The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet

by Michael Chatfield

  “Faster recruit!” He bellowed—I had no ideas if they were male or female. He punched me in the face, making me see stars as I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness. I fought against it.

  You’re Salchar, the kid that dominated Mecha Assault One and Two, you’re not going to pass out in front of these people. I pushed myself up with sheer will until I was standing. More than one person had passed out. Two aliens seemed identical with the first went through the grouping of humans. Pulling people from the floor and forcing them into position.

  Everyone was breathing heavily as our lungs fought for air, and we wanted to slump to the floor as everything seemed heavy. A few dropped, they were set upon by the two wandering aliens and forced to stand.

  The kids weren’t the only ones crying as reality was sinking in. After a few got beatings, no one else fell down.

  “Get into two lines facing me!” The first barked, swatting someone that had paused to get their breath dropping like a tree in the wind. Slowly but surely people were forced into a position with kicks, punches and yelling.

  “You are the worst recruits I have seen in my entire service!” He barked as I studied him beneath hooded eyes. I couldn’t help myself-he was the first alien I’d ever seen in the flesh. He didn’t look anything like the one that had announced the Earth’s forced recruitment, other than his humanoid like stature.

  He had two arms and legs, but that was where the similarities ended. His pupils were slit vertically, his skin brilliant red scales. His four separate jaws with razor sharp teeth moved in a distinctly non-human way, but still his voice came over as unaccented English, then Korean, Japanese and every language of the people in the room. All I could think was; well someone was wrong about them being green. As I continued to study him and the others in the room with an almost clinical view, seeing them and realizing the implications but not letting the emotional feedback cloud my judgment. As I found myself coming to terms with the alien presence in front of me. The one barking orders started talking again. His body was like a statue as his eyes looked us with as much disdain as someone would look upon mold.

  “That said, it is my job to make you acceptable members of the Mecha Corps. From now until the end of recruit training I am God, what I say is law.” My name is Master of Arms Taleel, you will refer to me as sir. Understood?”

  There was a stuttering of yes’ thrown in with a few sirs. The alien’s eyes seemed to darken. He lashed out at the nearest person, a small girl, no more than twelve years old, sending her sprawling.

  “Do you understand?” His voice dripping with utter disdain as if dealing with us was as terrible as dealing with crap on his shoe.

  It took fifteen times before he was satisfied, all of us, including me getting a fist to the stomach. My throat felt raw and itchy from yelling mixed with the atmosphere.

  “Strip.” After a few seconds, no one moved.

  “Help them.” Taleel said to the other two. I was near the front as Taleel without pre-empt let lose a fist into my stomach, I stayed standing barely as I fought for control over my breathing.

  “Strip!”

  I made a small pile of my belongings in front of me, the children bawling as they were forcefully removed from their clothing, and beaten for their perceived insolence. You’re a coward Salchar. I thought to myself as I stood there and looked at my clothes as children were beaten just feet away from me.

  They should be playing games, out with their friends and watching TV, not being beaten into soldiers. I ranted in the safety in my mind, shame filling my body. The two assistants took our clothes as Taleel talked.

  “I am in charge of getting you implanted and able to fight with a Mecha and maybe be of some damned use at the end of this expensive trip paid for by the citizens of the free planets.” His voice ended in a growl.

  “You are my squad, if you step out of line I will deal with you personally.” His eyes stopped roving across the room, locking with me as a shiver went down my spine.

  “Now we will begin implantation.” He said in a voice that brooked no argument.

  “What is implantation?” I asked my mouth working before my brain caught up to it.

  He stalked right up to my face. “What did you say?” He looked happy.

  “What is…” there was a black rod in his arm, which he touched to my stomach, causing pain to radiate outwards across my body as I dropped.

  “Get up!” He said kicking my head so I was disorientated, I tried to follow his commands as he punched me in the gut. I doubled over using the floor to support myself as He walked back in front of the squad and I quickly got to my feet.

  “You will not bark out questions like an untamed dog. Am I understood?”

  “Yes Sir!” We yelled, the fear audible in our voices, I barely held my fear in anymore. I just want to be back with Mecha Tail. I thought to myself, on the verge of tears, angry at myself for being so emotional.

  “Neural implants and ports to upload to your Mecha’s as well as basic translator, sleep teaching implant, audio, visual recorders and a locator unit. Now come along.” A door opened into a room with two more aliens and a seat. Cords like the ones that had been attached to the boxes, but, smaller rested around the seat. Everyone in the room automatically moved away from the doorway at the somehow ominous room.

  “Get back in line!” Taleel was sounding as if he was already regretting a decision he’d made. Sighing he brandished a prod that crackled. The other two bared identical prods as they again herded us like cattle into lines again.

  The young ones were crying as the three silent aliens beat them into line, only making the crying louder. I looked at the ground in embarrassment; to help would just get me beaten more.

  “You first since you’re so curious.” My face automatically turned into a calm mask. The facial and mannerism trainers were worth their weight in gold I thought to myself as I shrugged non-committal, as I wanted nothing more than to run away and hide in a corner.

  “Very well.” I said, feeling none of the confidence I spoke with. Celebrity training that had come with being in Mecha Tail the biggest gaming team in the world had meant that I could wholly control my outside appearance.

  Hoping that I was still in control of my facial appearance and mannerism, instead of showing how scared I was to the point of nausea—I walked into the room. Which only got worse as the door shut behind me, guess it’s what I get for opening my big mouth.

  Inside there were another two aliens and a chair

  “Please take a seat, or you will be forced to.” They said in bored tones.

  I hung my head, not saying anything trying to cover myself as I sat down on the cold chair. The aliens grabbed my limbs forcing them down into clamps as I tried to push them off; it was if I was trying to fight a tank with a pool noodle.

  As soon as I was secured they stepped back as more clamps covered my body and I was laid out on my back perfectly vertical. Panic started to settle in as I couldn’t move an inch and the arms around the chair in my peripheral vision started to move.

  Arms set to work on my shoulder pulling off the bandage as it felt like they’d poured liquid metal in my shoulder.

  “Three years will be added to your military contract.”

  “I don’t want it added!” I yelled through gritted teeth, just barely holding onto consciousness with the alien atmosphere.

  “Then you’re useless to us with an arm that doesn’t work. We might as well just throw you out of an airlock.” The alien that had been addressing me said, their face so close I could smell the rotting pieces of food stuck between its razor sharp teeth.

  “Do you want to be spaced?” He asked me, his eyes boring into me. I looked away, shame filling me. It was clear they didn’t care how many extra years I got added.

  “No.”

  “Then you will have three years added to your military contract. Yes?”

  “Yes.” I spat, self-loathing filling me.

  My shoulder burned even
more as I heard a high pitched humming which increased as I tried to turn and see where the noise was coming from.

  I screamed as the humming changed pitch and I could feel the humming as they cut into my flesh and spine. I’m going to die on this table with drills gouging through my back. I thought to myself as I cried, feeling my bladder release in fear.

  “Disgusting creatures, they spew waste on themselves at the pain. They are a waste of our time and training.” I half heard one alien say to another as I cried and screamed.

  Now before I’d heard of a spinal tap where someone gets a needle into their spine to gather spinal fluid. The person had volunteered for it and said it had been the most painful experience they’d ever had. This was worse than I had ever imagined that to be as drills with heads the size of a straw went into my spine down its length. My body was not my own as drugs relaxed my body, but not my nerves as they were grafted to implants. I lost my voice as I silently screamed, my body finally releasing me as I blacked out.

  I opened my eyes, feeling returning to my body as I looked around. The alien stuck its face in mine, pushing my head around before releasing me.

  It grunted something in it’s guttural language to the other and looking away with a bored look, as if me living or dying was a non-issue. I’m still alive. I thought angrily to myself. Just wait until I’m free. I thought as I regretted being conscious as things were shoved through the open wounds in my back and into the holes that had been drilled there. They had mated my nerves with an external port.

  There was a spray of something cold as I felt the area around the wound numb, then it turned to lancing fire as it had with my shoulder and my body fought the restraints as I arched in pain, every muscle flexing, my jaw shut too tight to even scream as it felt as if I’d been electrified and then it was over. Then the table was becoming a chair again as arms cleared away the waste I left behind. An alien bodily shoved me at another door.

  “You have twenty seconds to clean yourself.” I touched the back of my neck, finding solid hexagons lining my spine. I quickly moved my hand away from the oddity as my pain was replaced with shame at having peed myself.

  “You have eighteen.”

  I walked in the room, a shower activated, it smelt like battery acid, but it was liquid. It felt like battery acid as my skin interacted with it. I held in my screams, my throat hurting as I cleaned my lower half, my genitals feeling as if they would melt off as my skin was raw. The shower turned off as a door back to the main area my group was in opened.

  I dried in seconds as I walked out, keeping my head high.

  I walked through the door to officer Taleel and the nineteen others. They gasped and made noises as they saw my back pointing and talking.

  “Stay in line!” Taleel growled—hitting the nearest to him, I saw Rick doubled over from the blow to his stomach as he took a few seconds to right himself. A girl who looked barely ten started crying, another alien cuffing her, causing her to splay on the floor as he kicked her to get back in position, causing her to cry more.

  I felt something snap as I ran to her, not knowing what I was doing as I rammed the alien with my shoulder, it was like hitting a wall, all I got was a blow to the back of my head, it made me dizzy but left in seconds as I turned to the girl as the alien hit me again.

  “You need to get back in line.” I said softly. Pushing her back into position. I got another cuff to the back of the head as my world went fuzzy, but came back quickly as I felt some more fire like pain where I’d been hit.

  “The hell fire is still rampant in his system; he’ll keep healing just as fast as we keep hitting him.” The other helper said.

  “He should be slaughtered; the Officers are Drefini if they think that they can make anything out of these ignorant Mammals.” He looked at me as if I was some slime as I tried to hit him, his height and reach putting him to far away as I saw flashes of light and my lungs felt as if they were bursting

  Taleel’s eyes flashed as he was next to the enforcer in seconds.

  “Talk about the Officers that way and you will be the one that is out of the airlock next!” I realized that there was now no lag between them talking and English coming forth. My implants were now translating for me.

  The alien seemed to droop as his arm slackened around my neck I fell to the ground as I coughed my breaths.

  “Yes Officer Taleel.” The alien said, looking at the deck. Taleel went to the front of the line.

  “Let’s see how much hell fire can fix.” They began kicking and punching me with glee, leaving a few minutes later with my body and bones broken, I could feel them sitting back into position painfully as muscle tissue repaired itself.

  “Watch yourself mammal.” The enforcer hit me as I passed out.

  I woke up again minutes later. My body filled felt like it was on fire as every muscle tensed painfully. I found myself unable to move as bones popped into place and reformed together.

  After having the ports bored into my back, the broken bones being forced together was jarring. It was painful and weird, but it was bearable.

  Rick came to me, helping me up slowly, his own nerve ports gleaming in the absurdly bright lights of the room.

  “You okay?” Rick asked, pitching his voice low so the others couldn’t hear him. Wincing as his ports moved.

  I put on my most winning smile straightening myself hiding the pain. Would I want to be lied to? I thought as I slumped.

  “It’s pretty painful and scary“

  I looked at their scared faces. “But I know everyone can make it through it.” I smiled, hoping they gained some kind of confidence.

  The younger ones were blatantly staring at my back.

  “They’re so shiny.” One boy said, probably around fourteen.

  “They are huh? I can’t really see them.” I remarked as I made to look at my own.

  “How much did it hurt?” An even younger girl asked, probably around eight.

  “Quite a bit, but I know all of you can do it.” If you want to or not because Tallel will have you hauled in there.

  Taleel gave me a strange stare as I backed away. I was dizzy from the pain, the weird atmosphere which was now hard to see in as well as hard to breathe, and the increased gravity.

  We’ll be waiting for you when you’re done.” I said to them with a smile. Rick and I sat down near the exit from the showers. We were careful not to lean against the wall.

  Rick turned to me, anger in his eyes.

  “What kind of fucked up military does this to children?” I didn’t think to remind him how children were used as soldiers all over Earth. I still agreed with him.

  “One that needs to be ended.” I said, gauging his reaction. He nodded as he touched his ports, flinching as he found cold metal. It was a moment before he talked again.

  “How do you look so confident?” Gotcha I thought as he wasn’t arguing the point now, but rather trying to figure out himself how he’d be able to mimic me.

  “I just smile and act natural; we don’t want to scare them.” I said under my breath my back to the others.

  “But…”

  “Now laugh like we’re sharing a joke.” I did so Rick taking his cue from me and hiding his fear amiably. I didn’t need a panicked group of people on my hands. My time in an orphanage showed me that scared people are the worst people to be around. I needed malleable and useful people.

  He paused, as if in thought.

  “They must be some kind of interface between our neural pathways and some piece of technology.” He surmised as a look of curiosity and excitement passed over his face.

  “What part of the Air force were you in?” I asked as he looked to me.

  “I was a guard originally, you know patrol airbases. Then after a few comments to an engineer I was selected for a think tank.”

  “On what?” I pried, suspicion coloring my mind.

  “On developmental technologies.”

  “I thought it might’ve been something like
that.” I grinned.

  “Why?” He asked with a perplexed look.

  “Your eyes lit up as you began wondering the potential for the technology.”

  “Ahh.” He said looking a little embarrassed before shrugging.

  “I’m a nerd, and new things interest me.” He grinned as I couldn’t help but return it. “Though these new things are quite uncomfortable.” He added.

  “I know, I did it too.” I was trying to find a comfortable place on the wall to rest so that my new ports wouldn’t touch it and elicit more pain.