“Yes, Commander.”
I cut the channel and opened the one with the leaders, who were still yelling at me.
***
The journey seemed to be one of the longest I’d ever had. When Commander Boot arrived in-system, I made it clear that anything would have to go through him. Meaning that I was left peacefully alone as we glided toward Earth.
“Did you receive my Mecha?” I asked Commander Kurft of Bregend’s Commandos. We watched a series of fights, all of them deadly, just stopping their attacks before they maimed each other.
“Yes, Commander. It’s in the armory. If you’ll follow me.”
I fell in behind him and he walked me into a decent-sized armory with racks of Mechas hanging next to the sealed weapon door.
“What’s it now! I’m already fixing this broken Sarenmenti knee joint!” an annoyed sounding squat human said from his worktable, bent over the Mecha’s form as he worked on the Mecha in front of him.
“Do you have Commander Salchar’s Mecha?” Kurft asked.
“Yeah, I’ll get to it in a bit. It’s on the rack. Damned transporters knocked the nerve ports out of alignment. Don’t know what they did to the damned thing to knock them out so bad. Never even seen anything like it, not even on the commander’s first Mecha. Don’t know how in hell he survived that one, but even then the nerve ports weren’t that out of alignment!”
“I survived by the skin of my teeth and I lost a hand in the process,” I said as the armorer shot up, smacking his head on a tool rack above him.
He shook it off, coming to attention. “Commander Salchar! I had no idea, sir.”
“At ease. It’s fine. If you don’t mind, I’ll have a look at these odd nerve ports.”
“It’s no worry, sir. I can get one of the other Commandos to do so.”
“They have better things to do than look over my Mecha. My security detail should probably have a look at theirs too.” I smiled as my mind made conclusions of what would’ve happened to me if I had gotten into the Mecha the way it was. I needed to check who’d touched the armor itself.
“Certainly, Commander Salchar.” The armorer nodded as he inputted information on an interface and all of my personal detail’s suits rotated down into Mecha bays.
“If that is all, Commander, I will return to my Commandos,” Commander Kurft said. His eyes were dark and his mouth was angry, but I could tell not at me. He had made some of the same conclusions I had.
“Yes, Commander, I’ll be here.”
He bowed his head before leaving. In the Free Fleet, there wasn’t a specific way of saluting, though the two-finger salute was seen as the normal one for quick situations, and nodding for more formal and between those from lower to higher.
As he left, I walked over to my Mecha, cueing it to open and I saw the nerve port connectors.
“That doesn’t look like just any transport damage,” Krom said in a grunt. Janice nodded in agreement as the others, unknowing, spaced themselves out, covering our backs.
“I think that we’ve picked up something other than allies in our latest hires.” I opened a private channel to the Resilient and the intelligence division created by Min Hae.
“Get me top,” I told the person who answered my call after checking my clearance.
“Yes.” Using outside communications, names and ranks disappeared.
“Here,” a voice said a number of minutes later. The lag between the two ships was still minimal at this point, thankfully.
“Initiate India Sierra protocols. PD one and two to be given top status to assist.”
“Incident?”
“Possible attempted Caesar.” I moved to Calerd’s Mecha, which was beside mine. He opened it and I saw his nerve ports were also damaged.
“On PD one and individual.”
“India Sierra confirmed and acknowledged.”
“Continue on.”
The channel terminated as Krom made a noise.
I knew that their implants were updating, increasing their security status to two levels below my own, higher than anyone other than myself, Henry, Rick, and Bok Soo. They now had access to every visual and audio capturing device in the fleet.
“Let’s get working on these Mechas, then.”
They nodded, moving to their own Mechas with Shreesht locking the door to the armory. The armorer looked up but shrugged, nodding to me as he continued on with his work and swearing. Bregend had a good crew, it looked like from what I’d seen, with their loyalty proven over time and through fire. Yet I wasn’t sure that was entirely true throughout the fleet, and it definitely wasn’t on Earth.
I got to realigning the ports as we neared Earth.
***
“Good luck, sir,” Commander Heston said to me as I was waiting to board my shuttle.
“Hopefully, I won’t need it.” I winked as I walked out of the conference room. Krom, Dave, and Janice fell in behind me.
“Good thing I took those piloting courses, isn’t it,” Janice said as we walked.
“I said that both of you should have taken the medical courses. You’d be of more help to the wounded than to me.”
“They don’t see how often you come apart and have to be stuck together again. It’s almost like you’re trying to imitate Humpty Dumpty,” Dave chimed in.
I grinned into my helmet. “All right, all right, I get your point.”
We took the speed elevator to the Rebirth’s docking hangar, walking straight from the Hachiro into the Rebirth’s shuttle bay.
Calerd and Shreesht were already waiting there, looking stoic like usual. I swung aboard the shuttle after Janice.
“Okay, so where are we going?” she asked as everyone got aboard. Dave rechecked the hatch’s seals and Janice brought the shuttle to life.
“Nepal.”
“What’s there?” Dave asked.
“Commandos.” I grinned as I sat back.
“Okay, be all mysterious then.” Janice pulled her engine’s power up, getting clearance from Sung Ha himself before we passed through the electrostatic field of the shuttle bay and down toward Earth. The blast doors moved away from the view ports as I looked at the Earth moving beneath us. There’s no way to describe it, seeing the view that only pilots and astronauts had seen before me. The beauty of Earth made me smile.
“So, where in Nepal are we going?”
“The Himalayans.” I threw her the coordinates.
“Wait, I think I remember something about my military history class and a unit—”
“Yes, the Ghurkas.”
Krom and Shreesht’s ears twitched at this.
“Seems you two have been looking up on our fighters.”
“Yes, Battle Master. It is customary for one warrior to find the best warrior in the area to know whether to challenge them or not. While these Ghurkas are small, it does seem that they, like you, Battle Master, are great warriors and brilliant in the art of war. It will be an honor to meet them.”
“Hopefully, you’ll be fighting beside them soon.”
The shuttle neared the coordinates, flaring its landing thrusters and slowing our momentum until we finally settled down lightly in a village square.
“Tracking multiple weapon barrels trained on the craft. More appearing by the second. Damn,” Janice said.
“May I take the lead?” Krom asked.
“If they’re going to fight for me, they should see me, not never know who the hell I am while I hide behind my subordinates.”
Before he could argue, I opened the hatch and jumped down. My Mecha took the force of the impact as I stood slowly. My Mecha made whirring noises as power was shunted to its different servos and pumps.
One elderly man walked up to me without any difficulty, speaking of the fine shape he was in for looking more than a hundred years old. “Hello, what is your business here?”
“To recruit.”
“Ah, for the shiny ships above our heads?”
“Yes.”
�
��What has your master sent you with to bargain with us? Wealth, power? We have been offered all of those before and we are still loyal to the crown.”
Krom came out of the shuttle and Shreesht followed him. Both of them made heavy thuds as they jumped from the hatch.
“We cannot be bought,” the man said with a sad smile. “I am afraid you have wasted your time and effort.”
“I like them already,” Krom said.
“At least he didn’t throw me across the room the first time he saw me,” I growled and I saw Krom’s teeth through his helmet. Immediately the Ghurkas shifted and I felt the weapons hidden around us move to match.
“Can we fight them?” Shreesht asked. “I want to fight the legendary Ghurkas of the humans.”
“You wish to challenge us, alien?”
“Shreesht?” I popped my helmet with a hood. “And, by the way, I don’t represent anyone but myself and the Free Fleet,” I said with a smile as my eyes bored into the old man. Krom and Shreesht lifted their helmets. Calerd and Dave, who followed afterward, did the same. Janice was still at the controls, ready for lift-off in a second if need be.
“Ah, Commander Salchar, we still won’t fight for—”
“I don’t want you to fight for me. I want you to fight with me. Not for a country, but the world, against enemies that you can’t even imagine.”
Krom growled hungrily. “What my battle master says is true. My blades have not been more wet than they are now.”
“What blade do you use?” The man’s face was immediately interested.
Krom pulled out his two moon-shaped daggers, which would be small swords to any other creature, with their glowing plasmid edges.
The man studied the blades intently. “Yes, they must be quite effective.”
“I have heard about your own blades. May I see one?” Krom sheathed his.
There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on the man’s face, but I could see it in his eyes as he pulled out a kukri. We all studied it intently. I had seen it before on the internet but never in person. I thought of how it could be used to pull apart a Mecha.
After a few minutes, he put it away.
“So, what do you want?”
“For you to fight alongside us in the Free Fleet as Commandos, or whatever you choose to be, to keep Earth and the other homesteads and races of those under our protection safe.”
“What about our families?”
“They would either stay on Earth until accommodations can be made for them at one of the Free Fleet bases or they can make their own place in the stars. They will be assisted, of course.”
“Training?” he asked.
“Given by current Commandos. The band with me are veterans, but they are not fully trained Commandos. We have units training at one of our bases with Special Forces. I have high hopes that the training will be to the highest standard,” I replied.
“If we are injured?”
“We can fix up nearly anything, re-grow it, or give someone mechanical parts until the originals are re-grown. There’s always the option of changing trades or returning to the civilian side if necessary. Though, at this time, we are unable to release anyone into the civilian population from their term of service, which is a minimum of five years. As you will be gaining age treatments, we believe this to be fair.”
“How do you battle?”
“Mostly hand-to-hand with plasmid weaponry and a Mecha’s fists.”
“Would we be a single unit or a mixed unit?”
“It would depend. I would want to have mixed units. Then our allies would feel safe without us having a unit that could be potentially more loyal to Earth than the others under the protection of the Free Fleet.”
He nodded, looking thoughtful. “I will tell others.”
I nodded as he wandered off. I grabbed my drinking straw, taking a long pull as I tried to clear my dry throat. I could feel all of the weapons around me, pointed straight at my head. I could smell the gun oil and sweat with my heightened senses as I took a seat.
“What do we do now?” Calerd asked in his hissing voice.
“Now we wait.”
Krom nodded as he began making a watch shift. Dave got back inside the shuttle; he and Janice would switch off in a few hours so they were always ready to book it. I took a watch myself, taking in the sights and sounds of the Himalayas and the natural terrain.
It took three days before the old man came back.
“So, anything we should know?”
“We have decided to agree if you agree to a contract.”
“What is it?”
He told me that the Ghurkas wanted to be treated equally, their people given a place to live in the stars that they would call their own as well as their homes in the Himalayas. They wanted to be able to carry certain ceremonial artifacts, like the kukri. He also asked whether we would be putting women on the front line. I agreed and said we would. He looked at me, thoughtful again. “How much would we be getting paid per year as Commandos?”
“Approximately a quarter of a million pounds, without a Mecha. With, closer to three-quarters of a million and the Mecha is worth ten million-ish with all of your implants.”
He nodded his head before he turned around. “Who will carry the kukri into battle once more for the Free Fleet?”
The hills seemed to sprout people as they ran down to the open area around the shuttle, getting into ranks and coming at attention. I pulled my hand away from my holster as I looked at the recruits in front of me.
“Well, let’s see if we can turn you into Commandos now.” I grinned as I looked at the sturdy, impassioned faces that looked directly ahead. I broke them into groups of fifty, giving them numbers.
“Okay, group one, on the shuttle. Buckle up. Shreesht, show them.” He nodded, barking at them to get moving as they rushed up the lowering ramp. I pulled my data pad from the small of my back. It had all of the information on it that the older man had asked me. I took off my gauntlet with Krom’s help, placing my thumb down on it. I passed it to the old man, who did the same.
“Dave, get me a printout copy as well as a digital one. Should be coming from the cockpit.”
“You do not believe our word?” the man asked. Everyone looked to me.
“I believe your word, but I would rather that no one can argue with our agreement later, or interfere with it,” I said with a smile.
The corner of the old man’s mouth lifted. “Yes, best to cover all of the bases.”
Dave gave the man the two copies. He checked it over. There were actually copies in multiple languages. Always best for both sides to have proof, not just one with ownership. I had a feeling he was referring to the way in which the British used the Ghurkas, sending most of them home, or accepted them into Britain with little in the way of money and benefits due their station.
“I will send down a shuttle in an hour if I can manage it to pick up the rest of them. They’ll go through basic testing on Hachiro. If they pass, they’ll be shipping out with the fleet to Parnmal to be trained as Commandos. Private mail will be monitored but allowed, though slow, as it will be done on a ship-to-ship basis, going through the systems to get here.”
“It’s understood. We’re used to sending ours to faraway places.”
“Would you want to send a group with us to find a place for the Ghurkas to claim as their own or do that at a later time?”
“We will see if our people are ready to become Commandos and decide later when we wish to move out into the universe.”
“I still can’t believe this is happening. Ghurkas fighting for the Free Fleet. Damn!” I grinned like a kid as I presented my hand. He took it and we shook. Dave raced down with the paper copy as I took out my data pad. I frowned as I accessed it and opened up the information database, adding a few military things but keeping it mostly civilian.
“Data pads?” I asked my detail and they produced theirs. I cloned mine onto theirs as I handed the small stack to the man.
�
�Hopefully, these will answer any questions you might have. And what was your name?”
“Anil, Commander.”
“Well, it’s been good meeting you, Anil.” I got onto the shuttle with Krom, sealing it behind me. I reattached my gauntlet and made sure it would hold pressure, then I sealed my helmet and took my seat.
“Shreesht?” Janice asked over a channel to all of us.
“All secure.”
“Krom?”
“Hatch secured.”
“All right, firing thrusters.” Slowly the shuttle picked up, clearing the trees before accelerating and taking us high. Janice added more acceleration until we were hurtling into space. The shuttle buffeted and jerked a bit and then we were free of Earth’s atmosphere and turning to Japan, Europe, and the other countries that were badly hit. Where people were looking for jobs the most.
Time Waits For No Man or Woman
Rick greeted Commander Hun as he walked on board Hachiro, trading lazy two-finger salutes.
“Good trip?” Rick asked as Commander Hun shook his hand.
“Uneventful.”
“Good. Everything good?”
“Chaleel and AIH are growing in leaps and bounds. We have thousands who have joined up already from both planets.”
Rick nodded as he began walking into Hachiro, indicating for Hun to keep up with him as Wruck followed in the distance.
“You’ve got a lot going on here?” Hun continued as he made the statement a question.
“It is quite the madhouse. Got Nancy eating asteroids and fixing ships. While people are putting ships back together from the inside, others are training or patrolling. It’s more madness than planning,” Rick said with a grin, which Hun returned.
“So, where are the people I brought going?”
Rick took a breath as he collected his memories. “Most are going to Nancy. The Commandos are filling holes in their structure. We’re moving the veterans over from other ships to command roles on the new ships, then we’ll put the newbies underneath them.”
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