by Saxon Andrew
Joe shook his head and said, “That must have been hard to take.”
Russell nodded and after a moment of silence said, “I discovered that when I lost my title I lost my sense of who I am. That title defined me. Now I don’t know who I am and I’ve lost the thing that gave me my sense of worth.”
“Well, I can tell you one title you still have.”
“What is that, Joe?”
“You’re my best friend. That’s a good place to start over.”
Russell smiled and said, “You are my only friend, Joe. But thanks, that means a lot.”
“Hey, you can come home with me on our next liberty. Ana will love to meet you.”
“You’ve got a deal.”
Russell looked up and saw Pixie enter the cafeteria and he lowered his head. Joe saw him and said, “Do you know Captain Mille?”
“Yes, I tried to force her to go to a ball with me before I was defrocked. She was also in my training platoon. Can we get out of here?”
Joe smiled, “You should always face down your demons. Otherwise life becomes one giant rush into fear.”
Pixie picked up her tray and sensed something. She turned around and saw Russell sitting at a table with another Warrior. She hesitated but then walked over and the two came to attention, “At ease, Gentlemen. Do you mind if I join you.”
Joe said, “It would be an honor, Sir.”
Pixie looked at Russell and saw his discomfort. “How’s training going, Private Slade?”
“I have a good teacher, Sir. Joe is one of the best.”
Pixie nodded and said, “What do you think about the maneuver patterns?”
“They’re genius, Sir. The Major has developed an outstanding method to improve our survival possibilities.”
Pixie stared at Russell and said, “I’ve accepted your apology so there’s no need to feel nervous.”
Russell smiled, “Sir, when a private isn’t nervous in front of a Captain, he is either dead or out of his mind.”
Pixie and Joe both laughed and Russell said, “Please excuse me, Sir. I have some equations on the effects of gravity on an ego to work out.”
Pixie smiled and watched Russell leave. Joe said, “Sometimes you have to lose it all to find yourself, Sir. Please excuse me.”
Pixie stared at Joe and nodded. She watched Russell move out of the dining hall and saw several Warriors at other tables motion him to join them. He said something that made them laugh as he left the building. Something had changed. Russell always ate alone in training. She almost felt sorry for him but couldn’t bring herself to do it. He was a jerk.
Chapter Seven
“Sir, the Carnivores have launched early and have started landing operations at the planet.”
Jason hit his panel and saw Admiral Young appear, “We are going to intervene in an invasion and they’re already landed on the planet. Get your scout vessels out and start collecting data. Plan an immediate launch of the fleet and get the Warriors notified of impending landings.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
Fourth Battalion was teleported to their transport and was assembling in the main landing bay. Mitch called Pixie and she reported to his office, “Pixie, I’ve not discussed this with you before now but I can’t put it off any longer.”
“What is that, Sir.”
“I know your mother has a unique set of skills that most humans don’t possess. Did you inherit any of them?”
Pixie narrowed her eyes and said, “I do have some of her skills.”
“You’ve not used them in the past, have you?”
“No, I felt it wouldn’t be fair in competition with other trainees.”
“This is no longer training, Pixie. I want you to use all of your talents and skills in this operation. Will you do that?”
“I will, Sir. I have already made that decision and my mother agrees that I have no restraints in making use of my talents.”
“I want you to use your own mechanism of camouflage and avoid using your armor’s.”
“Why?”
“I’ve seen that our armor can be detected by the energy it emits. If the officers could do it in an exercise, I have to believe that others might be able to do it as well. Just be careful.”
“I’ll be teleporting into our landing zone shortly. I’ll do what I can.”
“Just stay safe.”
“Is that an option?”
Mitch shook his head, “You know what I’m asking. Keep me updated on what you see.”
Pixie saluted and went to the scanners at the far wall of the huge hanger. She had decided to use her skills but wasn’t sure of all the things she could do. Her mother told her that they would become evident when they were needed. They were jumping in fifteen minutes and she was given the landing coordinates of the battalion. She closed her eyes and saw a massive number of enemy forces moving in on a large city. She focused closer and saw that all of the heavy weapons were invisible to her armor’s scanners. This was not good. As she watched, the first battleships arrived and began taking on the enemy fleet. Another ten thousand ships jumped in and the battle above the planet took on an intensity that was staggering. Both fleets could use their invisibility modes and it was only when two ships came within a mile of each other that they were able to fire. She saw beams hitting the enemy forces moving in on the city and they stopped and scattered into the hills two miles outside the city. Those creatures were fast.
“Mitch, our armor will not pick up their heavy weapons; the enemy has moved their platforms into the hills outside the city and is digging in.”
Mitch passed the information on to his Company Commanders and notified them to probe the enemy’s positions before making an attack. He watched the live feed from fleet and saw the Carnivores moving at an incredible speed across the valley. The grey creatures had powerful legs topped by a body that was heavily muscled. They were surrounded by a force field but did not appear to be wearing armor. He continued to watch the feed and saw the creatures run up the slopes and suddenly vanish. The thousands of grey creatures disappeared and the valley just outside the city looked empty.
“Fleet, can you get a reading on any of the enemy forces in the valley?”
“Nothing is showing up on our scans, Sir.”
Mitch punched his communicator and said, “Pixie, are you still able to see the enemy forces in the valley?”
“I can, Sir. I’m on the ground and I’m plotting the location of their weapon platforms and sending it to you now. It appears the individual warriors are able to match their skin color to their surroundings.”
“Do they give off anything we can use to see them?”
“Give me a moment. I’m running through every scan frequency to see.”
• • •
Pixie sent a scanner beam out into the hills and immediately moved fifty yards to the left as a blaster beam hit her former location. She went to passive scanners and went through every frequency and finally saw a small return on the infrared setting.
“Major, they are able to track our active scans and the only thing that shows up on the passive scanner is on the infrared band. It’s not a large return and I suspect the Warriors will have to be right on top of them to see them.” Mitch shook his head. “One other thing, Sir; when I made the scan I was fired on by a blaster that was force twelve.”
“Did I hear you correctly; did you say force twelve?”
“Yes Sir, and it came from one of their Warriors and not a weapon’s platform.”
“Continue plotting those platforms and get them out to the Company Commanders for assignment.”
“I’m on it.”
“Be careful.”
“You know me.”
“Like I said, be careful.”
Mitch hit the general frequency, “The enemy forces have moved up into the hills and have dug in. They are able to detect any active scan and target it, so avoid using your active scanners. Their blasters are force twelve and higher
so if you get hit you’re going to have a bad day. Our scout is sending the coordinates of their heavy weapons but their Warriors are also scattered in those hills and do not show up on anything but an inferred scan and you’ll have to be close to see them. This is going to come down to who sees who first. Stay alert and keep moving.”
Russell looked at Joe, “Do you know how fleets doing?”
“We’re taking losses but holding our own. Check the auxiliary frequency at the bottom of the list.”
“Thanks.”
Joe smiled, “Don’t worry; I’ve got your back.”
Russell nodded and said, “Semper Fi.”
Joe smiled and said, “It should be just a few more minutes.”
Russell nodded and hoped he held up his end.
• • •
Cap. Derek Bender announced, “D Company, we will be teleporting in in fifteen seconds. Stay in your invisibility mode and we’ll teleport in on the heavy weapons as soon as we organize on the surface. Keep moving and fire first.”
D Company disappeared from the landing bay and arrived at the base of the eastern slope. Russell thought it reminded him of the training exercise where he had been disgraced. He kept his attention on his tactical circuit and watched for his assignment. A coordinate appeared and he locked it in and waited for Joe to lead the way.
• • •
Admiral Dennis watched the fleet as it moved forward and began firing on enemy ships. He had already lost more than a thousand battleships and it wasn’t getting easier. His ship came up on a blip and fired its eight main beams as the ship teleported to the other side of the blip. He watched a huge enemy main battleship explode as his ship teleported again just before twenty massive beams ripped through his former location. The King’s Sword teleported close to the origin on the beams and fired. The ship’s force field flared as it teleported again and Dennis knew he had been lucky.
“Sir, the Algeans are here.”
Fifty thousand Algean attack craft came roaring in on the battle and it took on an urgency that was monumental. Finally one of the Algeans found a frequency given off by one of the enemy ships and broadcast it to the fleet. Now they could see their enemy and the tide turned in the Realm’s favor.
• • •
Joe hit his teleport key and he and Russell arrived in front of a heavy blaster. Joe fired his heavy shoulder cannon and twenty high velocity slugs hit the blaster’s force field and blew a hole in it as the ten remaining slugs hit the blaster and exploded it.
Russell turned to his right and fired his heavy hand blaster at two red images on his scanner. He spun left and fired at three images and saw them explode. He teleported thirty feet further up the slope and fired his shoulder cannon at another dug in blaster as Joe fired at the surrounding enemy warriors.
Not all of the partners were successful. More than eighty teams were burned into ash as they appeared when the blaster fired first. Death walked the slope and hundreds of warriors on both sides were killed in the first thirty seconds. The enemy’s heavy blasters began taking a toll on the Life Warriors.
Russell teleported another thirty feet and suddenly saw a heavy blaster barrel turning toward him. There was no time to escape. He knew he was dead. Suddenly Joe appeared in front of the blaster and fired his heavy shoulder blaster at the dug in enemy weapon. It exploded, but not before it hit Joe in the chest burning him. Joe’s body fell back at Russell’s feet and Russell fell to his knees in shock and anguish. “Joe, Joe!” Russell saw there was no hope and his grief was overwhelming. The battle swirled around him but he was lost in his misery. He looked up at the blaster that killed Joe and Russell was consumed with rage. His mind stopped and his expression took on a mask of hatred. Suddenly his mind was filled with music so loud it almost deafened him. He stood and started walking forward. He had no thoughts; he was taken by rage and hatred at the enemy that had killed his only friend. He didn’t think. He walked into the battle taking place around him and fired without thinking. He wanted to die but not before he made the creatures pay. He didn’t look at his scanner or anyone else around him; he walked into the wall of death and fired at anything he saw that wasn’t in Realm Armor. As he passed other Life Warriors, they began to hear the music and their fire tripled in strength. They fell in behind Russell and followed him along the hill. A wave of massive blaster beams began advancing into the massed enemy positions.
• • •
Pixie and Mitch were with A Company and were in the fight of their lives. Half the Company was dead and the others were going fast. Pixie was moving among the grey creatures killing them in huge numbers, but she couldn’t leave Mitch to fend for himself alone. They heard something and a long line of Life Warriors moved toward them, killing everything in its path. They moved past A Company and Mitch heard the music. He fell in line with the others and the survivors of A Company joined the line following Russell across the slope. The line moved inexorably forward and soon the grey carnivores began running away from the advancing line. They were pushed along the slope until they reached the end of the hill. Half of the Warriors in the long line teleported in front of the fleeing enemy warriors and moved forward. The two lines met and there were no more to kill. Mitch said, “The First Brigade needs help on the other hill.”
Russell heard the command and felt his glee. “More to kill.” The long line arrived at the southern end of the hill and advanced. An hour later, every enemy warrior was dead.
The line reached the end of the second hill and Russell started running up and down the slope looking for more grey creatures. He was consumed by rage and didn’t see anything happening around him. The only thing that stopped him was when Mitch used his command circuit to deactivate his armor and tackled him. Russell screamed his agony and Mitch ordered a medic to sedate him. Suddenly, Russell’s rage was gone. And so was the music.
Mitch along with hundreds of Life Warriors looked down at Russell as Pixie appeared, “What just happened?”
Mitch shook his head, “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
• • •
Russell sat in his bed in the ship’s infirmary and stared at the wall in front of him. He couldn’t get the image of Joe being burned by the carnivore blaster out of his mind. Mitch walked in and saw Russell’s expression. “It wasn’t your fault, Russell.” Russell remained silent. “You would have done the same for him.”
Russell whipped his head around and snarled, “Would I? You know who I am.”
Mitch shook his head, “I thought I did, but you’ve proven me wrong.”
Russell glared at Mitch and felt tears roll down his face, “I should have been the one killed. They took the best of us and left the worst.”
Mitch said, “Do you seriously think you wouldn’t have tried to save him in the same circumstances? Why did you attack the enemy formations after his death? You would have tried to save him, Russell. You know you would have. You wouldn’t have allowed him to die if you could stop it.”
Russell hung his head. After a moment he said, “He has a wife and daughter. I have no one. I should have been the one to die.”
Mitch sighed and said, “I hate to have to do this but I need to know what happened to you on the slope.”
Russell looked at Mitch and said, “I wanted to punish those creatures for killing Joe. I also wanted to die.”
“You saved us, Russell.”
Russell looked at Mitch and then turned away.
“I’m serious. What happened to you?”
Russell looked at Mitch and shook his head, “I didn’t do anything. I just tried to kill as many of the enemy as I could before they killed me.”
“Russell, I’m going to play the recording of what happened on the slope. Tell me if you remember any of it.”
The display on the front wall illuminated and it showed Russell on his knees over Joe’s body. Suddenly he stood up and began walking forward. Russell saw his armor’s weapons firing at an incredible velocity and as he passed other
Life Warriors they joined him. He looked at Mitch with wonder on his face and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Mitch said, “When you arrived and saved A Company, I head the music and joined your line.”
Russell thought and remembered the sad melody that had filled his mind. “I don’t know what happened, Major. I really don’t.”
Mitch said, “You weren’t able to save Joe. However, you saved the lives of more than six thousand other Life Warriors that would have died on that hill. Think about how many wives and daughters still have their fathers because of your actions.”
Russell watched the display and said, “I should have been the one to die, Sir.”
Mitch smiled, “Perhaps Joe saved you so you could save us. If you had died, we would have all probably died with you. I thought I knew you but now I don’t know if I do. It also appears to me that you don’t know yourself either. You’re a lot more than you think.”
Russell shook his head, “I’m nowhere near the Warrior Joe was.”
“I don’t know that Joe would agree with you.” Mitch started out but stopped and said, “Do you still hear the music?”
Russell slowly lowered his head and said, “I wish it would stop.”
Mitch smiled and said, “I pray it doesn’t.”
• • •
Russell sat on his bed and looked at his wrist unit. It was two in the morning on the training planet and the room was dark. He sighed and pressed it. His father appeared on the display and said, “I told you not to contact me.”
“I wish there was another way but I don’t see it. I need you to help me.” His father’s face turned angry and Russell quickly said, “My partner was killed saving my life.” His father stopped his finger just before it disconnected the call. “I know you don’t owe me anything but he was a great Warrior and I know it should have been me that died instead of him. He left a wife and young daughter, Your Highness. Could you take what I was receiving when I had a title and give it to them. I will not return to claim it if you’ll please do this one kindness for me.”
His father looked at him and saw the sadness on his face. “What was the Warrior’s name?”