Soldier of the Legion sotl-1

by Marshall S. Thomas

  He paused, and looked up. “Our mission is to recon Andrion 3, discover and identify all enemy units and their capabilities in the Andrion System, and report back. We are also going to penetrate their starport-if we can-and exploit it. In practical terms-since we’re dealing with the Omnis-this means we will be engaging in combat all enemy units we discover. Not to mention those that discover us first. This is the only way to learn about their capabilities. And you can bet your next watch that they’re not going to hide from us this time. Especially after we antimat their base.”

  The Second appeared proud, head up, supremely confident. “For those of you who do not yet understand, I’ll make it clear. Our mission is to die, for the Legion. And we’re going to accomplish this mission, in the tradition of the Black 12th, in exemplary fashion. I am proud to be serving with every one of you. The CAT team leaders will now brief their units.”

  With the briefings over, we filed out of the room, numb and dizzy. I found myself next to Warhound, in the corridor.

  “You know,” Warhound reflected, “I just realized. Cubes didn’t say if we were at war with the System or not.”

  “He probably didn’t think it was important.”

  “He didn’t think a galactic war was important?”

  “Right. What’s important is that we’re at war with the O’s, again. The rest is all nonsense. It’s just trivia.”

  “Trivia. A galactic war.”

  “Right. Trivia. What’s important is whether or not humanity survives. That’s what’s at stake with the O’s. If we survive the O’s, we can resume our silly little squabbles with the Systies.”

  “Yeah? Well, Cubes didn’t sound too confident we were going to survive.”

  “Maybe that’s why he wasn’t worried about a galactic war with the Systies. Let’s hit the lounge.”

  ###

  I tapped at Priestess’s door. It slid open. She was lovely, innocent big brown eyes and a small, vulnerable mouth and fresh, gleaming silky black hair. She wore loose camfax fatigues, a souvenir from Planet Hell.

  “Thinker here.”

  “Hello, Thinker.” She smiled, faintly. “You’re always so formal. Take five, Trooper.”

  “Tenners, Priestess. Actually, I was hoping for a little medical care.” I closed the door behind me and unfolded a chair from the bulkhead. She sat opposite me on the bunk. The cube was so small we almost touched.

  “How are your hands? Can I do anything?”

  “It’s not my hands. It’s my heart. I’m lovesick. It’s serious…maybe critical.”

  “A common ailment, Trooper. I think we can fix you up.”

  “What is that weird smell?”

  Another faint smile. “I’m cooking some Korkush flanpies. For you and me.” She took my hands, and looked into my eyes. “We can pretend we’re back in Korkush.”

  “But I’ve never been on Korkush.” Korkush was Priestess’s home planet, a Legion world.

  “Yes…I know. But we can pretend. It’s a beautiful place. It’s so peaceful. If you get up early, you can see the mist rolling in from the forests. There’s no pollution at all. I used to get up before sunrise, and go out into the fields and look up at the stars, clear and cold and lovely…billions of stars, glittering in the silence. Sometimes there would be a meteor shower. My skin would crawl, it was so beautiful.”

  Strange, I thought, how she always tries to make a home. Even in her little cube on the Spawn, she had put a miniature Legion cross on one wall, and a solid of her bioparents in the corner. Light, emotionless music played in the background.

  “You still listening to that stuff, Priestess?”

  “I listen to your music, too, Thinker. The stars. It’s kind of lonely, and scary. But it grows on you. I see why you like it.”

  “I brought you something,” I said.

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  I handed her a small package, the size of a minicard, wrapped in bright plastic. She opened it slowly and found a miniature certificate, topped with the Legion cross. She read the text. “Where did you get this?” she asked.

  “I reserved it-for us. For you.” The certificate guaranteed that our names would be together, on the Legion Monument to the Dead. Side by side, forever, upon our deaths.

  “You did this for me?”

  “Yes. Don’t you like it? It means…”

  “I know what it means. You’re saying we’ll be together forever.” She was blinking back the tears.

  “Yes.”

  “Hold me.” We embraced, cheek to cheek. “Oh, no!” She pulled away from me.

  “What?”

  “The flanpie! I’m overcooking it!” She lunged for the cooker and popped it open. A rich odor filled the cube. “Oh, no! It’s burnt! I’m such an earther!” She pulled out two steaming cookpacks.

  “It looks all right to me,” I ventured.

  “No, no. It has to be just right. Oh, this is awful!” She dabbed at her eyes with one hand and peeled back the foil with the other. “I’m sorry, Thinker. I wanted this to be perfect.”

  “It is perfect, Priestess.”

  “No it isn’t…it’s overdone!”

  “It’s perfect, Priestess. Perfect! It doesn’t matter if it’s overdone or not. Did you make this for me?”

  “Yes. Yes, for you.”

  “Then it’s perfect, Priestess. Now open the wine.”

  We drank Veltros wine and ate Korkush flanpie on a little table that folded down from the wall. The flanpie was not so bad. I don’t really like Korkush food, but I knew Priestess liked it.

  “Those are the last two flanpies I had. Is it good?”

  “It’s wonderful, Priestess.”

  “Not too burnt?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “I was saving them for a special occasion. I know I’ll never taste Korkush food again.”

  “Well, you can never tell.”

  “You know I never will. It’s a shame. It was a wonderful world.”

  “Perhaps you shouldn’t have left.”

  “Then I’d not have met you. No, I have no regrets. Thanks for the certificate, Thinker. Do you think we’re all going to die?”

  I took another sip of wine. Veltros wine is vastly under-rated. I really thought it the best I’d ever tasted.

  “Priestess, I think whatever happens is going to happen to both of us. We’ll be together, no matter what.”

  “Do you believe in life after death?”

  “I don’t know, Priestess…I don’t know.”

  “Do you believe in God? Do you think Deadman is really watching over us?”

  “I believe in love. Give me your hands.”

  Hand in hand, I could feel her soul. I closed my eyes, and waves of love overwhelmed me. It felt as if we were one person. I opened my eyes.

  “Do you feel it, Priestess?”

  “Yes. It’s like…something magnetic.”

  “It’s love. I didn’t used to believe in it.”

  “Is it God?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t used to believe in Him, either.”

  “Is He real? Will He protect the Legion?”

  “I don’t know if His Area of Responsibility includes the Legion. But I think He’s real. Can’t you feel Him? He’s right here, right in this cube. He’s all around us. I think we make Him ourselves. I think He’s a God of Love. That’s what He is. A God of Love. And if we love each other, He’ll be with us, always.”

  “I’ll never stop loving you, Thinker. It’s a shame we have to fight the Omnis. I wanted to live with you somewhere, like Korkush, and have your baby. Do you remember that baby on Coldmark?”

  “You changed his life, Priestess.”

  “I’d like to have a baby like that. Your baby.”

  “I’m not sure the Legion would approve.”

  “No, I suppose not…but I can dream.”

  I pulled her to me. Sweet silky hair, her warm body close to mine.

  “Dream on, Priestess. I promise I’ll be bes
ide you, whatever happens. I’ll be there.”

  “I love you, Thinker.”

  “I love you, Priestess. Forever.”

  Andrion 3, I thought. Every frac brought us closer to Andrion 3. I knew what a hellhole it was. And that’s where we were bound. The mission wasn’t complex. We were going to kill the O’s, or the O’s were going to kill us. But there was one big problem-nobody had ever killed an O before. Your mission is to die for the Legion, the Second had said. Well, that wasn’t my plan. My plan was survival. I wanted to get through this, with Priestess, and live with her forever. I squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

  I prayed to Deadman. What else could I do? I knew there was no turning back.

  GLOSSARIES

  Veltros Training Command – Basic – Intro – Science.

  Date: 312 CGS – TRAINING USE ONLY – COPY 401

  Unit 6 – Legion Science Definitions

  You will familiarize yourself immediately with the following basic science definitions. Those of you with future need to know will be familiarized in detail with appropriate subjects.

  Antimat drive -

  1. The antimatter annihilation propulsion system that powers most current spacecraft.

  2. The stargate technology that creates a traversable wormhole in spacetime, enlarging a quantum wormhole to bridge two distant points in spacetime, manipulating quantum effects and antimat power to hold the artificial wormhole open with negative pressure for the duration of the sub-lightspeed flight through hyperspace. Antimat propulsion is a proven, reliable method of starship propulsion and artificial wormholes have opened up the galaxy to the human species.

  Artificial Wormhole – The artificial rotating wormhole, enlarged from a natural quantum wormhole and manipulated with quantum effects and antimat power to form a controlled dimensional vortex through hyperspace, held open with negative pressure, and connecting two distant points in spacetime. See Antimat Drive.

  Biogen – An artificial human, generated from human genetics but normally grown on a metal or fiberite framework. Biogens are sentient beings but are carefully programmed to function as required. The latest fiberite models are not easily distinguishable from humans.

  Cloaking – Visual and electromagnetic camouflage for small starships and other small craft that renders the cloaked ship invisible to enemy forces. This Legion technology is COSMIC SECRET.

  EnviroSim Room, E-Sim Room, ES Room – An artificial but realistic holo-generated simulated training environment useful in familiarizing Legion troopers with new or unfamiliar targets. ES Rooms project the new environment visually around the trooper who moves within a changing holo sphere while responding to a series of challenging pre-programmed developments.

  Eyemote – A subminiature recon probe the size of a dust mote that provides realtime audio and video images of a target environment. Eyemotes are virtually undetectable, although they can be destroyed by routine air filtration.

  Holcard – A holo card that generates a holographic light projection of a still image when activated.

  Holo -

  1. A still holographic image, either a solid or a light image.

  2. A moving holographic image of a subject or an environment transmitted from within an ES Room equipped with two-way imaging.

  Hyperspace – The alternate dimension, which we use as a bridge to travel to distant points in our universe through artificial wormholes. Although we penetrate this dimension with our wormholes, we do not enter it. It still appears physically impossible for anything from our universe to actually enter this dimension.

  Iomags – A powerful artificial magnetic field used to accelerate promat to generate an iomag shield, a fail-safe containment chamber for antimatter generation and storage. See promat.

  Natural Dimensional Stargate, Natural Dimensional Vortex – Unstable areas of spacetime that are heavily influenced by the presence of nearby adjacent universes. Stardrive initiation is forbidden in these areas because of the danger of destruction of the ship or of exiting into the adjacent universe and the inability to return. Antimat drive starships are capable of penetrating adjacent universes by accident but no ship has ever returned from such a disaster.

  Promat – An artificial elementary particle created by ConFree with properties useful in antimatter generation/containment systems.

  Psycher – Mentally gifted persons, normally female, generally capable of telepathy, who are brought to their full potential to serve the state.

  Solcard – A holo card that generates a solid holographic projection.

  Solid – A solidified holographic projection generated by a solcard, generally permanent or decorative.

  Universe, U – Our Universe, designation U1, is one of many universes. An ever-changing network of quantum wormholes in spacetime connects our universe with a multitude of other universes. Many other universes are not directly connected to ours. D-neg, a source of negative pressure that fills the adjacent universe Plane Prime, is not present in U1 but it is D-neg’s influence that has created the dark energy that expands our own universe.

  Veltros Training Command – Basic – Intro – Weapons.

  Date: 312 CGS TRAINING USE ONLY – COPY 401

  Unit 9 – Fleetcom, Legion, DefCorps, amp; Omni Weapons

  You will familiarize yourself immediately with the following descriptions of Fleetcom, Legion, DefCorps, and Omni weaponry. Assuming you pass the classroom phase, you will qualify with all the Legion and DefCorps infantry weapons listed below, and you will be familiarized with the Omni and Fleetcom weapons systems as well.

  FLEETCOM WEAPON SYSTEMS

  Fleetcom is a formidable galactic force that guarantees stellar superiority for ConFree and the Legion. Without Fleetcom the Legion could not survive. After certification you will be briefed in detail on the following major Fleetcom weapons systems. For now, memorize the following descriptions, and respect your Fleetcom colleagues. There is an endless list of “vacheads” on the Legion Monument to the Dead.

  Antimat Weaponry – Fleetcom starships are equipped with ship/ship and ship/planet strategic antimat strike weapons. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC SECRET.

  Battlestar, Expeditionary (BE) – Fleetcom battlestars are sectoral superiority starships fully equipped to seize strategic control of an entire star sector. Each Battlestar provides pods for four Fleetcom attack cruisers with their own full complements of fighters and attack craft. In addition, the battlestar has its own organic squadrons of tacships, a fighter force, interceptors, assault carriers (aircar), assault shuttles, cargo shuttles, a captain’s yacht, and unlimited deceptors. Expeditionary battlestars are equipped to carry regimental-sized Legion units.

  Chainlink Skysweep – This air superiority and battlefield superiority artillery weapon is normally mounted in Legion fighters and fires tacstars and opstars.

  Cruiser, Star (CS) – A Fleetcom cruiser is a star system superiority starship designed to seize operational control of an entire star system and all planets. A Fleetcom cruiser is equipped with a squadron of Fleetcom fighters, assault carriers (aircar), assault shuttles and a specialized complement of Legion troopers.

  Deathstar – Fleetcom starships are equipped with the Deathstar defensive weapon. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC

  SECRET.

  Deceptors, Stellar – These drone targets mimic the characteristics of friendly spacecraft and are designed to draw fire away from legitimate targets. Used by ConFree and System forces.

  Fighters (FF) – Fleetcom fighters are spacecraft designed to seize air and near vac superiority over a target world, or to assure near vac superiority in their starship’s zone of defense. Fighters assigned to a starship are expected to sacrifice themselves when necessary to save the ship.

  Inboard 4S – Fleetcom starships are equipped with the inboard space superiority sector sensors system. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC SECRET.

  Interceptor, Star (IS) – Fleetcom long-range int
erceptor starships are designed to intercept and neutralize intruding enemy starcraft in far space.

  Opstar – The opstar is a mini-nuke designed to clear a battlefield rapidly of enemy forces.

  Plasma SS Autoscan M4 – Fleetcom starships are equipped with the strategic plasma autoscan M4 weapon. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC SECRET.

  Shields – Fleetcom starships are equipped with electromagnetic shielding designed to deflect enemy attacks. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC SECRET.

  Shuttle – A shuttle is any spacecraft designed to ferry personnel or cargo between orbit and downside.

  StratLaser O/D Systems – Fleetcom starships are equipped with strategic laser offensive/defensive systems. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC SECRET.

  Stratstar – The stratstar is a strategic nuclear strike delivered by missile. Fleetcom starships are equipped with ship/ship and ship/planet stratstar missiles. All capabilities and details are classified COSMIC SECRET.

  Tacship, Star (TS) – A tacship is a special-mission starship often used to deploy Legion recon units or other special mission units. It is fully capable of gaining vac superiority over a lightly-defended planet.

  LEGION INFANTRY WEAPONS

  The following weapons systems will keep you alive. Assuming you are certified, you will come to know them all intimately. Respect your weapons! Many Legion troopers died to perfect them for you.

  A-suit – The Legion A-suit is a lightweight superdense cenite armor selfsealing hydro powered combat vac suit, and is the most effective personnel armor yet devised. The current AranArmor SciSystems Invincible Battlesuit Model 6 is a fully integrated weapons system with tacmods, tacmaps, and links to Fleetcom and Legion battlenets. It is equipped with renewable potable water supply, a limited internal comrats capability, access ports for med syringes and disposable tubes for liquid and solid waste. A-suit hydros provide Legion troopers with superhuman strength when required. The A-suit tacmod assures one-round hits for all ordnance. Warning: The A-suit remains vulnerable to direct non-angled hits by auto xmax and laser as well as tacstars, airsat and soilsat. Omni genetic probes/genetic snakes can also overcome cenite armor unless countered properly.