appointment had learned the details of that battle before I did. My new adjutant is a Kel-Morian named Ulrik, formerly a diplomat for the Kel-Morian Combine. Ever since we effectively took control of Moria, he has been "unemployed" and could only try his luck on Tarsonis.
The promotion came too quickly—far more quickly than I had expected. As far as I know, among the Sterling Officer Academy graduates from my class, only Ister Foss holds a rank above mine.
Ister was my best friend at the academy. I was happy for him, but also somewhat jealous.
Because Ister had entered combat before I did and even took part in the Second Battle of Aiur, while I could only shuttle between sectors far from the front, dealing with small splinter broods of the broken Swarm, insignificant space pirates, and drunken mercenaries.
Sometimes we even had to act as police, mediating armed disputes, gang brawls, and even family conflicts among the residents of our postings. If we happened to be at an agricultural settlement during a tense period, we also had to help farmers bring in their harvest and protect the croplands.
It wasn't quite the war I had imagined. War was hell, and the battlefield was a meat grinder.
I was certainly not as brave as I had believed, nor was I unafraid of death. But I was even more afraid of accomplishing nothing despite being a Mengsk.