“Commander Salchar.” She stumbled over the words wiping her eyes trying to come to attention in her seat.
I touched her arm with a light hand. “Please call me James, my friends do.” I said giving her a sad but kind smile.
“Uhh, yes.” She nodded shakily.
“What’s your name?”
“Hitomi Robinson… Niiya now.” She said as she looked to be gearing up for another crying session. I brought her into a hug our Mechas clanking as she rested on my Mecha’s armoured outer layer.
“Come on Hitomi lets go grab some food.”
“But Steve.”
“He’s with his ancestors now and he wouldn’t want you to starve or be in pain on his account would he?” I said looking at her as she averted her eyes.
“No.” She said quietly to the floor.
“Come on, follow me.” I said as I helped her get to her feet letting her rest most of her weight on me as I numbly walked out of the shuttle and into the mess with her feeling like lead as I settled her at one of the makeshift tables we’d created in the room we’d turned into our mess.
“Yasu I need your help.” I said as I grabbed a plate of warmed rations over a private comm channel.
“What with?”
“Hitomi, we need to get her fed and hopefully get her to sleep.”
“Where are you?”
“In the mess.”
“Bring her to our quarters.”
“We have quarters?” I asked dumbfounded.
“Yes.” Her harsh tone returning before she calmed down. “Never mind, I’ll come and find you.”
She did so with a group of other Japanese looking women. Hitomi barely looked up having not touched her food except in mild gestures more for me than herself.
“Hi Hitomi, I’m Yasu, let’s get you out of that Mecha.” Hitomi nodded numbly as Yasu and the other women whisked Hitomi off. I continued eating my rations others soberly nodding to me as I ate.
After some time of being left with my thoughts they returned now both Yasu and Hitomi in new battle suits. Yasu was at her side, both of them talking in low voices.
Yasu signalled to me to follow I did so as they walked outside, into the now night sky. They sat along the wall of the power plant, looking up instead of out at the beauty of the night sky, the four moons visible.
The desert was bathed in a low blue glow, the moons green, purple, silver and pink. I stared at the moons and the stars for a long time, feeling infinitesimally small. Yet another biotic life in a teeming mass of them, barely a figure of note in the plan of things.
After a few minutes of reflection I moved to join Yasu and Hitomi.
“You and James are so perfect though, me and Steven we always had problems, we always fought and swore at one another. I wish our marriage was a calm one like yours but, it was destined to be another way.”
Both Yasu and I snorted at the same time at that. Looking at one another for the first time I think ever without open hostility, for maybe half a second and then she looked at me as if I was something to be scraped off her shoe and then burned in an incinerator.
“We have one of the worst marriages that I know of.” I grinned as I sat down opposite them taking off my helmet and gauntlets.
“Quite possibly, I don’t know many others which are as cataclysmically wrong as our marriage.” Yasu added Hitomi looking at us with confusion written on her face. I leapt in to explain.
“First off before this we were gamers I was the leader of a group called Mecha tail and played some games. When a new game that relied on physical input came onto the market, made by her father.” I pointed at Yasu.
“MT had to drop out to get used to the new input. While we were training she created a team called Samurai’s Revenge. A team of actual fighters making her my teams’ biggest rival. Plus messages by the media didn’t help our rivalry. The day we were recruited Yasu and I were going to finally have our show down to see which the better team, SR or MT.”
“They apparently thought we were dishonourable warrior’s. While we thought them as pompous shits.” I stared at Yasu who had the decency to look abashed as Hitomi let go a smile.
“Plus I mostly lived in Korea and as you know things between Koreans and Japanese have still not fully healed. Then she stabbed me and the rest is history.” I said with a grin.
“She stabbed you?” Hiotmi’s eyes went wide as she looked between us.
“The idiot launched himself at me while I had my sword ready, so he speared himself. Then held onto me as he knocked my visor off and then me out. Was not the way I was expecting to get a proposal. Wasn’t the worst one though I’ve heard by many accounts.” Yasu said with a certain amount of pride filling her voice.
“In our marriage we don’t fight as much as we’re cold to one another and we try to interact as minimally as possible. We haven’t shared our wedding bed yet.” Yasu said as I felt my cheeks redden. Shocked that she was saying such things. Though I guess it had all built up. She was finally getting her opportunity to speak and she was taking it.
“No! You haven’t consummated the marriage?” Hitomi asked looking aghast.
“No.”
“Well you have been busy, plus it seems there are a lot of issues between you two. I also sense that you two aren’t big talkers which is harsh on any relationship. You two need to work through your issues, not try to dodge them and then each other. You’re married both legally in the galaxy and on Earth there’s nothing much more binding or official than that.” She said with a small sad smile—obviously thinking of other things.
“So what did you do before you did this?” I asked as I tried to steer her away from painful memories.
“I wrote and drew manga. I was working on a new series when I was recruited.” Then anger clouded her face. “There has to be some rule against just plucking us from the face of our home planet, throw us at one another in fights and declare we’re trained. Then ship us off with nothing much more than brawling experience and Mechas to war. It’s so unfair!” her eyes were looking thunderous now as Yasu comforted her and shot me a look that would’ve burned through armour. Then Hitomi looked to me.
“They really are the Syndicate aren’t they?”
“Yes and something has to be done about them. The reality is that if we don’t, no one else is going to damned well do it for us. We have to stand up for one another, no matter the odds because our species, planet and everything that we claim to make us human hangs in the balance. If we fail we risk losing everything.”
“You should’ve been a politician instead of a soldier, I’d vote for you every time.” She said as I grinned.
“Yeah but then I’d have to wear a suit and look at other twerps wearing suits. I’m not really a suit guy. At least one that isn’t coated in armour plating, makes my thighs look way too fat otherwise.” I shrugged in my two ton Mecha eliciting another small smile from Hitomi which warmed my heart and had brought me out of my numbness more than any time I could’ve spent staring at a wall.
“This place might be deadly but the sky is beautiful. I’m happy Steven was able to die on such a breathtaking planet such as this one, instead of some sewage planet far away from Earth.” She said sadly as we sat there in companionable silence Yasu rubbed Hitomi’s hands as we all looked at the picturesque landscape drawing what peace we could from the jewel encrusted heavens.
“It may not seem like it Hitomi, but Steven’s death will not be in vain. I promise you that.” She locked eyes with me.
“Thank you.” I nodded as we returned our glances to the beautiful sky. I wonder if aliens would think Earth’s sky is beautiful. I thought as the three of us sat in companionable silence.
A mecha came over I recognized as the squad leader on duty whispering into my ear so no one listening to our comms would know what we were talking about. I stood , careful to not disturb Hitomi who’d fallen asleep on Yasu who was watching the area.
Chapter Generals
The squ
ad leader on duty requested a private channel to me, the chirrup alarming me as my movements shook off the dust that had landed on me.
“Sir the General has been trying to get in contact with you ever since the accident.”
“On my way to the command centre.” I tried my best to quietly move into the power plant before quickly marching the rest of the way.
Turek was either asleep or with their squads not in the room. I connected to the communicator which was blinking with incoming messages. In front of me appeared General Carsickle surrounded by a staff who suddenly went quiet and wide eyed.
He backed up for a second trying to regain his composure, I don’t know whether it was because of the hologram suddenly projecting out of the communications unit or because of the fearsome sight I made in my deadly Mecha. On my own screen I could barely make out the small screen which displayed what he could see. I grunted as I noticed part of a blade in my armour still. I’m like a sword friggin magnet. I growled as I pulled it out and threw it away.
“Ah commander.” He said placating.
“Shut up.” I said my voice a whisper as I held my burning anger in check. My own staff consisting of my squad and those squad commanders awake and not on duty flanked me in the room, their hard eyes focused on the General.
His mouth closed audibly as he and behind him everyone remained frozen like statutes not a twitch in sight.
“You have gotten the new orders of a one hundred kilometre boundary.”
“Yes.”
“Good. If so much as one person passes the set boundaries around each area we hold I will personally rip out every military installation you have and destroy anything that could be used as a weapon down to a kitchen knife.” I said.
“Do you understand me?” I asked in the same deadly whisper leaning forward into the pickup.
“Yes.” He gulped his scales glistening.
“You or anyone else gets in the way of my men they will be killed. We were kind, we were forgiving. I armed as many men as I could with stun rounds to stop casualties; I even had my people return those they had captured. This sign of kindness was replied with attacks on every power plant we hold. You killed over a hundred of my people, one even as I was returning wounded yet again to you. Your foolishness has cost you an ally.”
“An ally?” He looked more shocked than when I’d first opened the holographic projector on the communicator.
“I didn’t say you could speak did I general.”
I paused the communication, turning to the comms tech. “Are we clear?”
“Yes sir, Eddie’s running interference on his end.”
“Good.” I re-activated the comms unit.
“Now listen carefully Carsickle I will not repeat myself. If any of this is repeated or asked of any of us we will deny it completely. You may give it to your government but any leak and we will crush everyone involved.” I scanned the group of very scared looking natives as I took a breath as I turned and began pacing.
“We call ourselves humans; we come from a planet called Earth. A short time ago we were abducted from our planet, trained to use these steel death machines keep the free systems safe. All I know is that there are twenty thousand humans under my command, I do not know of the rest of my race, or even of my planet. These people with me could be the last of my race in existence. Now how would you feel after being enslaved and given only that information and now found out that a hundred more are now dead.
You still have a planet; your people are in the billions why are you putting all of that at risk by killing a few of an endangered race?”
Emotions warred on Carsickle’s face something at least had hit home.
“Whatever you might say it doesn’t deny the fact that you’re working for the syndicate whether unwillingly or willingly.” He said sadly seemingly slumping in his seat sorrow on his face before he continued.
“Look at it from my point of view you came to our planet, took our power plants, as your captains demand a fee to stop these attacks as well as threaten us with annihilation with our own power plants.” He looked into my eyes and at the others in the room with me.
“The Syndicate is a criminal organization that goes around the backwater planets of the Union.”
“I know.” I said simply as he sputtered looking at me wide eyed.
“Then why haven’t you done anything about it?”
“We aren’t on the ships as you can see and we need to integrate with each ships system. Also my people are not completely convinced that the groups that hold the ships are indeed the Syndicate.”
“You are the slave of terrorist’s, pirates and thieves. Your Captains take from us the means to live and are the ones threatening us with death! Yet you think that they might be good? You take time before taking away the very weapons they hold to the throats of innocents!”
“Prove it.” I said, ending his tirade.
“What?” He said his scales rippling in anger.
“Prove that we’re pirates, prove we’ve made threats that we will destroy this planet for money and greed.”
“Get me the communication records now!” He demanded returning my glare.
I found the information being sent through the communicator to my Mecha which I passed out to everyone awake, as well as every leader and commander.
I turned as the first shower of sparks came from a computer tower as one Mecha let their rage out, another punching through the wall as I cut off the feed to the general.
“Don’t destroy the important shit.” I growled as the Mechas restrained themselves to punching their palms as they watched the communications between the golden refuge’s captain and the governor of Chaleel.
On one side of the screen were the Chaleelians. The governor looked extremely nervous as he sat in a room with important looking people around a desk.
“What do you need oh benevolent captain of the golden refuge for us to keep living our lives?” The leader of the Chaleelian people asked.
The captain was on the other side of the screen wearing the finest clothes I’d ever seen. They looked like liquid gold a he laid on a similarly golden lounger of some kind. Let me guess where the Golden Refuge got its name from.
He had eye stalks coming from a similar looking human face except for the much larger and indented nose. I could see his large feet curled underneath him his arms thin till they reached his hands which were huge and webbed, looking like a fish fin but with two opposable digits and seven fingers like appendages. His skin looked blue and translucent without being able to see through it.
He laid on his lounger listing demands that our translators fed to our brains as smaller aliens of his species fed him food and tended to his needs. The ship looked like a palace with rare metals shining in the background an array of expensive and intricate trophies along the walls. It didn’t take a genius to see the fragrant wealth of the Captain in front of us.
“You will give eighty percent of your production to the syndicate every year. You will also disarm your fighting forces. If my demands are not met then I will have my soldiers blow the power stations they are in, killing off your entire species and making Chaleel a waste land that no one could live on for a millennia without a suit and radiation treatment.” I saw the leader swallow as they absorbed this I was still unable to tell if it was male or female.
“Your benevolence, we cannot survive by giving you eighty percent of our production to you. We will not have enough to trade or to sustain ourselves.”
“You will not trade with any others; you will be a planet of the syndicate, your only use to supply us with your products. Twenty percent of your production is generous.” The Captain said dismissively as if they were the ones demanding him to hand over their life blood.
“But Captain!”
“Every year you will increase the output by ten percent as in accordance with your estimated growth.”
“We can’t sustain that!”
“You will still pay the quota.”
“We won’t be even able to feed outselves!”
“Yes, as an incentive to work harder to fill the quota.” The captain sneered as one of the smaller creatures fed him a decorative and tiny piece of food.
“If you do not meet the quota so then we will have to have certain demonstrations that might lessen the overall population shall we say?” I just reeled in disgust. It showed how little they cared for the planets they ruled over. Killing them wouldn’t help them but only make the situation worse. It was an unsustainable system and made the planet in constant debt to them.
“We will do as you ask most generous captain of the golden refuge.” The leader groveled.
The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet Page 28
