by Thomas Davis
“Just give me a chance.”
“Battles are an exercise in deception. You sell your opponent on a story. You get him to agree to a set of rules. Then you break those rules. There’s no honor on the battlefield Shonen Boy. There’s only the mission.”
Chase didn’t understand what prompted that response from the Captain. “Whatever test you’ve prepared I’m ready.”
“Good,” Jake unsheathed his sword, stabbed it into the ground, then stood, “grab us a couple of those wooden swords over there.”
Chase stuck the Arez Charge-Blade into the ground then went to retrieve two Bo Kens. He returned to Jake with the two wooden weapons then presented them to him.
Jake took one at random, “You’re not on the team unless you can defeat me but I’ve faced stronger, far more experienced fighters than you. How do you defeat someone who knows your every move and has numerous countermeasures? How do you win an impossible fight?”
Chase settled into a sword stance and waited. Jake didn’t take a stance at all. He casually stood with the Bo Ken dangling from his right hand onto the ground. Chase slid his right foot forward but Jake remained motionless.
“Oh yeah.” Jake said without making eye contact. “You only have five minutes best not to dawdle.”
Chase immediately pounced now that he was presented with a time limit. There wasn’t a moment to spare. Jake, without looking Chase’s direction, slashed his Bo Ken up from the ground. The tip of the wooden sword had been stuck into a small pile of dirt that flew into Chase’s eyes once Jake made his move. Blinded, Chase halted his assault and defended. He felt the Bo Kens clack against one another as he blocked the Captain’s counterattack.
“Are the Arez people?” Jake casually asked as he pushed back against Chase’s guard.
“No,” The question made no sense to Chase. “They’re violent aliens.”
“I didn’t ask if they’re human. I asked if they are people.”
“They’re not people,” Chase’s vision finally cleared up.
“We’re not fighting monsters.”
Chase didn’t want to hear this. His hatred of the Arez was his greatest motivator. “How can you say something like that?” His emotions were getting the better of him. “They’ve taken so much without a hint of mercy. From both of us.”
“There’s a bigger picture that you’re not seeing. You won’t be able to win until you see it.”
“They aren’t people!!!” Chase knocked Jake away with a powerful slash of his Bo Ken.
Jake slid back on the balls of his feet. “But they are alive.”
Chase had no words. His hands trembled with anger.
“Every living being feels fear and doubt, even the Arez. By acknowledging this I understand how to beat them,” Jake lunged back at Chase with a powerful horizontal slash. “If you want to survive… to win. You have to understand your adversary.”
“Don’t ask me to sympathize with those animals!” It took all of Chase’s strength to block the attack, “Not after what they’ve done! All of the innocent blood they spilled!” Chase’s counter pushed Jake back. Time was running out. Chase was so angry he almost didn’t notice. But maybe that was Jake’s plan, to intentionally push all of his buttons.
Chase retreated temporarily to collect himself and to come up with a plan. There was something he was missing. He gripped the wooden sword in his hands then by chance he glanced at the Charge-Blade stuck into the ground as he stepped past it. In that instance Chase had a sort of epiphany. Everything was so clear like a vale had been lifted from his eyes. He charged forward a final time. Captain Takeda charged back at him. They slashed at each other and their blades sparked as they made contact. Chase didn’t see Jake swipe the real sword from the ground but he figured out the lesson just in the nick of time.
“This wasn’t a test was it?” Chase asked as he held the Charge-Blade in his grip.
“I had already made up my mind,” Captain Takeda responded.
“You’re training me.”
“I’m glad you finally figured it out,” Jake smiled. “Don’t slouch Shonen Boy. We’ve got a lot to work on.”
“Yes sir.”
They clashed back and forth for over an hour. All the while Jake imparted whatever wisdom he could remember onto Chase. He finally let his walls down. He finally recognized who Chase was and how similar they were. Jake acknowledged that Chase needed his guidance and he that needed to help the boy, to quell all of that anger inside of him.
“I was just as angry as you are Shonen Boy. Losing everything. My parents. My home. It filled me with rage for years. And just like you I didn’t even know how angry I was at the time.”
“But can’t you use it like fuel?”
“Eventually your anger will destroy you or everyone around you” Jake thought of all the people he lost since Lhasa.
Humanity isn’t just a human trait, Jake thought to himself. He met Adeola all those years ago. They laughed together, they cried together. They shared so much and he never felt so close to someone. She opened his heart and showed him that he was strong enough to connect with others. Adeola was special, a princess, but she wasn’t an anomaly. There had to be more good people like her on the other side. People who wanted this bloody conflict to end someday. He had to do his part to bring this war to an end.
Jake hadn’t thought like this since David died. He had become afraid again. Afraid of losing people. He had regressed back into that detached person he started out as, who was so terrified of being hurt that he kept others at a distance. Chase had just reminded Jake of whom he should be. That brave person that Adeola brought out of him. The person who earned the sword he held in his right hand. They laid down their weapons for a moment.
“Chase, I have to ask you something important and I need you to answer honestly. Can you?”
“Of course.”
“If the war ended tomorrow and to maintain the peace you had to sit down with the Crimson Death, shake his hand, could you?”
“That’s. That’s not a fair question.”
“The hardest decisions in life are rarely fair.”
“You know what he took from me right?”
“I know.”
Chase didn’t answer.
“You’d be saving millions of lives with a handshake.”
“If I’m being completely honest Captain…” Chase looked down at his feet, “I don’t know what I’d do.”
Jake put his left hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It’s okay. It wasn’t a trick question or a trap and I know it was hard for you to answer. I just want you to think about it. About who you are. The people you lost want you to live Chase, to be your best self.”
Chase considered his words. “Captain?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“It’s nothing.”
“What’s it like? Running on glass.”
“The higher ups would have the public believe that it’s something I can do at will. They say it’s good for encouraging recruitment.”
“But you did do it?”
“I was only able to do it once. My gun was empty and David,” Jake paused for a moment. “I had to get to him before it was too late.”
“And?”
“And I didn’t make it in time.” Jake looked to the ground. “We’re haunted by the lives we couldn’t save. For me, that’s not the day I ran on glass. It’s the day I couldn’t save my best friend.”
“But David is still with you. Still fighting.”
“Death isn’t a game kid. You lose something when you die, something important.” Jake decided to end the conversation there. He learned that his views on Shangri-La and Valhalla were considered controversial and made others uncomfortable. “Now let’s get back to work.”
“Yeah. Okay”
14. Infiltration
Cody Outpost: Titan
When the Aez vanguard landed on the surface of Titan nearly two months ago, they easily took Cody Outpost. It was a s
laughter and the few that survived limped their way to Amarillo with horrid tales of the Red horde and their ferocity. Cody Outpost was mainly used as a storage facility and a launch pad. The large landing area was central to the facility with the barracks and storage warehouses constructed around it. It was ill equipped for the sudden Red onslaught that took place that day. The Arez set up shop at Cody Outpost making it into their primary base of operations. All Arez supplies, ships, and reinforcements came through Cody.
Chase Turner, Jacob Takeda, Sam Hawkins, and Edith Fafnir were posted up on a ridge just outside of the base perimeter. David Assad didn’t accompany them due to the severity of the damage his base frame incurred during the attempt on Captain Takeda’s life. A replacement body wouldn’t arrive for close to a week so David had to sit this mission out. It wasn’t an ideal roster since Chase had just joined the Strike Team but he had to be deployed. There was no other option. Just 3 people couldn’t realistically pull off a mission like this. Sam Hawkins was speaking into a device that resembled a 1980’s cellular phone with a long antenna extending from the top of it. The awkwardly large device was a necessity for initiating and receiving encrypted communications from the Terran fleet orbiting Titan. She ended the call and turned to the rest of the group. “Cap. We finally got back word from up above.”
“And?”
“After giving me the run around they informed me that Agatha’s been temporarily redeployed.”
“What? Now? We’re on the verge of an all-out battle up there in orbit and they redeploy our best pilot? They better have a damn good reason.”
“Your guess is as good as mine. They sent her off as soon as we got here. They wouldn’t explain why. All they would say was to proceed with the operation as planned.”
Jake touched the bridge of his nose with his index finger. He hadn’t worn glasses in years but this particular habit, of readjusting them, was something he did unconsciously at times. He would often partake in this mini ritual when he was trying to clear his mind or devise a course of action. He didn’t like being left in the dark like this. High Command was moving all of the pieces around on the board. The Strike Team was comparable to the knight, far more useful and valuable than the pawn but also easily sacrificed if there was something significant to be gained from it. “We proceed as planned. Sam gets in quietly and accesses their system. Find out if they know their attack disabled the orbital cannon. Chase will have your six. Keep your eyes peeled Shonen Boy, I’m trusting you with our best girl.” He smiled. “No offense Edith.”
“None taken, I know how much I suck.” Edith said as she admired the craftsmanship of her sniper rifle.
“I’ll be busy sabotaging whatever ships they have here so they can’t report back to their Armada. Edith will keep me covered.”
“Whatever you need Sugar Bear.” She grinned while gazing down the scope pointed towards Jake’s face.
Jake gently pushed the rifle’s barrel down towards the ground and away from his head. “Really not funny Short Stack.”
“Too much?”
Sam slapped Chase on the shoulder, “you ready kid?”
“Yeah.” He found the butterflies fluttering around inside his stomach odd. It wasn’t like this was his first mission but it was his first time using the VL gear outside of a controlled environment. Captain Takeda had trained him rigorously for hours and now it was time to apply those lessons. The Versatile Layer Chase wore was the same rig that Everett Green operated the day he received his career ending injury. There was stitching on the right side of the stomach where Everett was run through with a Charge-Blade. Edith told Chase that his assailant twisted the blade inside of him destroying some of his internal organs. It was a miracle that Everett survived the encounter.
“Alright soldier let’s move out.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Edith comfortably leaned against Jake’s arm as they both watched Sam and Chase jog off, “I got a good feeling about him.”
“It took me a while but yeah.” Jake allowed himself a moment of appreciation. “Me too.”
***
Chase and Sam stopped at the corner of a building as an Arez patrol passed. She checked a motion sensor on her wrist to verify that the route was clear before they proceeded. With a short series of hand gestures, she communicated to Chase which building they were heading towards and how many enemy patrols they needed to avoid getting there. After checking a couple of hangars, they finally came upon an Arez console. There were two guards posted by the entrance of the small building the console was housed in. They made their way around back and Chase used the Charge-Blade to quietly create an opening in the back of the building. Once inside Sam got to work on the console. “Keep’em peeled soldier.” Chase nodded and stood watch beside her.
Elsewhere Captain Takeda was busy beneath an Arez Hornet. The Hornet was light assault vessel. He was reversing the polarities on the engines. This reversal would cause the engines to blow out during takeoff. It was a subtle alteration that they wouldn’t catch on a routine preflight inspection. “Patrol coming up on your 3 o’clock. You better get invisible Gramps,” Edith said in his earpiece.
Jake took hold of the ship’s underbelly. He pulled up his legs and flattened himself against the bottom of the ship as the patrol passed by. One of his small tools slipped from the pouch on his back. It fell towards the ground and if it hit it would make just enough noise to draw the patrol to Jake’s position. He caught the errant tool a moment too late after it clanked upon the ground. The sound echoed throughout the quiet hanger.
The Arez patrol pulled their laser pistols from their holsters and went to investigate the sudden out of place noise. The three soldiers circled the Hornet looking for signs of an intruder. One of the soldiers dropped to one knee and shined a light underneath the spacecraft. There was nothing. She stood back up as the other members of the patrol returned to her position. The three simultaneously holstered their weapons and resumed their patrol. Jake was lying on top of the ship with his back flat against it. He let out a sigh of relief as Edith giggled in his ear piece, “that was a close one wasn’t it Cap?”
“Let’s not do that again.” He whispered back to her.
Sam made her way through the many files on the Arez console. With all of the reports being in an alien language the process of finding what they sought was taking a bit of time. Chase would occasionally glance over at the screen. A report Sam paused on caught his interest. She resumed her search of the alien database but Chase had just learned something huge. The Crimson Death hadn’t only taken command of Arez operations on Titan. The beast that killed Chase’s family and friends was here at Cody Outpost. Chase’s right hand was shaking. What’re the chances of this opportunity presenting itself again? He thought. His enemy was within his reach and he had the power to exact his vengeance. It was like fate had put him here.
But the Crimson Death wasn’t the mission. There were people, comrades, who were depending on him. He looked to the door then back to Sam who was hard at work performing her duty. He wanted to avenge his loved ones but he also didn’t want to hurt her. She had placed so much trust in him and helped him so much without asking for anything in return. She was a good person who deserved to have her compassion and generosity rewarded. “Alright kid we’re all done here,” Sam Hawkins turned away from the console only to find that Chase was gone. “Chase?”
15. Discourse
Garret Rainey gradually opened his eyes. He was sitting up in a chair at a mahogany table in a dark room. He tried to scratch an itch on the bridge of his nose and realized that his wrists were bound behind the chair. There was a tinge of soreness that grouped in his left shoulder where Simon chopped him down. How long was he unconscious? Waves of fear washed over him. He didn’t know where he was or how he arrived here. As he slowly peeked across the table he caught a glimpse of Simon Morrissey sitting at the opposite end. The man had a murderous intensity behind his eyes. Garret knew that Simon was chomping at the bit. If thi
s man had his way, he would be dead already. There was an aroma that caught Garret’s attention. Coffee?
“I don’t drink it too often.” Catherine delicately held an ebon mug with both hands. She was seated at the small table between the two men. She blew over the dark liquid then carefully took a sip. “Coffee often conjures bad memories for me.”
“Where am I?” Garret asked.
“That’s not a relevant question for someone in your position to ask.” She took a sip.
Garret looked across the table at Simon then back to Catherine. “Is he? Is he going to kill me?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Listen I know we can work this out somehow.” Garret pleaded. “I mean. Aren’t you his boss?”
“I don’t know if Simon is going to kill you because I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“You promised that if I put down the gun that you’d spare me.”
“Are you really pleading for mercy right now? From me?” Catherine replied in an annoyed tone as she stole another sip.
She shot a quick look over at Simon and he turned over his closed fist then opened it. In his palm was the unregistered navi that Garret had sent to Catherine. Simon tapped the device’s surface with his thumb and played the message, “Miss Fisher… I know what you really are. I know who you really are. If you want to keep your secrets you will have to play ball.” Simon slid the device across the table. It stopped in front of Garret.
Catherine drank deeply from her cup, “You threatened to destroy me. To ruin everything, I worked for. Now you have the gall to ask me to stay my hand?” She let out a laugh. “If you were sitting in my chair right now, would you be so forgiving?”
