No Battle Fought

"Today's mission, Commander, is revenge. And may God have mercy on your soul." Even the ordinary sort of war is awful enough- people die, resources are wasted, and the survivors are scarred forever. But when unstoppable force comes up against an indomitable will to resist and the nukes begin to fly, well... Does war have a purpose? Or is it all just a meaningless blood-drenched spasm? When you're outfitted with thermonuclear weapons and you and your squadronmates are giving all you have just to stay alive in the same sky with the enemy, well... Perhaps that's not the best time and place to ask such deep questions. Yet when you're a seventeen-year-old naval officer who doesn't expect to survive another hour, how can you not ask?