The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet

by Michael Chatfield

  “Fuck.” I said while I recognized the naturally tough skin of the Avarian on my hand and arm.

  “Get me a mirror.” I hissed barely able to hold in my rage as my mind worked over the information it had.

  She looked about to protest before she saw my face and quickly rushed out.

  A doctor replaced her asking some questions I ignored while the first nurse appeared with a view screen.

  “Try not to be too alarmed.” The doctor said as the nurse turned the view screen on. Red eyes and the lack of a scar across my face looked back at me. I stood up from my bed moving with ease as if I didn’t weigh a thing as I studied myself. My skin was thicker and tougher; it had the same restrictive feeling that the armour in my prototype battle suit had. My feet weren’t cold, even against the bare metal of the deck.

  I felt stronger, for the first time in a long time I didn’t feel the pain and aches of my body. The scars were gone as well as all of the injuries I once had, including my melted arm. Which only served to highlight the changes someone had done to me; making me feel less human than ever before. I had been taken from my body, put into a new, completely alien one, without my permission.

  I felt violated, I felt helpless and I felt angry.

  “Who did this to me?” I growled as I looked at the doctor, the nurse having already retreated. I noticed that before where I’d have been probably looking right at her I was now two heads taller making her crane her neck. Putting me at eight feet, the size I would be if I was in a Mecha. Fucking great.

  “An awakening priest. It seems that when you defeated Krom you passed a test to lead the awakened. With that they in turn, awoke you. If they didn’t then you would have died from the head trauma, you were leaking cranial fluid.”

  Explains that weird liquid.

  Your wife went with you and was with you when Krom brought you back. We have no idea where you went, Krom wouldn’t say. Your wife doesn’t know either.” Of course she doesn’t she just stood there and watched me be turned into. Something!

  “Where is my esteemed wife now?”

  “She’s in your quarters.” This caused me to furrow my brow as we didn’t have quarters that we shared.

  “Thank you.” I said dismissively as I began storming out.

  “Commander.”

  “Yes?” Furious she was stopping me.

  “Some clothes might be in order? We got your spare battle suit.” She moved to a stow bin along the wall pulling it out.

  “Thank you.” Control yourself damn it! It’s not her fault. I quickly donned it, finding it strange my new body made me feel as if I was clothed already. With the battle suit on I felt better with the additional armour both my battle suit and my strange body getting acquainted.

  “I’m sorry about being so rude.” I said nodding to the doctor before I walked out. No one tried to stop me as I walked straight to the Captains quarters the Sato sisters crossing swords in front of the door.

  “Move I’m not in the mood.” Flexing my hands as my claws sprouted from my battle suit. One of them quickly said something into their collar moving her blade aside as the other did too. I couldn’t tell which one was which as the door opened and I stormed in.

  “What did you let them do to me?” I demanded hotly as I looked down; Yasu in her own battle suit with her painfully normal human features.

  “They called it the awakening. They said it would keep you alive, your head had been smashed in, the medics didn’t think even you would make it. Even with the medical machines we have, the awakening gave me another option so I took it.”

  “So they turned me into an Avarian. You let them change me from a human into an alien race. Without my permission you changed the very things that made me James Cook! Look at these eyes! Or the claws that come out of my hands or the fact that my bare skin blends into everything!”

  “I thought it would help you.” She looked at the ground; even this odd display of emotion wasn’t enough to stop my rolling anger.

  “If this is how you want to help me forget trying to do so anymore in the future!”

  Anger and hurt simmered on her face. She threw a data pad at my chest my new reactions making me catch it.

  “Do it all yourself. Put yourself in the line of fire. Command thousands of people, put everyone before yourself and be too paranoid to accept help, or to trust anyone! Who knows one of these days when you finally sit down I will come up from behind and take your place, or some nameless idiot interested in power instead of actually doing some damned good in this fucked up galaxy!” She yelled at me storming past me in my stunned state—as like an idiot I stood there trying to figure out what she was saying as the hatch closed.

  Annoyed, agitated and like countless men before me completely confused by the female mind I looked at the data pad.

  On it there was a map of a raised flat area. Overtop of it had wire buildings placed over the surface. Lines were laid underneath for water and electricity. There was a wireless hub and all the necessities including a nearby space port connected by a wire diagram of a maglev transport.

  It was titled;

  Asul city,

  Commander Salchar and his mistress Yasu’s hold

  Stunned I went through the other files that were open. To my surprise in the three days I’d been unconscious she’d put herself in charge of the development.

  She’d placed Ursht in charge of the city administration as she’d dropped colony buildings which could be set up within weeks and then reinforced with the materials of the area. Avarians from across the planet had flocked to my banner at the promise of water, work and prosperity. The mines had been shut down but the stockpiles we’d found on the planet had been impressive.

  Including not only the materials from the Avarian Battle master I had killed, but the one third tithe from the other two Battle masters.

  Eddie and the Kuruvians as well as everyone involved with engineering were having rabbits as they happily filled their low stores which had been minimal to give Parnmal the most raw materials for the ongoing projects. They were pumping out parts for everything they could replace them and recycling anything old. The majority though they were purifying and making ingots to be transferred back to Parnmal, or to be used in projects on Chaleel.

  With the materials from the Battle Master I’d killed also came his sworn warriors and a large chunk of his people. Most of his people hadn’t accepted the change and instead chose to defect to other Battle Masters.

  Yet there were still a few pertinent problems it looked like I saw highlighted on the data pad.

  It seemed that ships that had traded for reactor fuel and waste water in most cases had been charging extortionist rates. With no other sources of fuel or knowledge of the accurate value for their materials the Avarian had paid twenty times the regular price for premium reactor mass for waste water.

  The engineering crews had then been whipped up in a storm of building; they’d created storage tanks so large they had to be made in sections then transported to the ground and assembled. Shrift had the armourers making protective suits for the Avarians in the mines. It didn’t go without my notice that the suits were rated to be used in space mining. Or that there was a side project on a planetary elevator that would be able to transport people and resources up from Asul city directly—instead of relying on shuttles from the space port.

  There was already a large asteroid in semi-stable orbit. Again there were plans for thrusters to be placed on the asteroid to keep it centreed to create the platform of the elevator.

  There were plans for the development into the asteroid with Avarians digging it out and using the resources to create what they needed.

  Yasu had gone so far as to identify possible other asteroids to have the main elevator platform to connect to or to mine afterwards. She thought I was the one with plans within plans! I thought as I read the detailed outlines.

  “Comet water bomb inbound.” The comms officer said over the general channel as I tuc
ked away Yasu’s data pad, still thinking about how far Yasu had pushed forward. I found myself on the bridge garnering strange stares as I saluted Rick who didn’t bat an eye as he returned the gesture. I guess he’d seen me do enough crazy things in the past that this wasn’t all that strange.

  “Comet water bomb?” I asked him quizzically.

  “Yes Min Hae found a comet consisting of around eighty percent of water in the outer asteroid belts, we sent corvettes to go and pick it up, remember how you ordered us to scan for them?”

  “Ah yes.” I didn’t remember much from the meeting with the other battle masters other than shooting the one and getting roughed up by Krom.

  “What’s its progress?”

  “It will be entering the atmosphere in five minutes.” I nodded watching the main screen as the labeled water bomb passed the grouped fleet around AIH.

  It slowly entered the atmosphere using the temperature to melt the ice as two corvettes attached to the five square kilometre comet held onto it, rotating around the planet as for the first time in generations it rained on AIH. I cut to a feed from Asul city as Avarians were on the streets stopping their work as they opened their arms rain pouring down on them as they luxuriated in the feeling. It was odd to think these people hadn’t seen rain in their lifetime while on Earth it was cursed at times.

  “The water systems are working!” An excited voice said as I ripped my eyes off of my command screen looking at Eddie in surprise at the old Kuruvian doing a jig at the engineering station. He wasn’t sitting in the seat but a liaison of his. I couldn’t remember ever seeing the Kuruvian on the bridge raising the priority of what was going on up a few notches.

  I slaved my screen to his seeing as he watched the buildings with their collection systems gathering the rain, the same as the streets dropping it into the massive tanks installed underground which passed it on to be purified the detriments being put into growing towers to be used as fertilizer as the clean water was supplied to drinking fountains, fossets and to critical systems for the city.

  Shuttles flew up to the melting comet which was going along at a sedated pace. Using their onboard laser systems, or if they didn’t have them, gun teams they cut out and pulled huge chunks out of the comet taking them to the highest mountain ranges of the planet.

  I could see it’s all been planned as the cut out blocks were rotated around the mountains raining down on the lower sections, the higher ones too cold to melt the ice. As the blocks melted water found old streams and other water ways.

  It took four hours for the asteroid to melt as chunks were ripped out of it by shuttles and placed around the planet.

  “Environmental, how many asteroids will it take to return the planet to a balance?” I asked.

  “It will take ten more of that size to get a minimal balance. Fifty would be optimal.”

  I thankfully checked my command screen instead of ordering more ships to start getting more comets. I could see that half of the fleet were gathering asteroids and shipping them back to the planet.

  I knew that I was going to need to apologize to Yasu at some time but the fact that she’d allowed someone to change my body without my permission, was still too new. I busied myself with her data pad seeing what had been going on with the fleet and the planet below us.

  In most cases finding out how well she was connected and about the supporters she had in nearly every department.

  Annoyed I left the bridge to find some refuge in the armouries where Shrift was waiting with two coffees and a large platter of food. Feeling ravenous I happily dove into the food as Shrift and I sat in companionable silence watching as the armoury working in noisy continuity. With the increased concentration on Commandos and training, Shrift and every armourer had gained two apprentices.

  I took a large gulp of the coffee and sat there with him.

  “Where’s my Mecha?” I asked still scanning Yasu’s data pad.

  “I haven’t fixed it yet.” I looked at him about to demand why he hadn’t as he raised his palm to stall me.

  “I’m waiting off till we know more about your, condition, to see if the settings need to be changed, helmet replaced and such. Or if I need to make an entire new one. The third one.” He said with feeling as I looked at my first one still clamped to the wall with its plaque above it.

  “I didn’t want to have whatever was done to me done to me.” I growled.

  “I know, but the Avarian’s Mechas we’re making it should be easy enough to make one that’ll suit you.”

  “Avarian Mechas?” I looked up from the data pad.

  “Yes it seems that the majority of the Avarian race are miners. They turned to the mines in order to trade with people, but it wasn’t long until people stopped coming. The mines kept going in case there was someone to trade with for fuel and they learned to work together. Being in the mines have done terrible things to their health but kept them in shape. Their warrior mindset is still very much intact, they host games in which they practice wars, battles and reenact their violent history. Winners get food allotments so everyone particiaptes.

  With a bit of good old medical care to get them healthy and me making a new damned mecha model. We’ll have some damned good Commandos and personnel to help out the Free Fleet, all while we protect the planet and help them out.”

  “How do we know they will hold their word?”

  “They’re more loyal than any race I’ve ever seen; don’t ask them to show their loyalty otherwise they’ll try to kill themselves to prove it.”

  “So they have to do what Yasu or I say, or they’ll be killed by another one of their own?”

  “In most cases they kill themselves. One can only leave the ranks of the sworn if they are so given permission by the one they’re sworn to, or their sworn breaks their vow, or is dishonoured. Every warrior in your village is sworn to you. In return for their loyalty you are to look after them. Yasu went to the city and asked everyone to come to the city hall and say what they want to do. Be it a medic, teacher, miner, builder, trader, fighter. She took the roster and had everyone get a sleep learning headset.”

  “Many found they still wanted to do what they had in mind, others changed their ideas but the warriors group only swelled. There were over four thousand Avarian warriors that applied the first day. Currently there are twelve thousand that wish to join the ranks of the armoured Marine Commandos.”

  “So I’ve got a loyal as hell group of super warriors that can work in a team that have been working in mines most of their lives. I need to train them and get them outfitted with Mechas within the five days we have to get to Chaleel. I hope no one was busy before because now it’s going to be a damned hell storm of work.”

  Shrift sighed with emphasis, a glimmer in his eye.

  “I was getting bored anyway.” He said getting up and stretching.

  I contacted Henry and the trainers within my fleet including all of the Sarenmenti Special Forces we’d taken with us. They’d thought they’d escaped training people, ah how cruel fate was. I thought as I waited for everyone to get back to me. Shrift was working on getting mostly made Mechas, it would mean that each Avarian got one but they wouldn’t be complete. They would give them basic armour, HUD’s and the ability to fight in a space environment. Copies of my battle suits medical systems were being made at an alarming pace.

  Now all I have to do is hope that they’ll actually listen to me.

  My head still a whirlwind of work and things to do when I took a shuttle down to the planet. I needed to show my face and I wanted to see Asul. If nothing else then it might get me a few more warriors that seemed like a well-timed gift.

  “Comms connect me to the FTL system.”

  “Who do you wish to speak to?”

  “Commander Monk.”

  “You’re connected commander.”

  “James?”

  “Hey Monk I need the biggest ship we have at Parnmal that is jump capable to AIH.”

  “The Avarians?” />
  “Yeah, we need to get them trained up, and Parnmal is the best place to do that.”

  “Agreed, I’ve been reading the reports your comms officer has been submitting daily.”

  “Good, now it’s about time I had a look over my new city.”

  “Must be a nice place.”

  “Yeah if volcano worlds with lakes of magma are your thing.” I drawled.

  “Go easy on Yasu, she didn’t know what would happen, she was only thinking of saving your life.”

  “It’s going to take some time.”

  “All things worthwhile do.” His voice sad, reminding me of how his wife Caroline had died in the assault of Parnmal.

  “Look after yourself James.”