The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet

by Michael Chatfield

  “Why are you asking me?” A puzzled expression on her face as she faced me.

  “I need for someone to give me a straight answer.”

  “Save as many as you can. More will die because of your attempt but we must give our all for the others. If we are to sacrifice our lives it should be for victory, and if that means we must die for a few that will change a battle later on then it is acceptable, but we should not sacrifice our lives willingly. We will make the enemy pay and attempt to save as many as possible.”

  “Thank you.”The path I was going to tread was a difficult one, but I would walk it in hope that I could reach my goals, or another might. The Human race would be free, and we would pay back the planetary defence force back in spades. First of all I needed to find out my obstacles.

  Chapter Problems and Solutions.

  I’d been studying the Mecha while I worked in the armoury when an idea struck me. Why not just ask? I thought. Again my celebrity training came into use as I attempted to sound uninterested “Hey Shrift, is it possible to make the ring around the neck thinner.”

  “Of course you can’t it’s the Mecha’s kill switch.” Shrift said off hand.

  “How is it put there?” Shrift still worked as he answered. My heartbeat in my throat as I expected him to be annoyed, or wonder why I was asking.

  “It’s built into the original structure.”

  “How does it work?” I asked going against every instinct that told me to shut up.

  “Small gas charge fires bolts into the main cavity.”

  “Hmm, what do you think about this new design?” I said, quickly changing the subject as I tried not to shake as I held up my data pad. Shrift turned away from the Mecha he was adjusting the harness of, grabbing the data pad and studying it.

  “Interesting, yeah we can do this. It’s going to take a while; just getting the materials is going to be a pain. I still have some friends in engineering though even after my departure. We’ll make it eventually. Don’t think that the first series of humans will be getting it though, it’s all the universal Mecha for you lot.”

  “In the meantime can we do this to my Mecha?” I swiped the page bringing up the new specs on my Mecha.

  “This would be easy. Yeah we can get started right away.”

  ***

  Engineers up to their tricks

  Eddie watched James from another maintenance terminal.

  “I picked a good one didn’t I girl, now as long as he keeps himself alive and has an open enough mind we’ll be in business and we’ll have you roaming the stars!”

  “You’re running just perfectly.” He tapped on the surrounding structure as he pulled up a training schedule as well as supply timetable.

  “Just another month to go!” He said excitedly to himself as he accessed the biological supplies needed.

  “Then just find Mecha, units, full complement for a battleship, add in the necessary James Cook and his partner… Done.” He said out loud and happily to himself as he followed his own instructions on the terminal.

  “Now all we need is time isn’t it.”

  There was not a sound in the ship, but Eddie grinned as if his invisible and silent talking partner was as real as the bulkheads he touched.

  ***

  Chapter Marriage?

  “Second and third team swing over. Everyone else keep it up!” I yelled, as in front of me I saw my words become actions.

  The second and third team jumped over the enemy squad landing on the opposition’s rearguard of Mechas. Working in teams and with their now ingrained hand to hand second and third had half of the opposing squad out and were advancing.

  “TAKE THEM!” I said rushing forward, bobbing and weaving landing, rapid fire hits on the confused oncoming Mechas. Apparently we’d taken out their squad leader and they didn’t know what to do as they were unsure which direction they should be fighting in.

  The Mecha deserving my attention dropped like a sack of potatoes as two more of my Mechas automatically used the opening to force their way through, widening it.

  “You, get in there.” A trooper identified the position as I jumped in my battle computer adding me to their network. In our training I had harped on the fact a soldier is a soldier first; no matter what their rank they are to work for the best of their unit. If that means they go on the front lines, then they’ll be on the front lines. I had forced all of them to take over my role at some point; it was hazardous as they got to know how I operated. Yet for them to work the best in the field I needed them to have the confidence to take over the positions that needed to be filled.

  I could tell as the enemies confusion was leading to panic as communications completely broke down. Within minutes it was over as Yasu kicked the last enemy Mecha five feet.

  My team cheered as we popped Mecha catches so that the enemy could at least get out of their Mechas while we picked up our own disabled.

  “Good fight.” I yelled happily at the subdued Mechas one of them able to raise a single finger salute in my direction from their cart as they were piled with others to be pulled back to their pod.

  “Guess this is what we get for fighting Salchar’s squad.” the other squad commander said, I turned to look at him, my mouth open as my squad erupted in cheers.

  “Let’s get the Mechas back.” I said as my squad continued to laugh, I hide my smile behind my Mechas visor lip as we moved back to our squad bay.

  “Eat up get your wounds sorted and check your armour. Tomorrow we’ll be having the wedding fight.” Taleel said as we were pulling everyone out of their armour. All work stopped as we stared at him in confusion.

  “Wedding fight?” I asked, honestly perplexed.

  “A male and a Female of your species will fight in Mechas and with plasmid weapons till one submits. This is either because they give up, are unconscious or dead.

  The second option, they marry, this will be legal throughout the universe including your home planet.”

  I felt like I had been dunked in a cold bath, quickly I shook myself out of my daze.

  “Tomorrow we will fight our husband and wife and if we want to or not we will have to marry them?” My mouth working before my brain caught up with it. I could already see that people where separating themselves.

  “Yes, or kill them and stay single. Your opponent will be announced tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “We need more soldiers.” He looked at me as if I’d grown a third eye as I looked at him the same way.

  “Best to breed soldiers from soldiers instead of from breeders. Otherwise you would all be in a breeding program.” We fell into stunned silence as he marched out of the room. Leaving us looking at one another in confusion and moving apart—our victory already forgotten.

  “Let’s get the maintenance done and then hand to hand.” I said thinking He can’t be serious, they want us to have children that they can enslave from birth and send into battle like us. The Planetary defence could then use these children born into slavery for anything; they could make them servants, or send them to kill other humans, to kill people on Earth.

  As we drifted sedately into the armoury I looked at George and all of the young children, they looked to be twenty or so years old, but they still had the brains of young teenagers. They would be parents to children they would never see, who could be fighting right beside them and they would never know.

  “Why are we working on our Mechas? Tomorrow we’ll be married.” One of the guys in Marleen’s team said, desperation in his voice.

  “Yes, we might be married by this time tomorrow, but we will also be part of the Mecha corps, as such we will need our equipment. Don’t think of it as marriage, just think of it as you’re getting a permanent partner, its marriage, you can get it annulled when we get back to Earth.”

  “It’s still marriage! I had a fiancé back on Earth!” A woman cried.

  “They’re going to understand, with this yes it is marriage, but it will be between you and t
he one you’re to marry to decide how you want to act. The bottom line is, married or not, it doesn’t matter, we need to work together to survive and return to Earth or keep the human race alive.”

  “What if we want to be single?” The woman with a fiancé said. I whipped around on her, marching as I talked.

  “If you kill one of us I won’t show you any mercy.” My voice cold and hard in a way it hadn’t been before I’d killed Gibbons. She tried to melt into the wall behind her as I turned away facing the others.

  “No one in this squad will kill another, you will get matched up and you will deal with it. That said any talks of untoward actions on either part or those a rank higher will deal with it. Anyone that forced another will not be allowed to use their battle suit, even in their Mecha for nine periods between sleep. False accusations and the accused and accuser will spend a night in the showers with one another.”

  They looked away from my gaze as I looked around the room, only Yasu held it.

  Dear god I hope I don’t get that woman. I thought as I turned back to my Mecha.

  “Teams begin your rotation into medical.” I said putting them into action, the leaders naturally coming to me after a few minutes. I left my maintenance as I addressed them.

  “Alright we need to establish a chain of responsibility. If I die, you take over Rick, if he dies; Marleen, then Hoi and finally Abella.”

  They nodded agreement, uncertainty at what was going to happen tomorrow filled their faces as my training for cameras and media came to the front.

  “Don’t worry we’ll get through this.” I smiled reassuringly. Some of them were still unsure, but they seemed to believe in me as they moved back to their groups.

  “What about making Yasu a leader?” Rick asked. I studied him; she’d obviously sunk his claws in him which made my guard come up.

  “Yes I’ll think about that in the future. I don’t want to split up the teams right now” I mused rubbing my chin. “For now let’s just treat this as a normal day, the less shock the better.” They nodded as they dispersed back to their Mechas. I turned to my own completing the maintenance.

  In Sook is going to kill me. I thought about how Psycho Cheerleader from MT was probably going through the same situation as me. Might be a sweet mercy to actually marrying her. I thought to myself my smile becoming real as I let a chuckle go as I left the armoury for the food cart in our pod.

  Images of the rambunctious Bok Soo and forever calm Monk filling my mind-the other two remaining members of MT.

  Cowards wait for fate. I thought, mentally gearing myself up.

  ***

  Chapter Why me?

  Yasu contemplated all that had happened in her life to bring her to this point as she surveyed the room looking for anyone that might attack her.

  Her eyes locked onto the peacefully sleeping Salchar. How could he sleep while she barely did? Trusting these now half-trained killers he’d forced her to teach. Again because of his meddling in her warrior’s code. It made her furious how he’d played her.

  As if sensing her stare he woke up, stretching and smiling to everyone greeting people as he moved around the room as if it was any other day.

  Her eyes followed him; he was still as much of a mystery before when she’d been a fighter in MAT as he was now after spending what had to be months, watching him. He had no specific fighting style from the limited fighting she’d seen.

  Yet she was still confident in her own abilities.

  “Alright off to the armoury.” Taleel said leading them into the armoury she got into her Mecha her nerve ports connecting with the up links in the Mecha. She watched James as he disappeared with Shrift she could feel the thumping of powered Mecha legs as James returned his Mecha looked mostly normal but she could see slight adjustments, armour trimmed here to make it easier to move his legs, more around the joints and weak points, stronger bearings around the helmet to turn his head.

  He heralded the others into readiness and the training arena. Yasu was already making her way into. She couldn’t miss the others noticing the modifications he’d made to his Mecha.

  “Damn boss nice suit.” She pitied Rick the man was loyal to James, one of many of his blind followers. They walked in trailing behind the last person.

  “Alright females in that door, males in the other.” Taleel indicated the doors as everyone moved into the corridors. She was first at the end as a wall dropped separated her and the person behind her. For a moment she panicked as she thought she was in the box that had grabbed her from the championship again. A section of the wall opened revealing her customized sword she’d had ordered so long ago. It was like her samurai sword back on Earth. She placed it on her hip, connecting with the magnetic clamp there as she pulled the blade free, studying it. The plasmid cast a blue green hue on the deadly lines of the sword as she studied its workmanship.

  A door opened in front of her.

  More confident now with a sword in her hand she stepped into the plain room identical to the squad’s pod she moved through a few positions limbering up her muscles as she adjusted to the blades reach, weight and balance.

  The door on the opposite side opened as she openly stared, feeling as if the floor beneath her had given way.

  “You know it’s rude to stare, and you can close your mouth.” She did so embarrassed and still not believing her eyes.

  ***

  I pretended to be asleep for the small amount of time we were left alone. As a signal announced feeding time I found my eyes darting to the female faces in dread. Finding Yasu’s face before I looked away.

  Sure I wanted to get married as most people do, though my idea of getting married was well—proposing and getting married instead of a fight to the possible death and then forcing the loser to be your husband or wife.

  If I could I was going to submit as long as they wouldn’t be the kind to kill me. I wasn’t really scared that the others would kill me out of spite—I was just nervous. Someone was literally choosing how I would live for the rest of my life. I thought that depending on one’s culture that they would not be happy at all to be married to me. The people in my squad hailed from across Eastern Asia and the Western Americas. In most cultures marriage was everlasting; something that I agree on. Yet they wouldn’t want to be married to someone that they don’t want to be with for the remainder of their lives. This is what I was thinking about as I continued on.

  I was in a daze as Shrift took me to my Mecha; he had been up and without projects so he’d seen to adding to the improvements I’d already added. I put on my Mecha feeling more confident as I again didn’t really pay attention to Rick who was talking to me as Taleel made us walk into corridors separate from the women. Walls descended breaking us all up, I fought down my panic—thinking that someone would kill me as a section of the wall opened and my custom plasmid long sword lay there. I grabbed it; it didn’t have a scabbard as it could be clamped to my back clamps. I kept it in my hand as the wall in front of me disappeared and I walked out into an arena the size of the squad’s room.

  I saw her as I felt my stomach drop; I stopped like a deer in headlights. I regained my composure quickly my mouth working before I could think it, as I twirled my long sword, getting a feel for it.

  “You know it’s rude to stare, and you can close your mouth.” She closed her mouth still staring at me.

  “Well Yasu it seems that we’ll be having that fight you wanted to have.” I said as I continued to move my sword trying to get acquainted with the weapon while not staring at Yasu. Shit shit shit, I’m screwed! I thought as she continued to move with her sword, never looking away from me.

  “Yes it does look like it.” Thanks! That really helps!

  I rolled my eyes as I did the same with my sword around my body getting a feel for the blade. Here I was thinking it would be easy! Cowards wait for fate, I had no intention of surrendering and leaving my life in the balance, not with this woman. There was no way she was going to submit either.
>
  I looked up from the ground holding my sword back and behind me as she turned her sword high.

  “Alright so looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

  “Was there any other choice.” I thought for a few seconds before shrugging.

  “Not really.” I said with a grin, I could swear the corners of her mouth twitched.

  We charged at the same time sparks flying as electrostatic fields interacted and plasma dissolved armour. We pushed apart with me swinging after her, she smashed my sword away coming at me on the upstroke I pushed backwards the Mecha’s strength pushing me out of the way of the blade as I planted my feet and lunged again.