Mech 3

by Isaac Hooke

  “I prefer not to think of it as shit,” Fret said, raising his nose haughtily. “But feces.” He tossed the towelette back at Bender.

  “I think of it as feces,” Bender repeated in a high-pitched voice that mimicked Fret. “Feces, not shit. Because I’m so high class.”

  Manic laughed. “Ah, Bender, it’s good to have your hyper-self back.”

  “Yeah, uh, thanks bro,” Bender said. “As for me, well, I can’t say it’s good to be back, especially considering I have to look at your ugly face all day again.”

  Manic bowed his head. “Thank you.” He glanced at Rade. “So. This Corporal Jiang is going back to the Sino Koreans? Or is she defecting to our side?”

  Rade had left out the part about himself and Jiang being lovers. Pyro, Bender and Tahoe hadn’t said a word about that, nor would they. Rade had told Scotts during his debriefing, but that was only because the lieutenant commander would have found out anyway when he reviewed the recordings from Rade’s Implant. But Scotts hadn’t commented on it—Rade was essentially considered off duty from the moment he left the galaxy, and what he did in his off time was his concern.

  Still, Rade had no doubt that the platoon members had their suspicions. Not that he specifically had slept with anyone, but that at least one of the four MOTHs had hooked up with the women. The platoon members could put two and two together quite easily: confine four thirsty men and two prime members of the opposite sex on a faraway world, and sparks were bound to fly.

  “I doubt she’ll defect,” Rade said. “She’s far too loyal for that, as far as I can tell. No, she’s going back.”

  “So, what was it like having those two Sino Koreans with you all that time anyway?” Kicker said. “Did they talk much, or keep mostly to themselves?”

  “They talked,” Rade said. “We bonded with them. They’re soldiers not so different than ourselves. Good soldiers.”

  “Did they let slip any Sino Korean secrets in your presence?” Kicker said.

  “No,” Rade told him, somewhat coldly. Hopefully, his tone would give Kicker the hint that this topic was off limits.

  Apparently not, because Kicker continued: “Did any of you do the nasty with them?”

  Bender snapped.

  He stood up and stalked to Kicker, getting in his face: “Wanna do the nasty, bitch? I’ll show you the nasty.” His hand slammed around Kicker’s throat and tightened.

  Rade stood. “That’s enough, Bender.”

  But Bender squeezed all the harder. Kicker’s face turned a beet red as he clawed helplessly at Bender’s grip.

  Rade stood up and looped a hand beneath Bender’s right underarm. Tahoe did the same on the opposite side. “Stand down, petty officer!”

  They tried to pull Bender off Kicker, but the man still wouldn’t let go.

  Kicker slammed his knee upward into Bender’s crotch. Repeatedly. Frantically. But he must have been missing, hitting the side of Bender’s leg, because the bigger man didn’t respond.

  But finally, the blows began to register, and Bender released him. Rade and Tahoe hauled Bender backward.

  Kicker gasped for breath.

  Bender was rasping, too, as if he had run a marathon. His eyes still seemed glazed over by rage.

  “Bender, get a hold of yourself,” Rade said.

  Skullcracker stood up. He went to Bender. Tears glistened off the skull tattooed to his face. He gave Bender a hug, saying nothing.

  That brought Bender back. When Skullcracker released him, Bender’s eyes had returned to normal. He wiped away his own tears.

  Bender looked at the floor in shame. “Kicker, I’m sorry bro.”

  Kicker didn’t answer; he was still heaving.

  “I think… I think I’ll go back to the berthing area,” Bender said.

  “I’ll go with you,” Rade told him.

  Tahoe gave Rade a look, as if to ask, “Should I come too?” But Rade shook his head.

  And so, a moment later Rade was escorting Bender alone through the halls of the super carrier. Other passing crew members took one look at their grim faces and gave the big special operators a wide berth.

  Before Rade could say anything to Bender, Scotts tapped in.

  “The starship’s AI tells me you’re having problems controlling your team,” Scotts sent.

  “Are you referring to what just happened in the mess hall?” Rade asked.

  “Good guess,” Scotts replied.

  “Oh, well, you know, they were just getting up to their usual shenanigans,” Rade reassured him. “We are MOTHs. We have a lot of excess testosterone flowing through our veins. When we’re not in battle, we have to vent it somewhere. Usually on each other. You know how it is.”

  Scotts hesitated. Then: “I suppose so. But do let me know if you need a hand. You four have been through a lot. I can understand if some of you are starting to crack. If it means sidelining a few people so they can recover, then I have no problem doing so.”

  “I don’t think that’s the solution,” Rade told him. “It could make things worse, actually. Like I said, when we’re not in battle, we have to vent somewhere.”

  “All right, I trust your judgment on this,” the lieutenant commander said. “Scotts out.”

  “That the LC?” Bender asked.

  “Yep,” Rade replied.

  Bender grunted.

  “You have to hang in there,” Rade said. “I know it’s hard, but—”

  “You don’t know shit!” Bender said. Then he lowered his voice. “Sorry, Chief. I… I’m not myself. Sounded like the LC wanted to ground me when he was talking to you just now, judging from your responses. That might not be a bad idea.”

  “If that’s what you want, I’ll do it,” Rade said.

  “No,” Bender said. “Yes. I don’t know.”

  Rade walked on in silence.

  “She was… irreplaceable,” Bender said.

  “Yes,” Rade said. That was all he could say to that. He knew the feeling well.

  “I just wish… it had been me, rather than her,” Bender said. “She deserved to live.”

  “So do you, Bender,” Rade said.

  “Yeah, but… I’m not strong enough for this,” Bender said. “I passed MOTH training. I’ve fought in hundreds of battles since. This doesn’t make sense. I’m supposed to be able to handle anything. Anything! I was willing to die during training. And during every battle I fought. Hell, I half expect to die every time we’re deployed. But having someone else die… someone close… it’s just not… it’s…”

  Bender closed his eyes. Then he turned to the nearby bulkhead and slammed his fist against it, forming a dent. He gritted his teeth at the emotional—and no doubt physical—pain.

  “That’s the problem with our training,” Rade said. “And the battles we fight. They cause us to bond. We don’t want to let our team members down, no matter what happens. We’re willing to die for them. But because of that bond, when they die instead, we feel the full force of the blow. It’s even more difficult for you, my friend, given how close you and her became.”

  “Frick man, I was going to marry her,” Bender sniveled.

  Rade bowed his head. There was nothing he could say or do to help his friend. Not now.

  He straightened suddenly and wiped away the tears with one hand. “Well, Chief, I want to apologize for what I did in the mess hall. And for my little outburst here. Very unprofessional behavior on my part.”

  “Apology accepted,” Rade said. “Your behavior is completely understandable, given the circumstances.”

  “Tell the AI to dock my pay to repair that.” Bender nodded at the dent in the bulkhead, and then started walking down the hall in the opposite direction.

  “I thought you wanted to return to the berthing area?” Rade called after him.

  “I need to go to sick bay,” Bender returned sheepishly. “Broke my hand.”

  Rade made his way to the VIP area. A robot man-at-arms stood guard outside her quarters. It nodded when R
ade approached.

  “Evening, Chief!” the robot said cheerily.

  Rade nodded, entering the compartment beyond.

  He stood in a roomy dining area. Jiang was at the table, eating a meal of turkey and steak.

  “Well now, this is a state room,” Rade said in mock awe.

  “That’s right, pretend you’ve never seen one,” Jiang said in Korean-Chinese. His Implant translated the words.

  She beckoned toward the vacant seat next to her. Rade took it.

  She cut off a piece of steak. “Want some?”

  “I just ate,” Rade said. “Though, I admit this is ten times better than what I just had. Turkey, and steak too? You’re living large.”

  She shrugged. “The Butler asked what I wanted to eat. I said turkey and steak. The robot made it. Downloaded a culinary program just for me. Or so it said.”

  He watched her eat for a moment. “I couldn’t help but notice the guard.”

  Jiang nodded. “I noticed it, too.”

  “They’re not letting you leave your quarters?” Rade asked.

  “No, I’m allowed,” she replied. “But the MA outside will follow me around. It’s trying to tell me it’s for my own protection, but we all know better. Can’t have a rogue Sino Korean wandering the halls of a starship alone, right? Who knows what technology she’ll try to rip off?”

  “Even though we’ve temporarily allied against this common threat, we still don’t really trust each other, do we?” Rade said.

  “Our governments don’t, anyway,” Jiang agreed.

  She finished her plate, and then wiped her lips with a napkin before taking a long sip of water. She caught him looking at her, and smiled shyly.

  He sent her a mental transmission, via his Implant.

  “I’d kiss you, but we’d have to ‘dim the lights’ first,” Rade sent.

  “Please do,” she replied.

  Earlier, he’d had TJ locate the cameras in that room, and Rade set about blocking them with the gum he’d brought along. Most of the lenses appeared as pinpricks in the bulkheads and ceiling, and were easy to cover. When that was done, he accessed the remote interface to the lights, and lowered them for atmosphere.

  Then he sat back down next to her, and disabled recording in his Implant. He activated the noise canceler that was built into the table—all VIP rooms came standard with such devices embedded in their dining room tables, according to TJ.

  “Come here,” Rade said.

  She got up and sat in his lap. Then he kissed her on the lips.

  Something seemed off. Rade kept the kiss going for a few moments, but then pulled away. Jiang looked down at her hands.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I guess I’m just not in the mood. When you kissed me, I was thinking about how you were hugging your platoon mates earlier, as soon as you got back. It makes me feel so sad… it’s a reunion I’ll never have.”

  Rade let her get up out of his lap, and she sat back in her seat once more.

  What he hadn’t told her was that he wasn’t in the mood either, not really. And he had to wonder if the coldness he had sensed from her was merely a reflection of his own feelings, deep inside. In his experience, women could be very sensitive to such things.

  He reenabled Implant recording and deactivated the noise canceler. He would let her remove the gum from the camera lenses when she saw fit.

  He raised the light levels. “Well, the LC tells me the Brass is going to send in my platoon to fight the Subversions. We’ll get the alien weaponry.”

  “Can I come?” Jiang asked over a mental channel.

  Rade hesitated.

  “I don’t have a platoon anymore,” she pressed over the same mind comm. “If I return to my fleet, I’ll be assigned to processing for a few weeks and I’ll miss the attack entirely. Please, can I join your platoon, if only for this one mission?”

  “After what happened to Chow, I’m reluctant to bring you,” he said, answering mentally via his Implant.

  “What we have here is only temporary anyway,” Jiang said. “This life. This relationship. The latter probably won’t last the war. You realize this, don’t you?”

  Rade nodded sadly. “Earlier, I was talking to Tahoe… Cyclone, about this. I’m used to relationships not working out, due to my chosen career.”

  “Good,” Jiang said. “So let me come with you. As a soldier, I want to fight.”

  “Can you pilot a mech?” Rade asked.

  “I’m certified in Advanced Mech Warfare, Level Three,” Jiang said.

  “That certainly qualifies you.” Rade hesitated a moment longer. Then: “I’ll have to ask my LC…”

  He tapped in the lieutenant commander and told him Jiang’s ask.

  “This is a highly unusual request,” Scotts said. “But these are highly unusual times. I doubt the Brass will approve it. But I can ask. They’ll have to clear it with her military as well. I do have one question: the relationship you two had on that planet—”

  “Is over,” Rade said.

  “You’re sure?” Scotts said. “Because I wouldn’t want what you had going on down there to interfere with your duty.”

  “I’m sure,” Rade said. “Ask the AI. I haven’t touched her since coming aboard.”

  Scotts paused. “The AI tells me you’ve blocked out all the cameras in her quarters…”

  “Yes, but we’ve been transmitting our positions all this time,” Rade said.

  “Apparently, you were in close proximity only for a few seconds,” Scotts said. “Long enough for a kiss between friends, but not for anything more.”

  “There you go,” Rade said.

  “All right,” Scotts said. “I’ll let you know what the Brass decide before launch.”

  Scotts disconnected.

  Rade stood, and gave Jiang a kiss on the forehead.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He nodded, and then left.

  As he walked back, he instinctively checked his messages. When he had first returned, he was disappointed to find no messages from Shaw waiting in his inbox. He assumed it was because she hadn’t heard about his absence, which was probably for the best.

  He’d sent her an update on everything that had happened, and he couldn’t help himself from checking for a response every few hours. If she was deployed with the fleet in the current system, she would have received his dispatch immediately. But if not, it would take a few days to hear back from her. By then, he’d be done with his latest mission. He’d either be alive, or dead.

  But he’d be done.

  He was certainly looking forward to that.

  He’d only just lain down on his bunk for a quick rest when he received a comm request from Scotts. He accepted.

  “So, here’s the deal,” Scotts said. “In the interests of furthering Sino Korean and United Systems relations, the Brass has agreed to allow Corporal Yuan Jiang to participate, as long as the Sino Koreans provide their own mech. The Sino Koreans have agreed to this, of course, since it suits their narrative… their state media is going to spin it, no doubt: ‘Brave Party soldier leads United Systems platoon against aliens and saves the day,’ or some such nonsense. But if that’s what the Brass wants, then that’s what the Brass gets. However, they were clear on one point: if her mech doesn’t get here in time for the launch, she’s not going.”

  “Maybe they’ll purposely delay any incoming mech,” Rade said. “Dragging out the clearance process.”

  “No, I think they’ll let it through,” the lieutenant commander said. “I’d assume, if I were you, that I’d have an extra member on the platoon. Anyway, gather the platoon. It’s time for the briefing. Corporal Jiang may attend virtually.”

  Rade sighed, getting up. “Yes, sir.” He disconnected.

  No rest for the weary.

  25

  Rade stood in the hangar bay, suited up and inside the cockpit of Valjean. The other members of the platoon were similarly geared up, and piloting their mechs. Jiang was here, too: a Sino Ko
rean Dushe model had arrived half an hour earlier. It had a similar load-out to a Falcon mech, with a 5-way in one arm and a stingray in the other. This was by design, apparently: the Brass wouldn’t allow the Sino Koreans to use any other weapons, their way of reminding the SKs that this was their operation.

  Tahoe piloted a spare Falcon, which replaced the one he had lost during the last mission. And Valjean had his exterior skin repaired so that Rade would finally be able to utilize environment blending again.

  The Brass elected not to install the Grid weapons on every mech, instead opting to fit them to only half the platoon. The other half would rely on the Grid weapons of the remaining members to disable their targets, and when that was done, they’d follow up with conventional attacks. It would be easy to keep track of which Subversions had been disabled thanks to the tracking mechanisms aboard the Falcons. Because Jiang’s mech arrived later, hers was one of those that was not fitted with the alien weaponry.

  The Brass did allow the vibration generators to be installed on every mech, however, including Jiang’s: protection against Subversion physical attacks was deemed a priority. A few of the mechs also carried foam bombs attached to their torsos, which they could use to encase any aliens they caught off guard, or to block off routes as necessary.

  Scotts had detailed their mission during the earlier briefing, but he summarized it now in the hangar bay.

  His virtual hologram stood before them: “You’ll push the Subversion force out of the city and make your way into the alien vessel. Your primary objective is to destroy the AI core. Your secondary objective is to hunt down and destroy every last Subversion. In the meantime, the orbital fleets will do their best to prevent the starship from leaving the planet.”

  “And if it does leave?” Bomb asked.

  “Then hopefully you don’t end up in another galaxy,” Scotts replied. Rade couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “I’d wish you good luck, Alpha, but I know none of you believe in luck! So good hunting, instead!”

  With that he disappeared, and the hangar bay doors swiveled open behind Rade.

  He turned Valjean around, and waited as the others space-jumped in turn. When his number flashed on the HUD, he dashed forward and leaped outside.