by Devin Cain
"Yes, sir!" I saluted.
"Good luck, rookie," he saluted back and tapped my shoulder slightly. I grinned at the man who kept going out of his way to try and ‘mentor’ me, I thought. Filing that away as well in my mind, I ran out into a stadium-sized area. Most of the battalion was already scurrying about and arraying toward the door which looked like an army was about to march through as it glowed a vicious red.
Without anyone I could call a friend, it didn’t matter where I went. Suddenly, the far-left corner looked very attractive, where I was sure no one would bug me. Before I could make it, the lights died out as red flashing strobe lights turned the training bay into something aching a brothel. Far above us, Gremory floated in her battle suit and looked down on us mere mortals. From the look on her face, I imagined this was going to hurt real bad.
Chapter Four
"Battalion three and Battalion four. I hope you’ll give us a better show than the previous two excuses for an outfit," Gremory’s voice boomed through the speakers. "In a couple of days, you’ll be facing a Gebradim colony. You’ve probably seen them in the movies and documentaries. Well, guess what? They’re much harder to kill than you might think. Now is the time to get rid of any trauma or problems about hitting someone. You don’t want to freeze in the face of battle and get yourself killed! Even worse, get someone else killed over your cowardice!"
She stopped for a moment to let it all sink in. More than one person from my Battalion shifted uncomfortably on their feet. We all knew there would be a multitude of deaths, but just how many and in what way, no one was certain.
"After the battle, everyone will have a combat chip embedded that will help you fight. Even rookies like you will fight like veteran soldiers once your body has accepted the implant!"
"Yes, yes. That’s enough, Gremory," a familiar voice shrieked. "Why do I sound so strange? Fix this microphone!"
I groaned, recognizing the voice. It was the asshole commander from when I woke up on the ship. How was he in charge in the first place when Gremory was the star of this parade? Had Lucifer done a number on me and lied? I sighed as he kept on shrieking for a while longer, trying to push his voice from my mind.
"I heard he’s the son from one of the founding families back when the Legions were established," someone whispered to my side. Two young women stood huddled in a corner between two large crates.
"Oh?" I asked, stepping up to them. "Pray, tell more," I whispered.
"Who’re you?" the same young woman asked with a frown.
"Cain," I replied, offering my hand. She looked at it as if she was studying my medical record for any possible disease. But she accepted a few seconds later and shook it.
"Levi is the name, hacker extraordinaire. If you want to know anything, I can provide the info. For a price."
"Oh, and just how do you have this info?"
"Easy," she shrugged. "I hacked the Legion’s mainframe when we arrived. I got info on most of the officers and people in command. You see, there’s only the most basic of walls set up to defend the mainframe, so even a beginner could do as much."
"It’s that bad?" I asked. She nodded slightly.
"It is. The legion is broke. I wish I hadn’t joined now I know the state of this outfit, but if this operation isn’t a clear victory, this Legion is done for."
"I see," I replied worriedly. "And yes, those skills sure could come in handy. Would you care to chat me up about it later? We can grab something to eat once the training session is over," I offered and flashed her a smile. The other woman waved us off and disappeared behind the crate.
"Sure. She didn’t seem too interested in meeting new people anyway."
"I guess so," I replied with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, we got a deal?"
"In what? In bed?" she looked half afraid and shocked.
"Amongst other things," I chuckled. "Follow me if you want to survive."
"Right, right. You sure are cocky, my new friend. We’re supposed to lose this one, by the way. I just listened in on the command chatter. Our BC was fighting the order, but the overall commander told him not to disobey, and imagine this, go suck a stun baton."
I frowned as a primordial rage rose from deep inside at the constant injustice the people up top kept throwing our way, day after day, year after year.
"How did you get into their comms and the mainframe earlier? Shouldn’t they be heavily guarded by some kind of security? And how the hell are we supposed to lose? In a straight-up fight," I asked.
"The enemy is moving to flank us from another position. The far wall should open any moment now, so we’ll be outmaneuvered from the get-go. As to how I got the info, let’s say that I’ve got a good friend on the ship with who likes me every much as he did years back."
"I see. Anyway, I think I got an idea," I replied, walking up to what looked like the center of our non-existent formation.
"Oh no, he’s not going to do that, is he?" I could hear her say as I looked around.
"Listen up, everyone! Any moment now, the enemy will hit our flank! You don’t have to trust me, and I don’t give a shit as to who does, but don’t regret it once bullets start flying!" I shouted loud enough to be heard over everyone else. To my surprise, it worked as most people looked my way.
"Oh, shut up! What the hell do you know?" a voice rang out to my left. Then my right, and soon at least ten different voices were yelling at me. "There’s a reason we have no officers accompanying us in this training exercise! It’s to show them we can work together as a team! And you’re not getting leadership through lying."
"Fine, don’t trust me! I don’t care, but you’ll be the first to die with your backs turned to the enemy!"
I didn’t even wait for them to reply and instead ran up to a couple of crates which I could use as a barricade. I put up my rifle and trained it at the far wall. Two more rookies joined me and took up firing positions beside me.
"Hah! Idiots! Morons like you will be our down--"
That’s as far as he got before a shock round struck him right in the eyeball. I winced and fired back at the wall that was still opening, spilling hundreds of wannabe soldiers into the training arena. More rookies and a few regulars took up positions close to me and peppered the far end of the training bay. A high-pitched scream resounded from my left. It was from Levi.
"Oh god, how can someone so small draw so much fire?" I murmured, moving past my Battalion mates over to where Levi was huddled low.
"Cain, God! I’m saved!" she cried, putting her arms around me.
"Why the hell did you apply if you’re as scared?" I asked, pushing her away.
"Because I was getting evicted from my apartment!"
I groaned, knowing all too much how hard that could weigh on someone.
"Story of our life, no?" I growled. "Look, just try to lay down some covering fire every once in a while," I said and popped up, released three bursts and ducked back down.
Screams and cries of pain reverberated throughout the entire area. Both sides were struck hard in the first few minutes, though it seemed we’d taken the shorter straw by far. I counted three confirmed hits and multiple near-misses. For my first time around, I was satisfied with what I’d accomplished after a lifetime of never holding a gun in my hands.
"You shouldn’t be trying so hard, master," Gremory whispered in my ear. I turned around, but she wasn’t there. Could she have used some kind of telepathy? Or had they inserted something in my brain? Her presence grew by the moment, and it felt like she was projecting herself somehow onto me.
"Why not? Fuck that sleazeball! I want to win!" I cursed and shot another rookie. "If the commander has a problem with that, he can come down here and shoot me himself."
"Hah! You’re quite the feisty one, no? Whatever. I’ll tell him it was my fault and that I leaked some info on this move. We can’t have you being executed the first day around, no?"
"Whatever! They throw us into this mess without any formal training? What did they expect?
That we would act like real soldiers?"
"No, but this is what everyone goes through on their first training. After the chip is installed, things will be much different. Once we arrive near Gebradim Beta, you’ll all be veterans as far as the aliens are concerned."
I didn’t reply but rounded the corner and shot my fifth rookie, and then came face to face with two more. The left, a big brute of a guy, slammed the butt of his rifle against my face. It must have been against the rules, but no one was there to enforce them. The guy on the right dropped as two projectiles struck his left cheek and neck. I pointed my gun up at the big guy and released a series of shots in his groin. He shuddered, arms flailing around and then dropped beside the other guy.
"You’re welcome," Levi said with a smirk as she helped me up. Bullets struck the crates and ground near me, forcing us to scurry off into hiding.
"They’re trying to box us in!" a voice from our right called.
"Confirmed," another from the left called back.
"Shit!" I cursed. "If they flank us, we’re dead. We need to—no, wait," I muttered and thought hard. They must have been spread rather thin to cover more ground. According to what I could see, there weren’t more than a hundred of them, and about half of them were on our side.
"We can try to huddle up. All of us together and try to fight like that?" Levi offered.
"No, it would never-- Wait, that’s brilliant!" I laughed, patting her left shoulder. "Can you patch me in somehow to the Battalion wide channel?"
"And~ done," she replied after tapping on something I never had the pleasure of seeing before. "What? I already anticipated the move. Well, at least the part where you wanted to talk to everyone," she chuckled. I winked at her and looked over the crate to get a better view of what was happening.
"We don’t stand a chance if we stay spread out like this. We need to focus on one side and maul the enemy. They’re spread out too thin to effectively use their numbers. Everyone, move to my position," I barked as if I knew what I was doing. And maybe I was. I clearly remember that with being awakened, I would inherit combat and tactical training. Maybe it was finally kicking in?
"Rookie! Stay off the channel, or I’ll perm you once we’re done!" the BC yelled. He was very amused by how all of this turned out, I could hear it in his voice, but he had to reprimand me before his superiors. Whatever. I’d get over it once I had a cold beer.
Moments later, I caught movement to my left, which turned out to be seven rookies and two regulars. Then five more ran up, followed by three more regulars.
"I need ten to stay behind and keep up the illusion," I ordered.
"Make use of this opportunity, rookie," a regular said, punching me lightly on the shoulder. Was he accepting me as one of his own? No, it couldn’t be. We weren’t blooded yet, and everyone knew what that was from the documentaries. Survive your first real battle to become one of the regulars.
I nodded and got up, released three bullets, and started running toward our left flank. The two rookies charging right behind me went down, but as soon as a few of us were on the other side, we laid down covering fire. Soon, there were about thirty of us.
"I’ll go in from there," I said, pointing at a group of crates and a concrete wall. "I need ten with me. Volunteers?"
Levi was the first to raise her hand and was quickly followed by the same regular and his small group of survivors. I nodded at them and turned toward the rest. They nodded in confirmation as they knew what needed to be done.
The first thing I noticed once we hunkered down was that their gunfire was heaviest on their left flank, or our right, depending from perspective. This was our chance to hurt them badly.
"Three, two, one, move!" I counted down and stepped out to move, but the regular stopped me and motioned for his people to go first.
"Officers never take the point, idiot. Here, shake my hand. The name is Samson," the man said, offering his meaty paw. It more resembled the hand of a bear than that of a man.
"I’m not an off--"
"No, but if you survive execution, you will be."
I sighed and shook my head. Fuck that. I wouldn’t get killed by a Human lowlife commander. I’d have Gremory kill him before I died so he could accompany me to hell.
"Whatever, Samson. Let’s put the hurt on their line!" I growled with mock confidence and moved past our group, followed by Levi and him.
The fourth battalion’s pocket of resistance was quickly destroyed from two sides. Their center quickly reorganized and bunkered down behind a stack of metal plates and beams.
"All of you, circle back around to the right," I ordered and snapped a few shots off at the enemy position. "Leave me a few rookies and flank them, Samson."
The man nodded and tapped four of his regulars, then disappeared quickly around the corner. Immediately gunfire picked up from where he’d left off to. Whatever, it wasn’t like we’d die if we lost, I hoped.
I darted from behind cover and started shooting at the hunkered-up group. Shock bullets grazed my boots and weapon two times in quick succession as I dove for cover. Three more soldiers followed along with Levi and luckily made it in one piece. The enemy side was exposed from their rear, incidentally just where we’d hidden. We opened fire, gunning them down one by one, lifting some of the pressure off our flank.
By that point, there weren’t many of us left on either side, and from what I could see now, and remembered from earlier, there should be about forty of them left and half of that for us.
It would have to be enough, I told myself. I had no idea where this confidence or newborn prowess really came from, but I relished it with all of my being. Now if it could hold out for a bit longer, I was sure we’d win this fight.
"Trust me," a voice whispered in my mind. "I won’t let you down. After all, I feel all of your pain as well."
"Huh? Did anyone just say something?" I asked, looking my group over. All of them shook their heads.
"They’re pushing hard on Samson’s group. He and seven others are all that’s left," Levi said, bringing me back to the issue at hand.
"Follow," I ordered and darted out from behind the crate and shot two distracted rookies in the back. Levi pinned the third while we pressed on behind their main force, or what was left of them anyway. Behind me, I could hear a couple of pairs of boots skidding along the pavement and halting behind me.
"Come on, behind that barricade," I said just loud enough to be heard by my people. The enemy was barely twenty feet away from us now. To my surprise, I saw Samson peek out from behind the wall and release a few shots. He grinned and fell back when he noticed me.
I was by far no Commander or someone skilled in real warfare, but I had a hunch that he was about to do something stupid from the way he’d grinned. Samson peeked out again from the other side, and looked right at me, released a spray of shock ammo, and nodded. By then, we were already in position, and there was no more going back.
"Kill them all!" I shouted, spraying the enemy’s back while drawing their attention to me. The three of my rookies were hunkered down some ten feet to my right and mostly hidden from enemy sight. With a battle cry, they popped up and started shooting downrange. I hid again after moving up two crates and coming almost into striking distance, popped out again and released four more shots before they pinned me down.
Levi peeked out from around the other corner and shot two right in the face. Damn, this girl had some nasty luck, I thought.
"Kill them all!" resounded again, but this time from Samson’s remainder of our forces. The crazy guy ran out and knocked an enemy over with his bare fist, then proceeded shooting four more from close range before they even knew what hit them. They really were rookies, just like us and had momentarily forgotten about their flank. It had cost them their victory.
"We give up!" one of the rookies called and threw away his rifle, but Samson wouldn’t have it. He shot the man right in the forehead. The poor guy’s eyeballs rolled up into his skull as he thrashed aroun
d like a dying fish.
"We do not give up! We fight until the last man, so our brothers and sisters are safe!" Samson growled and proceeded to execute the remaining enemies. It was harsh, but the man was right to a degree. We didn’t only fight so we could live another day, many of us struggled because we had someone to protect. But not me. I had a duty both to myself and to the king of all that was evil, Lucifer.
Chapter Five
There weren’t many things that could rattle me, except for the extreme social injustice that took root starting the 2100’s. It had been present since the dawn of time, but during the 22nd century, it had further than ever. The latest example of such injustice was when the peacock commander of this Legion appeared all high and mighty, degrading anyone and everything, both living or dead.
"BC! What is the meaning of this? I demand an explanation!" he practically screamed and stormed up to the BC, the Lieutenant, and the handful of survivors, including me. Behind him strode an army of officers, aides, and armed guards.
"This isn’t going to end good," Levi whispered from behind. She was a head shorter than me, so she could easily remain hidden from view. What a sly girl, she really knew how to use that body of hers.
"No shit," Samson whispered from my left. "That guy has his head so far stuck up his ass that he doesn’t even know what daylight looks like."
I couldn’t help but chuckle and immediately added a cough to mask the sound. The Commander stopped a couple of feet from us and looked my way, narrowed his eyes, and focused on the BC again.
"Commander! I don’t even know where to begin explaining. This wasn’t supposed to-- "
"You’re damn right it wasn’t supposed to happen like this! Now my nephew needs to get executed, or I’ll lose face in front of my Legion!" the commander screeched. His face flushed crimson before he was even done speaking.
"Sir, no one needs to know--"
"You’re damn right they don’t! But to thank you for this ‘spectacle,’ I’ll have your Battalion form our spearhead once we arrive on Gebradim Beta. If you survive, we can speak about forgiveness. If you know what I mean," he cackled.