"You keep saying, 'just a foot soldier' as if it is a bad thing. That was where I started out, all those centuries ago. A foot soldier in a war that had gone on for a thousand years before I was born, for six hundred after I joined it. A war that was frequently so lethal that nobody even bothered to learn your name until you had survived for a year or more, the faces came and went so fast.
"I know what it is to be 'just a foot soldier'. To risk a life of thousands of years for a cause you believe in. To know the fear, the pain, the sorrow, all to be part of the grit in the gears of that big machine. To finally help throw the hydrospanner into those gears, bring the machine to a stop. End the war. Only to have another war, a war for survival of my species, dumped into my lap. To go back to being 'just a foot soldier' to rescue my daughter from that war."
Selene came to the military position of attention and regarded Cloud with the glare of a slightly disapproving officer. "So buck up, Mr. Just A Soldier. A soldier goes where he is told to go and does what he is told to do. If necessary, I will make a pilot out of you. But don't just assume that the generals have a plan, and even if they do, that their plan will survive contact with the enemy. That is why they are called 'the enemy'. Always have a Plan B."
More troubled by the ending of their talk than she could explain, even to herself, Selene threw Cloud an inspections grade salute, pivoted sharply, and stalked back to her ship, pausing only briefly to pick up her empty kaf mug on the way. It was late enough in the morning, time to see if her crew was finally stirring and start talking about fighter operations.