“Those for doing it tonight?” Jerome said.
Only two hands didn’t raise.
“Well, let’s go and get started then,” Jerome said, as he put his papers in his pocket. He led them out of the mess, towards the armory.
***
“Leave always seems to go by so fast,” Ali complained, as everyone jogged on the massive track that went around the entire ship.
“Stow it Ali,” Alvarez said.Sounding like she agreed..
“Yes, Sergeant,” Ali said, as they continued their run.
It felt odd to be leaving Earth again. A part of Tyler felt like he didn’t really visit it. As much as Quentin Richter tried to make them feel comfortable and at home, it wasn’t anymore. He was leaving again, and it was hard to think about Earth once again. Even if Richter lived a good life - and was able to keep inside the tower instead of going out into the metal-dust of Earth - he would be dead without the expensive life-extending drugs that the CEOs made.
The world that Tyler grew up in would be dead. Reclaimer was a time capsule. Creatures of the past were stored for the future. They were awakened to exact a terrible price on those that tried to go against their masters, and the EMF’s.
Tyler tried to not think about it. When he was down on Sacremon, all that mattered was staying alive and keeping his friends alive. The colonists lived lives which were a luxury compared to people’s lives back on Earth. Yet, it wasn’t enough for them.
Tyler gritted his teeth against his thoughts.
Get your mind in the game, now’s the time to learn how to stay alive, not debate!
They were taught everything - from how to drive air-cars to Combat Shuttles, to working their gun systems. The shuttle pilots were kind of pissed, but the troopers in their cargo bays could see just how damned good they were.
The training level was broken into four different training areas. One was the Gas Planet Extractors located on Gas Planet in Masoul System.
Companies fucking suck at naming shit, Tyler thought. The other was an asteroid mining facility, and the other two were Masoul Actual’s underground towers.
Masoul Actual was plagued with the worst weather that humans ever encountered. The CEOs even gave up on claiming it, and lived in stations while the people lived underground. Their towers grew down, rather than up.
The simulated deck showed the inside of a station thankfully. The deck could simulate nearly any environment, most people liked to train with rain or lightning storms. The shittier the training on the simulation decks the easier it was to fight in those same conditions in real life. At least that seemed to be the training mantra.
Makes for great training, Tyler thought, as he heard the words of his training Sergeant Fredrickson.
He understood it, but when everything you’re wearing is soaked and you have to clean it all for hours. He wasn’t praising of the genius that came up with the training schedule.***
“What’s up?” Mark asked Lucille as she sat in his arms, and looked at Jupiter as it went past. He didn’t just see that something was on Lucille’s mind – he could feel it, too.
“I’m just sad,” she said. She looked ahead as her eyes started to water.
“Sad about what?” Mark asked. He wasn’t sure how he could make her feel better.
“We’re going to have about five months, and then we’re going to sleep. I’ll see you for about a week and you’ll be gone for a year,” she said. The tears fell more now, as she hid her face in Mark’s shoulder.
He held her, and his large arms cocooned her.
“Don’t worry, everything will be alright,” Mark said. He hoped he was right.
He had shared more with Lucille than he thought was possible for him to share with anyone else. They talked about things that made tears come to his eyes. He wanted to do anything he could to try and comfort her.
As it was, she was scared about the attachment she was forming. She was scared she might get hurt by caring for a man that was going right into the fight. She saw his scans and his medical treatment. He would have died without his augments.
Now, all of that inner turmoil made her sad about losing him. She distanced herself, as if more space would help her. Mark didn’t understand it.
There was little he could do but reassure her. He rocked her back and forth, and tried to make promises that he wasn’t sure he could keep.
Their lips kissed, and hunger filled her as she kissed him harder and with more passion.
They continued for a few minutes before Mark looked around.
“I think we should go and try and find a corner of the library,” he said, as he quirked an eyebrow to her in question.
She gave a small smile. Mark picked her off of his lap, and they went to the library. The nooks and dark corners made it the regular hook-up place for couples. The sex was hard and frantic. Lucille’s lips were hungry, as she seemed to try to pull something from Mark. Mark felt his own hunger - the hunger of a man about to go to war.
Some Veterans said that there’s no aphrodisiac quite like coming or going to war. In that library corner, Mark agreed with them completely.
Afterwards they sat there, their sweat cooling as they talked about random goings on. They tried to keep away from the inevitable truth of what was to come.
When they dressed, Mark reached for Lucille’s hand, but she pushed him away.
“I can’t. I can’t think of you being away from me. I’m turning into a wreck. I can’t handle it. We need to break up,” Lucille said.
Mark felt his body chill. He exerted control over himself, and objectively cut away his emotions. He didn’t need to deal with this right now. He had a war to fight. He didn’t need to be preoccupied.
“What’s wrong?” Mark asked.
“Nothing. You’re great, but it hurts so much you being away. I can’t handle it,” she said.
“Okay,” Mark said. His voice was soothing, but he wanted to beat his frustration out in the gym till his body burned.
“Maybe later, once I’ve got myself sorted out, we can get back together,” she said. She smiled up to him with tears in her eyes.
“Okay,” Mark said. Some of the hope hit him, with pain mixed in.
She hugged him, and Mark wrapped his large arms around her. He smelled her hair, and exhaled his frustration.
“Okay,” Lucille said, as she turned and walked away with tears in her eyes.
The EMF weren’t about to let a trooper get out of war, and Mark wasn’t going to let his friends go to war without him there to watch their backs.
Mark’s frustration turned into aimless anger. He focused it on his mission. He would survive, and then he would find out if Lucille wanted him back.
First, he needed to go to the gym and bleed off some of the anger inside.
***
Tyler waved Mark over, to his table. Alexis leaned against him as much as the table. Her warmth settled his nerves, even in light of the EMF and Reclaimer’s drastic moves.
Nerva walked onto the stage. First and second Regiment were in the mess, and Major Isalev just finished up treatment.
“Alright, it looks like a religious group of some sort has exercised control over Masoul System. Fearless is badly damaged, but they are exiting the system and heading towards us. Other carriers are being mobilized in Sol and sent our way.” His calm, measured voice made people look at the information in a new light.
“We are heading for the system within five hours. We will be training to take back Masoul. We will also be picking up the survivors of the Fearless enroute Fearless.”
Something dark shifted in his eyes.
“I have read over the files on this group. They might show themselves as a religion, but they use it as a guise to claim power over people. This is a war unlike any we have fought in the EMF for generations. Our mission will be to not only protect the assets of Earth and Her Colonies, but the people who want no part of this uprising,” Nerva continued. “This ‘Harmony’ group will do everyt
hing in their power to instill loyalty with them. When the people see through their guise, they will use fear and pain to gain obedience.”
The way he said the word ‘Harmony’ highlighted how far they were from their namesake.
Stuck between two devils, one that subjugates most of the population, but allows them to do as they desire outside of work with the promise of violence if they turn to violence. Or those that resort to lies first, then use violence to try and keep up the charade. I guess that’s how the companies differ. They don’t try to keep up the charade. There are rules. Follow them, and everyone gets along. You raise a weapon against the companies, the EMF slaps you. You talk it out, then the companies will listen. Wars cost them profits - keeping away from them is a win-win possibility.
It was screwed up to all hell. In a perfect world, one wouldn’t have to pick between the two. There was one thing everyone from the slums of Earth learned very early on - that the world wasn’t a perfect place, and never would be.
“We will make them regret ever thinking of using this twisted perversion of religion to attack our people,” There were hungry noises from around the room. Everyone saw the videos of Masoul. “You all have a week off. Deal with what you need to deal with. A training schedule will be up shortly,” Nerva said as he wrapped up his presentation, and walked off the stage.
“Joy,” Mark said, as he turned to Tyler who shook his head at the craziness of it all. Alexis sighed by his side.
Medic Qi walked over to the table, and had an unhappy look on his face.
Tyler tilted his head and waved in greeting to the platoon medic. He hadn’t seen him in a while. He was with the camp’s medical personnel, and back from the front lines.
“Hey Mark,” Qi said. Tyler paid half-attention to the conversation. Something about Qi’s eyes made him feel unconscious dread.
“Hey Qi, what’s up?” Mark said, as he stood up to go to the growing meal line.
“Umm, did you know about Keller?” Qi asked.
“Who’s that?” Mark asked, confused by the question. Qi took a moment before he responded.
“Lucille’s new boyfriend.” Tyler heard the tension and pain in Qi’s voice, but also the concern for Mark. Tyler closed his eyes, and felt pain in his stomach for Mark.
“No, no I didn’t,” Mark said. He tried to sound calm, but Tyler could read him better than that. Shock quickly became outrage.
“Yeah, I know you better than Lucille and I thought that you should know,” Qi said.
“She said that she couldn’t be away from me, that she needed time to sort her stuff… well, that’s fast,” Mark said, as he covered over the pain he felt.
“Yeah, they started dating a few weeks ago, sorry I’m the one telling you. I thought that someone should,” Qi said.
“No, don’t worry about it, thanks for telling me. Better for me to know than run into it sometime,” Mark said, as he continued to conceal his pain.
“Alright, well talk to you later,” Qi said.
“See ya,” Mark said.
Tyler stood up, and Mark stood as he grinded his teeth. He was angrier than Tyler had seen him in years.
“Gym?” Tyler asked.
“Gym,” Mark said with a straight face, and eyes that were usually turned towards their enemy. The look sent a chill down Tyler’s back.
Mark didn’t trust many people, but those he did, he trusted wholly. He would do anything to protect or help them. Now Lucille had broken that trust. Tyler was scared to see what happen to Mark.
He looked to Alexis, and her look told him everything.
Stay with him and make sure that he’s okay, it seemed to say. While she and Tyler became close and intimate, Mark always treated Alexis like a little sister. She felt the same kind of sadness for Mark that Tyler felt.
***
“Alright!” Mark said getting his section’s attention. “We’re gonna get our gear sorted out. Anyone have any issues?” People shook their heads, and Mark stood with his tray. “Then let’s be about it,” he said.
Nerva made his announcement a week ago, and Mark wanted to get prepared for what was coming.
He learned he could trust three things - the fact life would keep going, himself, and the troopers he trained with. He didn’t try to meet new people. He spent his time reading, and getting lost in histories about other religious crusades. This knowledge helped him find an edge on Harmony.
He mourned for those they lost, the faces he would never see again. He buried that pain deeper, and used it as fuel to keep going and make sure that he lost less people. But he knew he would lose people. If he didn’t admit that, it could break him as a leader.
His section followed, and headed out of the mess. They already left Earth behind, and started the one hundred and seventeen-day cycle for them to get up to full power. The solar sails unfurled, and ringed the carrier with their gossamer-looking brilliance. The engines would help them get to forty percent the speed of light. When the speed was acquired, it would cut off.
Mark wasn’t focused on that. His mind was already turning to Masoul.
“Did everyone look over the information on Masoul?” he asked, as he looked at the section.
“Yeah, friggin heads killing me. Shouldn’t have had that tequila,” Dashtund said. He looked a bit rough, even with his detox. Mark grinned, and the others laughed as they got to the elevator. Mark passed out the schedule through the net.
“We’re to check our gear, replace anything that needs it. I want to get some shooting in, and some physical training to get the kinks of last week out,” Mark said.
Groans and complaints were muttered through the ranks.
“I know, don’t worry, it won’t be anything like the training here. It’s just to make sure that we’re all good. Along that thought, we’re going to get physicals done as well.” Mark hoped no one heard the catch in his voice.
The elevator stopped at the armories.
“Then we’re doing rounds in the different simulated landscapes of Masoul, from Platoon level up to Regiment level,” Mark said. The section listened, but they also greeted their friends in the area.
They came up to their armories, and walked up to the armorer’s desk.
Mark passed his wrist over the scanning area. The screen changed, and a new screen lit up the armorer’s face.
“This way,” the armorer said, as he took them to their rack. He unlocked it, and pulled it out on its runners.
Everyone had a cubby that held all of their equipment - from armor, to fresh packs, repulsors and their E-12s. The AMR’s were back in storage.
Tyler sighed as he pulled out his E-12.
“You still have all of those attachments to make that a sniper anyway,” Mark said with a grin.
“Yes, but this one doesn’t punch through armor like it’s paper,” Tyler complained.
“And when in the hell did you hit paper? All I saw was headless tanks,” Haas said, as he joined the section.
As the Platoon’s Warrant, he made sure the things in the background kept ticking.
The Section greeted their old Sergeant in their various ways.
“So what you doing down here? Missing us all?” Dashtund joked.
“I’m here to talk to Tyler and some of you. Now we’re not on Earth, it makes sense to remake two-section. Tyler you’ll be in command, Smith from Jerome’s will be your second, Sal, Iliev, Obe and Ali will round you out. When we get more people from Fearless, then we’ll patch the holes in our structure. Orders have come from Earth. We’re to put our people in positions of strength. A sergeant from Fearless might be under a Master Corporal from Reclaimer. It’s going to make things interesting, so we best look to showing why we’re getting that honor.” Haas looked to them all, and it reminded Mark of when he was in command of the section.
“When will I start working with my section?” Tyler asked.
“No time like the present! Jerome should be down here shortly. When he gets down here, I want you to
grab your new section mates and get all of your kit onto your rack,” Haas said.
“Understood, Warrant,” Tyler said. He looked to the people who were being pulled into his section.
“Alright, if you’re with me, grab your gear and get it to second sections rack. I’ll get it opened.” He made sure everyone acknowledged his order before he headed to the armorer.
Mark wished they could just pull the racks out like they did when they were going to be dropped on the planet. When they were in-flight or training, they locked them up - probably to make sure no one got any really dumb ideas.
They checked their armor and harnesses, and pulled their weapons apart. They made sure that the cleaning machine had done its job. There was always a spot of rust, or dry surface that needed lubricant on it.
Target practice went well. Mark didn’t have to say anything to his people as Wen and Haas wandered around, and checked on everyone.
Then, all of Alpha Companies’ second platoon went to get checked over medically.
Mark forced his anxiousness down.
He couldn’t stop thinking about how Lucille found someone else so fast, and how she didn’t just cut it off with him. She strung him along with the possibility that she might come back.
He told her things that he didn’t share with anyone, and it left him vulnerable. Those vulnerabilities were tossed out the window, and it hurt. It hurt a lot.
“Please remove your shirt, and get under the scanner,” said one of the medics who tended Mark.
Mark followed their instructions, and heard a sharp intake of air as the shadowing medic saw the number of scars from various burns, grenades, explosives weapon fire, blades and everything else that tried to kill Mark Victor.
They hooked him up, ran tests, and checked with his augments.
“Everything looks good. The rest of your section will be done shortly,” the medic said.
Mark gave a terse nod, and muttered his thanks as he pulled on his shirt and walked out of the room.
Masoul (Harmony War Series Book 2) Page 7