“We’ll find out soon enough,” Sulture replied.
Over the course of the next three days, all of the men were interrogated. Sulture confessed his plan to exterminate the Tritops and how he planned to do so in excruciating detail. Sulture and Murph bargained for the freedom of the soldiers who accompanied them during their final mission. In return for their freedom, Sulture and Murph took full responsibility for their plot.
The two men were locked in neighboring cells. New teams of scientists were brought in to study the Tritops…except that no live specimens could be found.
Anywhere.
The military scoured the planet and all they could find were mauled corpses. It was as if they were wiping themselves out.
Two more weeks passed. No live Tritops were ever found. The Core authorities signed off on having the species officially declared extinct. Erikson walked up to Sulture’s cell.
“They’re adding Xenocide to the list of charges against you. I’m forced to tell you to consider your last meal,” He said.
Sulture formed a slight grin. It wouldn’t ever bring his family back, but they could rest in peace. Soon enough he would join them.
A ship landed on the edge of the colony. A black man walked out, wearing a gray suit and a black tie neither of which seemed to fit quite right. Core soldiers led by Erikson rushed up, wondering why this civilian was entering a military installation.
“What can I do for you sir?” Erikson asked.
“Oh, I was in the area and wanted to meet Dr. Sulture and Dr. McGinnis. Their names have been thrown around a lot lately,” the man said.
“Can’t let your do that. Sir, are you aware this is a military installation?” Erikson asked.
“Oh, I’m quite aware and between you and me, Ionics owns a lot of the technology here on Angkor which made colonization possible,” the man replied as he flashed his Ionics badge.
“Even for an Ionics manager I can’t make an exception…”
“Well son, I’m afraid you must make an exception. Ionics is very interested in acquiring these two men as advisers for a special project,” The man said with a wink.
Erikson nodded, a grin forming on his lips. “You heard the man. Let him through!”
Four guards came in and retrieved Sulture and Murph, and lead them to the interrogation room.
The man walked in and sat across from the duo.
“You two are the most talked about men in the galaxy. ‘The Xenocidalists of Angkor,’” He chuckled. “Rumor also has it that you guys were the ones who killed all of those colonists.”
“How dare you come in here and-”
“Relax, Dr. Sulture,” the man said. “I believe in one of the other stories, the one the colonists are telling. That you guys are the ones who saved this colony, that you’re heroes.”
“Hey man, that’s great and all, but we’re goners in twenty hours and thirty eight minutes,” Murph said. “Are you a lawyer or…?
The man chuckled again. “No, my name is Colonel John C. Henry, and I’m putting together a team.”
--The End--
3
Forrest and Sujay: On Top of Your Mom!
“MAYDAY! MAYDAY! The Dreamweaver is in rapid descent! We’re going to crash!”
“You always say that Sujay! Just remain calm and I’ll land this ship safely.”
“Forrest, the engine is on fire! I told you that you were cutting the atmosphere too hard! But did you listen to me? Nooo! Apparently instincts trumps a Doctorate in Astro Navigation!”
“Of course my instincts trump your piece of paper!” Forrest said.
“AUGH!” Sujay howled.
“As for the engine being on fire that’s just Aurelius Prime,” Forrest said as he waved off Sujay’s concern. “There’s so many particulates in the atmosphere that one of them was bound to get caught in the filters.”
“Clogged filters don’t cause the engine to burst into flames! We need to activate the engine extinguisher systems!”
“Funny how after I activated my engine extinguisher system, your mom begged me to put out her fire -”
“You leave my mother out of this you scrap wrangler!”
“That the best you can do curry peddler? That ain’t nothin’. Just you watch: I’ll land this ship safely, on an skydock no less.”
“Ahhh, Aurelius Prime, my second home! I love this planet!” Forrest said in triumph. Several dock workers rushed in to extinguish the Dreamweaver’s engine fire.
“Eww, I hate this planet! Can we just get our replacement parts and get out of here please? I always feel like I’m going to get mugged, kidnapped, an STD or worse,” Sujay replied.
“Don’t worry slick, I got your back.”
“Last time we were here you tried to peddle me off saying that their crew wasn’t diverse enough. ‘Just outsource your navigation to the Indian’ you said.”
“That was only to settle a debt, which we did by the way,” Forrest said.
“By taking a loan from a crime lord who will break our knees if he even thinks we’ll default on him! I swear Forrest, you never think things through!” Sujay replied as the two men stepped into a crowded elevator.
“That’s what I got you for Sujay.”
“But you never ask for my opinion!” Sujay shrieked. The onlookers stared in silent disbelief while Sujay’s face burned bright red.
“We’re rehearsing a play!” Forrest said to the onlookers. The elevator door dinged. Forrest and Sujay shoved to be the first one off. The onlookers also shoved the duo out into the street and were relieved to be rid of them.
“Y’know, this place has come a long way since the Core Invasion.”
“That’s what you’re calling it now? When we were in the service we referred to it as the ‘Unification Wars.’ The Core was trying to bring the planets back under one civil governance. Remember all that?” Sujay asked.
“Well I remember resigning when the Admirals thought it was justifiable to start bombing civilized worlds into compliance. Left a bad taste in my mouth, just like the bad taste I left in your Mom’s -“
“Finish that joke and I swear upon Vishnu I will strike you down Jack Forrest!” Sujay said as he held up a wrench.
“Oh, dear Sujay has finally learned to stand up for himself...eight years too late! Wish you would’ve had that backbone when you were in the service,” Forrest said as he picked up a few parts, inspected them, and then tossed them back onto the table. “Where would a thruster modulator be in this market?” Forrest asked the merchant.
“Thruster modulators are down towards the end. These are components for the warp drive you nebbie,” the vendor croaked. He was greasy and had a carpet of fur underneath his tank top.
“Uhh, I know how to fly, and I know what parts these are. I was just feelin’ my way around. Not my fault you have them scattered around like some crazy junk dealer. I mean trying to sell this capacitor in the condition that it’s in…”
“Alright Forrest, let’s go get that modulator. The last thing we need is another enemy on this planet. Seriously, you need to learn when to keep your mouth shut,” Sujay said as he shoved Forrest towards the modulators. The furry vendor gave an evil eye and crossed arms. He made a mental note to never deal with them again.
“If I recall correctly, it was this mouth here that caused us meet in the first place my dear Sujay.”
“Oh, sweet, merciful Vishnu, do we have to hear this story again?”
“We certainly do,” Forrest said as he pointed towards the sky.
14 Years Earlier…
“Hey you! Scrawny ass Indian guy!” Mason howled.
“Ye…yes?” Sujay stuttered, as he tried to carry his stack of textbooks back to his room. Three blond fraternity brothers approached Sujay.
“Mason, Green, Myers! What brings you gentlemen along?” Sujay asked the most respected flight duo in the academy, backed by their lone henchman.”
“Prof in Aeronautics said that you wanted to be an Admiral
. Is that true?” Mason asked, unable to contain a snicker.
“Why, yes I would like to be an Admiral one day,” Sujay replied as he hid his face behind the stack of textbooks.
“Didn’t you know that you had to be sponsored in order to be an Admiral? What makes you think that you’ll be able to get a sponsor since you don’t actually know an Admiral?” Green asked.
“Maybe one of the professors will sponsor me,” Sujay muttered.
“Maybe one of the professors will sponsor me,” Mason mocked.
Sujay’s books weighed on his arms, getting heavier by the moment. The strain caused sweat to bead on his brow and tickled his neck.
“How are you going to get a sponsor when you can’t even get a flight partner?” Myers asked Sujay as he towered over him. “I don’t know of anyone who wants to partner with the whiny nerd kid.”
“Guys, guys, guys! We’re all friends here, airmen on the same side. Let’s not pick on the Indian guy just because his junk may be too small,” a skinny, curly-haired man said as he waltzed down the hallway with a swagger that rivaled a cowboy. The blond kids snickered at the pasty cadet’s joke as he put himself between the blond trio and Sujay.
“Um, actually my genitals are the appropriate size,” Sujay replied softly.
“Yeah, sure kid. Anyway gentlemen, there’s no reason we can’t all get along…HI-YA!” the curly haired kid screamed as he sucker punched Myers in the gut. He barely flinched as his eyes ignited in a blaze of fury.
“Wait a minute, why did you punch him when you were just telling about how we can all get along?” Sujay shrieked.
“To help you out moron! Why aren’t you running?” the curly haired kid wailed.
“You never said to run!” Sujay screeched.
“Well, run now!”
Sujay turned, dropped his textbooks and ran. The curly haired kid turned to run, but Myers grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. The three cadets wailed on the him but he didn’t scream once. They left him with a black eye, a cut on his lip and barely conscious on the floor. After the fighting was over and the cadets left, Sujay returned to retrieve his books. He approached his protector.
The guy had been laid out on the floor, with a gold medallion dangling from his neck. Sujay reached down and picked the medallion up.
“No! Hands off!” The guy screamed. He shoved the medallion inside of his shirt and made sure to hide the chain beneath his collar. Sujay stared wide-eyed.
“Sorry,” He said. “It’s...a lucky charm.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry about what happened there,” Sujay said as he gathered his books.
“Nah, nothing to worry about. Happens all the time,” the curly haired cadet said as he climbed up the wall.
“It’s just…no one has ever stood up for me before. Didn’t care for the comment about my genitals though,” Sujay said.
“That was just to get those preppies to lower their guard,” the guy said with a wave.
“Well, anyway, I’m Sujay,” Sujay said as he offered his hand to the curly-haired man.
“Jack Forrest, but everyone calls me Forrest. Is it true about what those guys said? That you can’t get a flight partner?” Forrest asked while he shook Sujay’s hand.
“It’s not my fault! I…”
“No, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that. My flight partners are all super lame and cannot keep up. They don’t have the proper team spirit. You seem like a cool cat, if you’re half as good as you claim, I’d be willing to partner with you.”
Sujay eyed Forrest with suspicion. “Is there a catch?” Sujay finally asked.
“I just took a beating from some bullies for you, offered to be your flight partner and you still don’t trust me? I mean, what more do you want?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just slow to trust. I’ve been blown off by so many people, I was just unsure of how to take it,” Sujay said as he offered Forrest his shoulder to walk on.
“Ha! Your mother blew me off right after I made her take it!” Forrest said as he stumbled onto his new friend’s shoulder.
Sujay erupted in laughter. “That was great! I loved that! I could never get tired of ‘your mom’ jokes!” he said as the two walked down the hall together.
“Alright cadets, it’s time to train you for dog fighting. You’ve had enough ‘practice’ with all of the droid simulations, now it’s time to fight actual humans,” flight instructor York said.
“It’s only because we beat all of the droid combatants on the hardest settings. Even the ones deemed ‘unbeatable,’ “ Forrest said as he snickered to Sujay.
“And thanks to Forrest’s big mouth, I believe that we have our first volunteer!” York said as he pointed at Forrest.
“You sure do big guy!” Forrest said as he stepped forward and gave a salute. Sujay sighed, but saluted and stepped forward as well.
“Let’s see, Forrest and Sujay against...Mason and Green!” York said as he practically cheered out Mason and Green’s names. They were the two dynamic pilots who knew every strategy in the book and wielded it to great efficiency. It was also no secret that York once belonged to the same fraternity as the two boys during his cadet days.
“POW!” Forrest said as he finger-gunned the competition. Both men kept tight lips and raised their noses high in condescension.
“We’re so going to crush these snot-nosed punks,” Forrest said.
“Into the sky!” York howled as the teams ran to their fighter ships. Everyone else went into the command center to watch the fight.
“I want recordings and transcripts from this flight simulation. These cadets need to learn how to communicate with one another,” York said to Byron, the operator of the flight simulation within the command center.
“Flight simulation active. Recording in progress,” Byron said.
All four ships launched into the sky and each team went opposite ways. Forrest and Sujay were flying together when Forrest veered his ship wildly off course as he made a hard right.
“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Sujay shrieked into the comm.
“I got an itch, one that only your mom can scratch,” Forrest replied. All of the cadets roared in laughter as they listened to the transmission.
“Is it always like this with those two?” York asked.
“Sir, you have no idea,” Byron replied.
“You leave my mother out of this! Always with the ‘your mother’ jokes! Can’t you be original?” Sujay screamed. His warning lights flickered.
“Oh, sweet Vishnu, they’re on my tail. Forrest?” Sujay said. There was no reply. “You’re leaving me alone to fight with these men by myself?” He shrieked. His sensors indicated that the enemy ships had acquired a lock.
Sujay jammed down on the thruster to accelerate. “Defensive maneuvers initiated! Deploy flares!” He said to the computer as he toggled the controls. Flares erupted from the rear of his ship as Sujay dived down. He was able to get out of the target zone, but Mason and Green closed in. They were steady fliers and once someone was in their sights, it was damn near impossible to escape them.
“Forrest I could really use your help here!” Sujay said. He looked all around his ship as he weaved back up. He searched the skies for the curly-haired joker that seemed to have abandoned him.
“Where is Forrest?” York demanded as he flipped through the screens.
“He’s not in any of our viewing ranges, but the computer indicates that everything on his ship is working fine,” Byron replied.
“Well, his partner is going to be taken out if he’s doesn’t do somethingl,” York said.
“That’s why nobody wants to be Forrest’s partner sir,” Byron replied.
Sujay’s sensors indicated that Mason and Green were locked onto him. He scrambled at the controls like a mouse as he tried to find a way out. The only counter maneuver he could safely execute were flares, and those wouldn’t hold Mason and Green off for long. Still, Sujay reached the point of no return and had no other choice.
“Deploy flares!” Sujay said. “Where are you Forrest?” He cried as he pounded against his ship’s terminal. The flares forced Mason and Green out of their steady flight path, but they still tailed Sujay.
“Dive down buddy,” Forrest said calmly.
“Where were you?” Sujay demanded.
“Banging Mason’s mom, since Green’s is about as ugly as he is!”
“You worthless, selfish, derpy idiot! You can go straight to hell!” Sujay yelled.
“Dive down buddy, it’s the only way my maneuver is goin’ to work,” Forrest said.
“What in God’s name is he doing?” York yelled at the screen. The computers showed Forrest’s flight trajectory moving towards a head-on collision with Sujay.
Sujay grumbled and relented. He dived down, while Forrest cheered and headed directly for Mason and Green. The two were forced to split apart in order to avoid a collision.
“You didn’t fire at them!” Sujay screamed.
“Uh, you deployed the flares, cow worshiper,” Forrest replied.
“Oh that’s original. Just because I’m Indian doesn’t mean-”
“Sujay! Go after Green! Geez, maybe you’d do better at charming a cobra.”
“Cobras are dangerous beyond all reason you moron! How original that the white guy makes stupid jokes all day long!”
All of the cadets at the Command Center keeled over from laughter. York pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“Are you sure it’s always like this?” he asked Byron again.
“During the last fight we printed off over fifty pages of transmissions like this sir,” Byron replied.
“Good God,” York said as he held his face in his hands.
Sujay turned his ship around and set his sights on Green. Now that he was separated from Mason the two were easier to outmaneuver. It was only when they were together did they seem unbeatable.
“Oh you didn’t…” Sujay said as he finally caught on to Forrest’s plan.
“Took you long enough. Saddens me how I could’ve counted all of your Gods before you figured it out,” Forrest said.
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