by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Ken stood at attention in front of Mitch and heard him say, “So you’re our reluctant Captain.”
Ken thought, damn that Dinter. Then he realized that Dinter was directed to ask those questions, “Yes Sir.”
Mitch tilted his head, “I’m surprised you admit it.”
“My reluctance will not affect my performance, Sir.”
“Can you understand that I would prefer you to be excited about your duties?”
“I can.”
“You’re just not up to the task of pulling it out of you?”
“I’ve never quite been able to master that technique, Sir.” Ken hesitated and said, “You could always demote me.”
“Is that something you want?”
Ken thought a moment and then sighed, “No, I guess not. It would increase the time I’d be forced to excel.”
“What?”
“Didn’t Major Dinter tell you that I believe I have to balance the scales of how much time I’ve spent chilling with hard work before I can safely chill again.”
Mitch stared at Ken and said, “At ease, Captain. Take a chair and explain that last statement.”
Ken sat down and said, “I believe in karma.” Mitch nodded. “Really, I do; it’s one of the patterns I’ve seen hundreds of times in my life.”
Mitch said, “And karma operates with balance.”
Ken smiled, “Exactly! And if the scales get too far out of balance and you ignore balancing them, you could find real danger happening to you.”
“Go on.”
“My entire life I have been basically maximizing my chill time. I know I’ve been blessed with some talents but I’ve basically ignored using them for anything productive. I’ve used them to escape responsibility and do just enough to get by.”
“And those talents don’t like being wasted.”
Ken nodded his head and said, “Wow, I’m impressed. You do understand. I see a pattern emerging that if I don’t start balancing the scales, I could have great harm befall me.”
“So you’re doing this to prevent your being hurt.”
“Exactly.”
“Captain, that is one wacky kind of motivation.”
“Some are motivated by ambition, others by greed, and some by the lust for power. My being motivated to avoid personal harm shouldn’t be too hard to understand.”
Mitch stared at Ken and said, “You’re serious?”
“I am indeed, Major.”
“Why in this universe did you join the Warriors?”
“I saw a pattern emerging and followed it to its logical conclusion and determined that I was safer here than anywhere else.”
“You mean you’re safer in combat that out being a civilian?”
“I had an aircraft narrowly miss crashing into the building I was in. I decide to join the warriors at that moment and the aircraft recovered long enough to miss me.”
Mitch stared at Ken and said, “I’m going to keep my eye on you.”
“I’d do the same thing, Sir. I’m not your average Life Warrior.”
Mitch smiled and decided he liked the weird officer. “Well, take your talents and get your unit ready for combat.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
Ken left the headquarters building and went to B Company’s Barracks. He hit the intercom, “Company formation in thirty seconds. Those that are tardy will complete a five mile run.” The barracks emptied faster than a bucket of pork chops in front of eight starving pit bulls. Ken saw six Warriors arrive after thirty seconds and said, “You six will complete a five mile run after dismissal.” The Company immediately didn’t like their new commander.
“Lt. Ging, follow me.” Ken began moving through the ranks and listened to the Warriors as he passed them. Halfway down the second squad he stopped in front of a Warrior and said, “Fall out.” The Warrior looked at the Lieutenant, saw him nod, and moved out of ranks. Ken continued through the ranks and found three more Warriors that he ordered out of the platoon’s ranks.
Ken moved to the second platoon and said, “Lt. Dorg, follow me.” He repeated the process and finally he went through the last platoon. Twenty Warriors were standing in front of the company wondering what was going on. Ken looked at them and said, “Move fifty yards away and turn around and face the company.”
The twenty moved fifty yards away and Ken followed them. He pointed to a Private and said, “Close your eyes and focus on the music.” The Private did as he was asked, “If you open your eyes, you will run twenty miles; do you understand?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Now walk forward and move in the direction where the music gets louder.”
“Sir?”
“Just do it.”
The Private began moving forward and started weaving. All at once he straightened his path and walked directly to Lt. Grant. “Stay right there.” Ken turned to another Private and said, “Do the same thing.”
After fifteen minutes all of the Privates were standing in front of a platoon. Ken said, “First Platoon, spread out and form a circle with a fifty yard diameter.” The platoon ran out and formed a circle. “Now everyone close their eyes and move in the direction where the music grows louder. Keep your eyes closed and hold your arms out in front of you while you’re doing this exercise.”
The other three platoons saw the Warriors stumbling around and bumping into each other but after ten minutes there were twenty five pairs of Warriors standing next to each other. “Open your eyes.” Ken watched them look around and Ken said, “The one you’re standing next to is your new partner.”
“Lt. Ging, Get them organized.”
“Yes Sir.”
Ken turned to the other three platoons and said, “Take your platoons and spread out. I want the same process followed with each of you. Now get moving.”
Ken watched the Warriors reorganizing and wondered about his ability to hear and transfer the music. He had never heard it before Captain Slade allowed those around him to hear it. Now he heard it in the back of his mind all the time. He also knew that his company would hear it even if he wasn’t close to them. He didn’t know how he knew it, but the pattern was clearly visible. They finally reorganized and Ken shouted, “Sgt. Major, what’s the fastest time for completion of all seventy nine battle patterns?”
“Three minutes forty two point six seconds, Sir.”
Ken looked at his four platoons and said, “Company…” He heard the four Lieutenants echo him, “Platoon. Attenshun!” The four platoons came to attention and Ken said, “Activate…Armor!” Every member of the company suddenly appeared in their armor. “On my command you will teleport to the front edge of the training field and perform all battle patterns. Once completed, you will return here in formation. Sgt. Major, you will keep time from the start to completion.”
“Yes Sir!”
“Begin operation…now!”
The two hundred Warriors disappeared and moved across the field at an incredible rate. All two hundred Warriors appeared at the same moment in formation.
“Sgt. Major?”
“One minute, twenty four point one seconds, Sir.”
Ken saw his company was stunned at the time. Ken said, “I want all of you to notice that all of you completed the exercise at the same moment. I want you to think about that after dismissal.” Ken paused and said, “The six that were late to formation, fall out.”
The six warriors fell out and Sgt. Major Caldwell moved forward. “Sgt. Major, I will take them on this run.” The Company didn’t believe what they heard. CO’s never ran with their units. Ken said, “Company!”
“Platoon!”
“Dismissed.” Ken led the six out toward the field counting cadence. The rest of the company watched them go and suddenly ran forward and joined the six that were late. Ken saw the Warriors catch up and form formations on the run. He smiled and knew they were growing into something special. Sgt. Major Caldwell watched them go and shook his head.
He went to file the report from the exercise and saw the Headquarters’ Staff stare at him. Caldwell said, “I didn’t believe it either but the clock doesn’t lie.”
The report was forwarded to Mitch. He pulled up a recording of the exercise from one of the field scanners and started his stop watch. Not only did the time stun him but every Warrior completing the run simultaneously was just not possible. Something special was happening in the Reluctant Captain’s Unit. Now he had two companies that were high performers. That was going to be important in future operations.
• • •
Eyes said, “Admiral, we have a Carnivore landing on a planet, thirty light years from their last attack.”
“Do you have the strength of their forces?”
“Six thousand ships in orbit supporting the drop and twenty thousand troops on the ground moving in on the planet’s largest city.”
“This doesn’t sound like a major invasion?”
“The Zord that reported it says that he believes the Carnivores invade one city at a time until everyone on the planet is eventually consumed. He believes they don’t possess the means to store all the inhabitants for later consumption.”
Jason shook his head, “They want their meals alive.”
“It does appear to be the case, Admiral.”
“I’m issuing a call up. Let me know if you see anything else.”
“I will.”
Chapter Twelve
Mitch heard his alarms go off and he pressed the call up button on his panel. He downloaded the incoming information and activated his armor. He teleported to the huge transport assigned to his battalion and waited for Colonel Grang to issue orders. Pixie appeared beside him and said, “What’s going on?”
“It appears the Carnivores are attacking another city and the Regiment has been called up to take them on.”
“Just one Regiment?”
“We were the only one available on the active list. Another one is being called up, but they’re going to take at least a day to organize for combat.”
Mitch looked at Pixie, “I want you to take your ship and go there now and scout out their positions. I’ll send you the area we’re assigned as soon as I receive it.”
Pixie saluted and disappeared. “Captain Clarke, report to me now!”
Clarke ran over and came to attention in front of Mitch and saluted. Mitch returned his salute and said, “Captain, how many can you manage in making assignments?”
“I don’t know, Sir.”
“I’m going to have my Scout send you the enemy positions of the area we’ll be landing on and I want you to assign targets to the Battalion. Will you do that?”
“Yes Sir. I’ll do the best I can.”
“Get your Company organized and send the assignments to my command frequency. I’ll forward them to the other companies.”
Ken turned and ran back to his company. Mitch saw his section of the enemy’s forces on his tactical display and sent it to Pixie. “Send your report directly to Captain Clarke.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
Ken saw the enemy forces in Fourth Battalion’s assigned area and immediately sent the targets out to the four companies. Mitch saw the command tactical view and shook his head. Clarke was faster than the fleet computers. “We’ll be leaving for the planet in thirty seconds. We’ll teleport to the surface thirty seconds after arrival. Hit your marks and keep moving.”
• • •
The Realm Fleet arrived with ten thousand ships and attacked the Carnivore fleet above the planet. Right behind the fleet’s arrival, the six transports with the First Regiment’s six battalions teleported in and took station behind the fleet. The six battalions teleported to the surface and began attacking the enemy formations.
Mitch arrived with A Company and moved in on a Carnivore mobile armor element. The huge blasters and projectile weapons began exploding and Mitch fired his shoulder cannon and killed three Carnivore Warriors. He followed A Company into their formations and looked at the tactical of his other three companies between him and the cliff walls at the edge of the wide plain. They were moving forward and were taking out the enemy forces in front of them. He saw on his command screen that other units were meeting more resistance and wanted to complete his assigned targets to go help the other battalions.
Ken moved left and fired on a blaster platform exploding it. He teleported six feet to the right and killed eight Carnivore Warriors running toward him. He teleported just beyond them and hit another mobile platform and continued moving forward with his company. He didn’t think, he simply did what the armor directed. He glanced over at C Company and moved over and took out three mobile platforms they had not been able to hit. The wide plain looked like it was on fire.
Russell’s platoon was next to A Company and he overlapped his Company with them and assisted them against the enemy. A Company did not hear the music and he knew they were losing Warriors at a high rate. The overlap relieved the survivors in A Company and the two units continued moving forward.
Pixie moved around the battle field killing Carnivores at an incredible rate. She supported all four companies and even went into the Third Battalion’s zone to take out twenty of the Carnivore’s Armored Blasters. She kept Mitch in her view and went in and killed enemy warriors that were moving in on him.
Suddenly the plain was hit with hundreds of bright blue beams. The beams hit everything on the vast plain and made no distinction between the Carnivores or Life Warriors. They rained down from orbit and the number was increasing by the second.
Ken looked across the plain and saw a pattern. He keyed the battalion general frequency and yelled, “Deactivate your armor and run to the cliff walls! Do it NOW!”
Pixie whipped around and located Mitch just as a bright blue beam hit A Company and blasted Mitch thirty yards away from where he was standing. Pixie screamed and jumped to him and found him on the sands with his armor still burning. She pounded out the fire and covered him with her invisibility screen and couldn’t think. She stared in his helmet and saw he was gone. His armor had been penetrated and a foot wide hole had been blasted through his chest. She fell on top of him and screamed her anguish.
Ken hit Pixie’s frequency and yelled, “Pixie, go to the cliff wall. Go now!”
Pixie heard Clarke but ignored him. Clarke screamed, “CAPTAIN MILLE, IF YOU DON’T GO TO THE CLIFF WALL WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! WHAT WOULD MITCH WANT YOU TO DO?!” Pixie fought back her tears and finally Clarke broke through her shock. She patted Mitch’s body and jumped to the cliff wall.
She arrived and Ken yelled, “Extend your invisibility screen as far as you can along the wall.” Pixie heard him in a haze and extended her invisibility field and it covered the surviving Life Warriors that were located sixty yards to either side of her.
The massive explosions of the blue beams hitting the remaining carnivores were deafening and Russell screamed, “The ones on the end of the line need to move in toward the center.” He watched as twenty or so Warriors on each end of the line moved closer to the center and disappeared. Russell looked around and couldn’t see anyone but he felt them up against his body. He yelled, “Pixie, how far out from the wall does the field extend?”
Pixie forced herself to focus and said, “About forty yards.”
Russell yelled, “Clarke, what did you see?”
“Sir, I saw that the beams were hitting armored Warriors dead center across the battle field. They can see us through our armor’s invisibility.”
“Why didn’t they see us after we deactivated our armor?”
Suddenly the explosions stopped and silence covered the plain. The only sound was the flames from the burning beam platforms and an occasional explosion from an explosive round that cooked off. Ken spoke just loud enough for Russell to hear, “They did, Sir. They hit the survivors of the two platoons that don’t hear the music as they ran toward the cliffs. We lost half of them as they ran here.”
“What a
bout those that hear the music?”
“Sir, they didn’t see them. I suspect our camouflage uniforms hid us from their physical scans and the music prevented them from seeing our minds.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“The beings that fire the blue beams are psychic. Even though they couldn’t see the Warriors that don’t hear the music, they could target them psychically. Captain Mille’s invisibility field is preventing them from being seen at this moment.”
Pixie looked at Clarke and said, “How did you know about my ability to produce the field?”
“I saw you and Major Callaway disappear and you weren’t hit by any of the beams. That told me you could produce it and the ships overhead couldn’t see through it.”
Russell said, “I want all Warriors that can’t hear the music to move back against the cliff wall. Do it now.”
Ken said, “You think they’re going to investigate?”
“I’m sure they saw us disappear. They’ll want to know how we did it. Captain Mille, how long can you sustain the field?”
“As long as it takes.”
Russell yelled, “D Company, move to the left and B Company move to the right. Feel your way around and organize into your platoons.”
Russell said, “Captain Mille, you have seniority. Do wish to take command?”
“No, I do not. Scouts are trained to fight alone and you are better qualified to command than I am.”
Russell said, “Clarke, I’m leaning toward putting you in command.”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea, Sir. I’m more of a tool.”
Russell thought a moment and said, “Pixie, I know you’re hurting but we need you here; totally here.”
“I’ll hold it together, Sir.”
“Clarke, I need you to tell me if you see anything that affects our survival.”
“Yes Sir. I have deducted that the Carnivore and our ships in orbit have been destroyed.”
Russell sighed, “I’m sure those creatures destroyed the Carnivore Fleet as well as our own. We only have each other here, so focus on the music, those of you that can hear it, all of us need to save our grief for later.”
