by West, Edward
“Was that him?” the voice asked.
“That was him.” Fisher confirmed.
The speaker, a thin young female in a Rebel shift suit, stepped forward and sat in the co-pilot's seat with two cups of coffee in her hands, passing one to Fisher.
“A little rough on your old buddy don't ya think?” she asked as she brought her own cup close to her face to test the temperature.
Fisher took a sip of his coffee and said “I had to be.”
“Did you now?” she lowered her cup and asked.
“After all this time, he is still being reckless and trying to play the hero.” Fisher said, staring down into the dark depths of his drink “It pisses me off.”
“I seem to recall you liking that sort of thing.” the girl said “At least that's what all of the academy stories you've told me say.”
Fisher lowered his cup and looked at the ceiling “Things change. People change.” he explained “I'm not that guy anymore.”
The girl nearly spat coffee on him and had to cover her mouth as she giggled “You're still a kid Benny.” she said.
“I told you to call me Fisher, Elliot.”
“And I told you to call me L, or Ellie.”
Fisher frowned and said “Can't you even be the slightest bit professional? I mean a war is going on.”
Ellie pouted and said “Awwww I'm sorry! I'm super cereal for you Fisher!”
“Whatever.” he said rolling his eyes and added “That's the thing though. A war is going on. What happened two years ago...that was meant to give Swift the life he deserves. A life as a normal, happy student.”
“You can't make people live normal, happy lives. If that were possible, then the galaxy wouldn't be at war.” she said and made a face “Duh.”
“True, but I don't think he understands the gravity of it all. What if he keeps this up and gets kicked out of the academy? Is he just going to go back to Earth and be a bum? What if he ends up killed off for real?”
“I think...” Ellie took a sip of her coffee “that he understands. As for the school part, I don't think he cares. And after seeing him today, I don't believe he'll ever wind up a bum anywhere.”
“And him getting killed?”
Ellie didn't answer at first, but simply took another sip of coffee. This annoyed Fisher more than he actually knew. Perhaps, despite his claim that he wanted to kill his former best friend, he found the thought of Swift's death very distressing.
“Do you think we should let him help us?” Ellie asked.
“What!?” Fisher shouted, spilling coffee onto the deck “You didn't even answer my question! Now you're asking about letting him help us?”
“He is the strongest person I've seen. Ever.” Ellie answered.
Now it was Fisher's turn to laugh “Don't let him hear you say that.” he said “His head will swell and most likely explode.”
“Hey!” she smiled and said “I'm serious here.”
“I am too. The stalemate between The Empire and The Rebel Faction is only being held by the chaotic nature of the Belt Line. With what we learned about The Empire's latest interests that could change, and not for the better. Not for them, not for anybody.”
“I just want you to think about it.” Ellie said “He seemed willing to help us in our noble cause of ending this war.”
“Tell you what- I will if I see him again.” Fisher said and held out his free hand “Provided he lives.”
“Okay, deal.” Ellie said, and they shook on it.
PART FOUR
Return To The Red Planet
-40-
“It really doesn't matter what the armor index on the new tungsten-glass compound is.” Felix munched loudly on a handful of Chex Mix and added “Hybrid series light cannons apply a mark that either detonates after or a few seconds or when struck with another attack. It'll eat right through that mess.”
Jay grabbed the bag of Chex Mix and said “Nope.”
“Hey!” Felix shouted, spraying crumbs everywhere.
“You get these back when you learn to chew with your mouth shut.” Jay folded down the top of the bag and added “Anyway, you can mitigate the damage from that mark with heavy beam forming applied to your shields.”
“That's when I use armor penetrating rounds. Smash.” Felix said and made an attempt to grab the bag.
Jay moved the bag further out of Felix's reach and said “That's when I use a gravity field and you're like 'Why are my attacks so slow?'”
“That's when-”
“That's when I EMP you both-” Swift interrupted and took the bag of Chex Mix “and use electromagnetic fields to drain your energy resources. Then I'll fling you both into the sun with tractor beams.”
He looked at Jay and then Felix “And if I catch you eating my Chex Mix again Felix, I'm taking your finger nails off one by one.” he said as he made a clamping gesture with his hand.
“My bad bro, I was starving.” Felix said.
Swift put the half eaten bag of Chex Mix into his pocket and said “Ya know, you could try buying your own food if you're hungry. I'm your captain, not the snack fairy.” he looked around and asked “Have you guys seen Revy?”
Jay said “She was here earlier, and she seemed pretty mad. Mentioned something about an idiotic moron having gone too far.”
A look of panic spread across Swift's face and he ran to the door saying “I'm gonna get it this time...”
Gin nearly collided with Swift on his way into Ready Room One “Hey guys.” He greeted Jay and Felix.
Jay raised a hand and said “Sup.”
Felix nodded and said “Yo.”
“What was Swift in such a rush for?” Gin asked.
“Well, Revy really cares about Swift. So much in fact that it drives her crazy whenever he pulls his dangerous stunts. He was most likely going to find her and apologize.” Jay explained, and then added “And get beat up probably.”
“Wow.” Gin said and asked “They going out or something?”
Jay and Felix exchanged a look and Felix said “Ha! Ask'em both and the answer is no. But everyone knows how close they are.”
“But they're not dating right?” Gin persisted.
Jay frowned and was about to say something when Felix spoke up with a wide grin on his face “Nope. Revy is single.”
“Hm. Well I've gotta go to English. I'll catch you guys later.” Gin said and left.
Jay turned to Felix and said “Nothing good will come of this.”
Felix put his hands behind his head and said “Shut up fool. I've got a plan.”
-41-
Gin walked into his English class looking for an empty seat, when a voice from the back of the room called out to him.
“Hey Gin! Come sit with us cool kids!” Swift exclaimed with one hand cupped around his mouth while waving the other.
The cadet next to Swift made an X with his forearms and shouted “No! Don't do it! If you do, then you'll surely become an outcast like us!”
“Heh heh. It's a bit too late for that.” Swift said as Gin took the seat next to him and added “Gin this is Raati, a friend of mine and so called rival. Raati this is Gin, the newest member of my crew.”
“Nice to meet you Raati.” Gin said as he attempted to log into his student console. It gave him a password error at first, so he attempted to input his password again. The password error then vanished and the log in process started, which was then plagued by a connection error. Gin gave up and took out a spiral notebook.
“Nice to meet you and allow me to tell you what a mistake you've made! Doom and madness await! You'll never be normal again!” Raati declared as he logged into his own student console, which actually worked. The three cadets huddled over the console and looked at the assignment screen.
“Oh boy. It's time, once again, for the 'Personal Career Goal' survey! Yay!” Raati said with sarcastic enthusiasm.
The Personal Career Goal survey was an educational tool designed to aid students in planning their fut
ure. The three boys completed it on time, but were still stopped by the instructor on the way out of the classroom.
“Dosa, O'Hare, Swift. Front and center.” Instructor Fughorn said to them, and the three boys exchanged glances as they walked over to the Instructor. “I'm sure you know why I called you three out.” Fughorn said sternly.
“Because you're issuing us Outstanding Effort Awards?” Raati asked.
Mr. Fughorn gave him an agitated look and asked “I take it you haven't reached your detention quota for this quarter yet Cadet Dosa?”
Raati held up his hand, pinching his index and thumb together “Almost there Instructor Fughorn!”
“Stand at attention Dosa!” Instructor Fughorn barked and Raati did so in quite the dramatic fashion.
“I'll start with you, funny guy. For the question 'what do you want to be when you grow up' your three answers were: The Nikeman, The Basedgod, and despised. Aside from the first two making no sense at all, just what kind of sick person actually wants to be despised?”
“I've come to find that people who are well liked run a higher chance of being assassinated or taken advantage of.” Raati smiled and then added “Plus being bad is way more fun than being good.”
“That is stupid and idiotic.” Fughorn replied and moved onto Gin.
“Your three answers, Cadet O'Hare, were: a professional millionaire, someone like me, and grown up. None of these are actual careers, and what's with you kids giving these sarcastically philosophical answers? Am I to take this literally as you wanting to be grown up when you grow up, as in mature?”
“I've got a lot of work to do in order to accomplish that goal Instructor Fughorn.” Gin said.
“You've got that right cadet.” Instructor Fughorn snorted and picked up Swift's survey “And then there was Cadet Swift.”
“Sir!” Swift exclaimed over enthusiastically while saluting with the wrong hand.
“Don't call me sir, I work for a living.” Instructor Fughorn said, adding “And you're doing it wrong.”
Swift put his left hand down and saluted with his right hand.
“Just stop. Your three answers were: Batman, The Guy, and hold beauty and awesomeness. First off, Batman is a fictional character. You cannot be Batman. Second, 'The Guy' is so vague and general that I don't get it. Last but not least, your third answer doesn't even make sense when used with the stock phrase.”
“It doesn't? What's it say?” Swift asked.
“I want to be hold beauty and awesomeness when I grow up.” Instructor Fughorn answered.
“Ah! So you too wish to behold beauty and awesomeness! That's always a nice dream I think!” Swift said cheerfully.
Instructor Fughorn buried his face into his palm and growled “Just get out. The three of you sicken me.”
Once they had said their goodbyes to Raati in the hallway, Gin and Swift walked off towards Ready Room One.
“So what do you really want to do with your life man?” Swift asked.
“Well I've always been painfully plain, so I guess anything that isn't lame as hell.” Gin said “I'm liking the whole Elite Student Crew thing, so I'll probably join the Imperial Fleet. Maybe become a captain someday.”
Swift put his hands into his pockets and said “Captains are cool.”
“How about you cap-”
Swift shot him a look.
“Dude?”
“Mmm. I dunno.” Swift thought for a few seconds and added “I could be a captain...like my dad. I'd also like to be a researcher and engineer. Also an author, explorer, actor...” he laughed and added “I guess I haven't decided just yet.”
“Heh, fair enough. You wanna hit up the arcade? I hear they've finally gotten Time Crisis 14!”
“While I would love to shoot the same guy a thousand times in holographic 3D with you, because that's the jam, I've got a mission for crew thirty nine this afternoon.” Swift said as they walked into Ready Room One.
Gin took a can of coffee from the fridge and asked “So students can post missions too?”
Swift took the bag of Chex Mix from his pocket and began to pick out the pretzels “Yup, but nothing too serious.” he said as he deposited the pretzels into a recycling bin “This one just has me collecting data and research specimens on Mars. Putting dirt and rocks into stasis baggies and junk.”
Gin took a sip of the coffee. It didn't compare to freshly made percolated coffee, but it did the job in a pinch “Hm. Sounds lazy.” he said.
“This kind of laziness results in profit for me, so I can dig it.” Swift said before pouring himself a handful of pretzel-free Chex Mix and eating it.
“Think I could come along? I've never been to Mars.” Gin asked and took a swig of his coffee.
Swift finished chewing and said “Sure. Be ready in fifteen minutes.”
They made the trip to Mars in Swift's PFCC, a two-seater named 'The Equalizer'. While Swift took care of checking in at the spaceport, Gin decided to have a look around after showing the security post his academy id card. He had never been on another planet before, and was slightly disappointed to find that spaceports were actually quite similar to airports. Souvenir shops lined bland looking corridors, the monotony of which was broken up by the occasional food court or lounge area.
Swift had finished filling out forms and joined Gin inside of a particularly tacky looking shop “Even on Mars consumerism is king.” he said and added “Guess I'll have to fall in line and buy a twenty credit candy bar.”
“Twenty credits!?” Gin asked.
“Everything’s more expensive at the spaceport.” Swift said as he grabbed a Snickers and asked “You want one?”
Gin waved his hands and said “Nah. That chocolate is too rich for me.”
“Might be a while before we can eat again and you didn't pack a lunch.”
“No way man, it's too much.”
Swift bought an extra Snickers bar anyway. Soon Gin would realize why candy bars were so crucial on Mars, and Swift would be ready.
-42-
“Twenty minutes? What is it with this place and the number twenty?” Gin asked after he read the information screen on the elevator control panel.
Swift sat in one of the several seats lining the walls of the elevator car. He took the second candy bar from his pocket and tossed it to Gin “Well it is an orbital elevator.” he pointed out “So it takes a while to get from space to the surface.”
Gin caught the candy bar and put it in the pocket of his hoodie “Dude, I can make it twenty minutes without eating.” Gin said.
“Just take the candy.”
Swift put his hands into his pockets and rested his head against the wall with his eyes closed.
“Why couldn't we just land The Equalizer on the surface?” Gin asked.
“Planetary Colonization Act. It prohibits ships from entering the atmosphere of certain planets with weapons equipped unless authorized.”
“Well that's bogus.”
“While it does help keep the peace, we're boned if a large enough rebel force invades.”
Moments rolled by like aeons for Gin as the elevator made it's descent. It was during this time that he realized he knew very little about Swift, and decided to ask him a few questions.
“So that guy you fought on the captured ship, Benedict Fisher. Was he really a student at the academy?”
“Yup.” Swift said with his eyes still closed “Used to be an ESC captain just like me.”
Gin took a seat next to Swift and said “Allie told me you two used to be friends.”
“Still are in my opinion.”
“Then why did he try to kill you?”
Swift opened his eyes and stared unhappily at the ceiling.
Gin saw the look on Swift's face and said “Sorry I asked...”
“It's fine.” Swift said “The truth is that I don't know. I hadn't seen or heard from him since he was 'executed' two years ago, and that turned out to be a total lie.”
“Why was he supposed to be
executed if you don't mind me asking?”
“It's no secret. The official charge was treason against The Empire, but I'd rather tell you what I know as opposed to the mess given out by the media.” Swift explained “It was two years ago, back when individuals and small groups of ESC members were still being assigned missions by The Empire.”
“Why did they stop?”
“The nature of the missions changed after Benny was supposedly executed. Concerned parents had begun to pull their children from the academy, and others even blamed The Empire itself. Treason or not, the execution of a minor was a serious matter. So in response, stricter policies were implemented regarding the nature of the mission, objectives, crew size, and location.”
“You sure do know a lot about this.” Gin said.
“I better. I was one of the first cadets enrolled in the ESC program.” Swift said and looked down from the ceiling and at the elevator panel. Five more minutes.
“Wow! That's amazing!” Gin said and looked at his own student id card. Underneath his picture was LaCroix's emblem, as well as an ESC emblem, but no emblem for his role. He had wondered sometimes if he'd ever be good enough to actually specialize in anything.
“Thanks. Now back to me and Benny. We had been assigned over the course of our summer break to participate in security operations with an imperial squadron stationed here on mars. The base was mostly established to defend a mine rich in minerals. It was undermanned and the mines themselves huge, so they could always use a hand with patrols. We were thrilled because we saw this as being one step closer to the front lines.” Swift looked down and added “Don't laugh. We were pretty naive at that time and had no idea about the horrors of war. Anyway, during a routine patrol we encountered a rebel soldier-”
“Did you get'em?” Gin interrupted excitedly.
Swift was annoyed with being cut off and asked “What?”
“You know...did you kill him?”
“That's the thing. We'd caught the soldier by surprise, but I just couldn't bring myself to kill her no matter how much she threatened me. Not even with Benny shouting at me to shoot her.”