A New Beginning

by Alexander W Meurant

  Shaking his head, Sain came to a halt at the barracks and looked the drab building up and down. He definitely wasn’t going to miss this place. It was a sweltering building with no proper air flow or temperature control. He remembered many a sleepless night in the humidity of this jungle covered land.

  Turning his thoughts to the present, Sain made his way inside the building feeling the stuffy air wash over him like a punch in the face. Determined not to think too much about the situation concerning his conscription, he focused on what he was doing right now. It wasn't like he had had much of an idea of which division he had wanted to join anyway. And besides, by all the stories Sain had heard from the other recruits, embellished or not, the Magi Infiltration force was a highly regarded division, and if he was being conscripted to it, it was because he had something Commander Fuldhouser wanted. That was how he was going to justify it to himself anyway.

  Coming to his dorm, Sain stopped briefly before it, looking over its scarred surface. Sucking in a breath Sain pushed open the door and came face to face with the other three recruits he shared the room with, each perched upon their beds chatting excitedly. They all stopped as Sain entered however, and Sabuu stood up grinning at the Gestonian youth.

  "So how did it go?" he asked in the Samite tongue, Sain only barely understanding him with his basic grasp of the language. He halted and spoke slowly in the same language, trying to practice.

  "I got conscripted" he uttered in what he thought was the correct words, which only seemed to make Sabuu look puzzled. The other recruit swapped to Gestonian, a language he could speak easily and well.

  "You got conscripted, is that what you said"? Sabuu asked with the look of confusion still blanketing his face.

  "Yeah, into the Magi Infiltration Forces of Fleet Commander Fuldhouser. I leave within the hour" he said switching to Gestonian as well as he moved to his closet and pulled a sack out which he then began filling with his few possessions. The room was completely silent apart from a sharp intake of breath from one of the others. After a few moments Sain felt a hand grip his left shoulder from behind.

  "Bloody hell, you lucky bastard. I'd never dream of getting a position like that. How did you get noticed by that man" Sabuu demanded, his curiosity painted across his face as Sain turned to look over his shoulder, Sabuu gripping it tightly.

  "It's a long story, but the meat of it is that I was under the care of the Commander's subordinates when I first came to this country. But that's a story for another time. For now, I have to go, a car is waiting for me" Sain said, standing up and brushing Sabuu's hand from his shoulder before slinging the sack across his shoulder. He turned around and looked at Sabuu and the other two, and as they all stood up, he shook each of their hands and nodded to them, not saying anything more. He got grins from all of them and a thump in the arm from Sabuu. Grinning himself, Sain exited the room feeling the other recruits gazes burning into his back as he practically bounded out of the dorm and out into the parade ground.

  He gave the place one final look around, knowing he would not miss the place, although he would definitely remember it. With a deep intake of breath, Sain turned and started walking down the dirt road that ran away from the parade ground to the east, where gate house two was located.

  Sain broke into a light jog as he passed through a few of the outbuildings of the compound, the trip taking him a few minutes to leave the buildings area and start to cross the open fields between the base and fence line. Looking into the distance at gate two, he watched as a car approached, a cloud of dust and dirt being kicked up in its wake.

  As Sain got closer still he watched the car come to a halt and park on the side of the road as a soldier from the gate house came out to investigate. The soldier seemed to converse quickly with the driver before returning to his post, a glance being shot in Sain's direction.

  Quickening his pace, it took Sain a few more minutes to arrive. As he stopped at the gate house the soldier on duty came out to talk to him, a clipboard in hand. Showing the man his Id tag Sain waited for the questions to hit him. None came though as the soldier looked at his clipboard and nodded as he saw Sain's name. The man waved the youth through and went back to the gate house booth, not saying a single word.

  Sain shrugged and hoisted his sack over his shoulder once more before walking briskly around the boom gate and locked his gaze on the car parked only meters away. The door opened and he watched as a young woman emerged from the driver's door, a slight smile on her face.

  "Well, Private Belford, it has been some time, I am glad to see you are doing well. Please, get in, we have a long drive ahead of us" stated Lieutenant Lesha Tayl as her smile seemed to get a little warmer towards the youth. It even seemed a little less forced than what Sain remembered. He actually felt his heart flutter a little and he seemed momentarily lost for words, a little embarrassed.

  "Oh, Lieutenant Tayl, I did not know you would be coming out here. I expected, well a grunt, I guess. It is good to see you too though" Sain replied awkwardly with a sheepish smile as he moved around to the other side of the car. Opening the door, he sat down and threw his sack onto the back seat and closed the car door even as Lesha got back in and turned the engine of the vehicle on.

  Chapter 3

  * * *

  Niall groaned as the doorbell to his suite rang again. As a second ring broke through, he dropped the papers he was reading onto the desk he was sitting at and leaned back in his chair, a low creak resounding as it protested his weight.

  "Ragyo, check the door, if it's another damned suitor, turn them away" he yelled out to the servant that had been put into his service by Phidel.

  Hearing the old man shuffling towards the door from a side room, Niall didn't even turn around, knowing the old butler would be diligent in his duties. Rubbing his eyes, he blearily looked at the papers again. They were all transfer orders to move a large group of civilian personnel to Phidel’s base at Pagua. They were all part of some information warfare development team and the Princess had left him to oversee it right after the royal ball. He did not feel up to the work though, due to the sick feeling in his stomach and a really bad headache, both the effects of the excessive amount of alcohol he had consumed the two nights ago. He swore as he got older his recovering rate for such extravagance was dropping.

  Sighing, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, trying to relax even a little. Since the ball, he had been bombarded by various low ranked noble ladies, all trying to win his attention. He had no desire for marriage though, especially to some noblewoman whose only world was the royal court.

  Hearing the shuffling footsteps of Ragyo reentering the study, Niall turned on his chair and noticed the old man was not alone.

  "Ragyo, I told you to turn away any suitors" he said, giving the old man’s female companion a curious glance. He had seen very few of her type before.

  Before the butler could even reply, the woman fired off a quick retort, and pushed her glasses up her nose slightly with a rather indignant look painted across her face.

  "I am not a suitor you oaf, so shut your boorish mouth and don't jump to conclusions" she snapped at him with a deep-set scowl on her face.

  Niall stared at the small fiery woman, then with a quick glance, he waved at Ragyo, dismissing him. The old man nodded slightly and shuffled away.

  "Just who do you think you are, coming to my house and insulting me" Niall demanded rather calmly and quietly, and giving the woman another look, he took in her features. She was a tiny creature; the top of her head would have come to his chest should he choose to stand. Her hair was black as a raven’s wing and her skin a light brown, it was her facial features he found odd though. She was rather plain by most standards, yet her features were almost certainly Lyesian, and there were almost none of the Lyesian people in the Gestonian empire. She was dressed smartly, with her hair in a short pony tail and glasses perched high on her nose, with dark brown eyes somewhat hidden behind the lenses.

  The woman s
norted and raised a hand to point at Niall.

  "Firstly, this is not a house, it's a military apartment, second, it's not yours, it belongs to the Princess. As for who I am, I am the head of the IRWD team. That is the Information, Research and Warfare Development team if you don't know what it is. I am the leader that you were supposed to have a meeting with half an hour ago, to which you neither showed, nor called to cancel. My time is valuable and you have wasted an hour of it. So, what do you have to say for yourself" the small woman said, planting her hands on her hips and looking defiantly at Niall.

  Niall stared at the woman a few moments and then turned to face his desk, and rifling through a note book, he found what he was looking for and turned back to the woman.

  "You are called Xie Li then" Niall asked and received a slight nod from the woman, so he continued.

  "Well Xie Li, I am sorry for the mix up, but I called your office an hour and a half ago, rescheduling the meeting to this afternoon, I spoke to a Dr Ville who assured me he would pass on the message" Niall spoke rather calmly, looking the woman in the eyes.

  He instantly noticed the change in her face as her eyes widened in surprise and she muttered something under her breath, undoubtably a curse or insult in her native tongue.

  "That senseless piece of gutter trash called Dr Ville is a moronic twit who would rather see me, an NLP defector fail so that he can take over. Oooh, I am going to give him a piece of my mind" she hissed and turned on her heel and stormed towards the exit of the suites as if she had the intention of simply bulldozing through the doors. Niall stood up and called after her.

  "Xie Li, would you not prefer to have our meeting now, so that you do not have to come back later" Niall called out, his hands crossing behind the small of his back.

  The heavy footfalls of the small, yet loud woman suddenly stopped and she leant backwards, her head appearing around the doorframe as she balanced precariously on her heels. A look flashed across her face, probably a look of disgust as she looked at Niall's attire. He was still dressed casually, in what could be passed off as pajamas anywhere. Xie Li crinkled her nose and spun on her heels before coming back into the room and not even waiting to be offered a seat, she sat down on the couch and continued to look disgusted.

  Niall sighed and with his notes in hand, moved to the couch opposite the woman and sat down placing the notes on a coffee table between them. Leaning forward, Niall placed his elbows on his knees and leant forward to speak, a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other.

  "So, this meeting. It was to my understanding that it was just to discover your advances, any that you may have, as well as to organize the logistics involved to transfer you, your team, supporting staff, and all necessary equipment to Pagua, as you are a group in the employment of Princess Phidel. As you may know, she has been granted Pagua and Seirei as her own territories just as her other siblings hold their own lands, and she now has the full intention of staying there, hence the relocation of her assets. So, in short, what is it you need to take with you. I have been ordered to oversee the entire move, and provide any logistical aid that is needed. As I was left here instead of another officer, the princess obviously has a very high opinion of you and your team" he said, looking the woman in the face.

  Xie Li smirked, a strange expression for someone with her looks and features. She stood up quickly and brushed her hands down her trousers, straightening them somewhat.

  "If that is all you wanted to know, a phone call would have sufficed, either that or you actually come to the research facility. Everything we have can be put on an airship, we do not have much equipment, but what we do have is powerful and expensive, so needs to be stored and looked after. I already ordered it all packed away and we will be ready to board it onto an airship tomorrow. So, my suggestion is that you go and find an airship to put them on. I believe the Princess commissioned some new ships a year ago and they were finished only weeks ago. So, we are taking them to Seirei are we not?" she fired off her words quickly and without warning. Niall blinked and stood also, trying to catch everything she said.

  "Yes, we have another seven airships, and they will be accompanying us to Seirei. Very well, a phone call will suffice. So, when you are ready, board the Airship called the Liston. That is my new ship and the most advanced of the seven" Niall said, a frown on his face as he still tried to get a fix on this woman's problem with him.

  The woman snorted and started walking around the couch, but stopped and suddenly turned her head and looked sidelong at Niall, her glasses sliding down her nose a little in the process.

  "I couldn't care less about your ship, it's not like I made it. I will board tomorrow afternoon then. You had better be ready as I actually keep to my schedules" she stated snidely. She gave Niall another look of what he took to be disgust, though he noticed a flicker of a smile on her lips when she saw his fluffy ugg boots. Then with a small snort, she pushed her glasses back up and walked back to the suites foyer and let herself out, the thumps of her heavy foot falls sounding in the hall.

  Niall threw his pen and notebook onto the small coffee table next to his couch and raised a hand to scratch at the stubble on his chin, even as he stared at the door that Xie Li had left from.

  "She certainly is a strange one" he murmured to himself as his eyes flicked to a shadowed doorway to his right, noting the presence of Ragyo standing silently within it.

  * * *

  Sain quietly followed Lesha through the hallway of the base administration office making sure he trailed a foot behind her at all times and just off to the left-hand side as she pointed out the various places that he would have access to for the foreseeable future.

  He tried to remember everything, but Lesha was alternating between speaking in a Samite dialect and Gestonian. The drive from the training base had taken just over two hours and Lesha had not wasted any time in getting to see how Sain’s language skills had improved over the last eight months. She had told him quite bluntly that very few people spoke Gestonian in the Union, and no one was going to be translating for him.

  She had then gone on to inform him that it would be his own responsibility to better his Samite speech, but that she would be more than happy to help him when she had the time.

  Sain brought his attention back to the young officer and listened as she spoke slowly, at least trying to make it easier for him to understand her.

  "Over on the east side you will find all the full-time accommodation, nothing more than blocks of flats really, and unbearable during the hot months. Most opt to stay in the barracks dorms on the west side as they are a lot cooler and the entertainment venues are closer. There are two gyms, complete with pools and a sports Centre, there is also a number of other recreational venues, even a small cinema, though the movies aren't what you would call blockbuster material" Lesha said, chuckling lightly.

  "There is a shooting range as well, apart from the training ones of course. The mess hall is located between the barracks and administration blocks and everyone save the highest ranking officers eat there. At the south you will see all the Hangars and dock fields for the airships. There are currently eight airships on base, all under Commander Fuldhouser's command and jurisdiction. In the north west of the base and far west are all the training grounds. Even professional soldiers need to maintain their skill sets after all. You will be boarded in the western barracks, where I will be introducing you to your commanding officer very shortly" Lesha said, her voice still slow and almost rhythmic. Sain furrowed his brow thinking he had understood most of it. There were a few words he was not familiar with but he guessed the general meaning.

  Suddenly, Lesha stopped talking and simply started walking faster through the office block not even giving Sain a chance to ask any questions. Coming to an exit, Lesha pushed open the single door and let it swing back behind her, nearly causing Sain to get whacked in the face by it. Just barely catching it with a hand and pushing it open before him Sain scowled caught what he thought to be a look of tir
edness flash across Lesha's face. He gulped, surmising she was tired from the long drive to pick him up and then drive back to this base.

  A dozen meters past the building they had left Lesha suddenly came to a halt and cast a look down at her watch casually. Sain didn't speak and just shuffled his feet and fidgeted a little with the sack slung over his shoulder, waiting in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Hearing a rattle, Sain turned his head to the right and noticed a small vehicle pulling a number of carts rounding a nearby corner. After a few moments the vehicle pulled up in front of them and not saying a word Lesha stepped into one of the carts and seated herself.

  Sain followed her example and placed his sack of meagre belongings beside him as the vehicle rocked and started moving again. Seated as he was Sain craned his neck and started to look around as he felt a cool breeze on his face. It was quite refreshing considering the humid air during the day. As he glanced over all he could see, he noticed that the base he was on was huge. Sain could see the outlines of some of the larger airships in the southern part of the base, towering above the hangars that held the smaller aircraft such as fighter planes, bombers, transports and gunships.