Wow, just... Wow! Forgot fan fiction, forget science fiction, this has to be one of the best works of fiction I've read in the past few years PERIOD!
They way you have been able to keep raising the stakes without resorting to the usual clichés has been nothing short of remarkable. I'm especially impressed with the scene you just posted about
Europa's recovery teams returning from
Galaxy. I can't help being reminded of the scene in Band of Brothers, where EZ company liberated the nazi concentration camp. The raw emotion of having to experience such cruelty and horror subjected upon people is hard enough to convey in the world of film, but I felt the same chills reading about the aftermath of the attack on
Galaxy as I did watching the concentration camp scene. Kudos!