Proxy War

by Adam Sampson

  After dinner, they still had slightly over two hours before bedtime. The three teenagers tried to go to bed early, but Frank stopped them.

  “I know you feel tired, but really you are jetlagged. If you go to bed now, you will be up in the middle of the night. Best to wait till bedtime and get your body adjusted to the longer day here on this planet,” said Frank.

  Two hours passed with them hanging out in their room, just lounging around. When bedtime rolled around, Rex still wasn’t back. Emma was particularly worried about his absence. Not knowing if this was unusual or not, they just turned off the light and went to sleep.

  The next morning came quickly, hurried along by a visit from Rex before the sun had even risen.

  “Good morning my cuties, up and at ’em, rise and shine. Meet me outside in six minutes, don’t be late,” Rex said with a smile.

  “Rex! You are back, we were worried about you,” Emma said.

  “I am touched that you care, little lady. Don’t worry about me though. There isn’t anything in these hills that can do more than inconvenience old Rex here. Now hurry along, time's a-wasting.”

  They were all able to meet Rex outside in the pre-dawn light fairly quickly. Almost all of them had slept in their uniform since it was so much more comfortable than the alternatives. Jonas hadn’t changed either, but his uniform was now clean, and the cut in his sleeve had repaired itself.

  Rex led them at a fast trot until they reached the open fields surrounding the armory. Then they just stood there. In the distance, they could see a few other groups doing the same nothing. When someone would ask him what they were doing there, Rex would just shush them and stare in the direction of the rising sun.

  Ten minutes of standing there, doing nothing, and the squads were starting to get antsy. But then they saw it.

  Just before the sun crested the distant mountain, the sky burst into color. In less than a minute, the sky was completely changed. Instead of a dull dark red, the sky was suddenly awash with a cacophony of colors, a rainbow of reds and blues and purples streaked across the sky. Like a rainbow that stretched across the entire sky, with the sun at the bow. Within five minutes the light show was done, the sky returning to its regular dull reddish gray color.

  “That was beautiful,” said Lola, her voice full of wonder.

  “Yeah, it was. It does not happen every morning, but when the weather is just right, the sunrises here are amazing. This planet throws a lot of crap at you, but it certainly has its moments,” Rex sighed, then continued, “Ok, y’all have forty-five minutes for breakfast, meet me back here on the hour. Get your harnesses and weapons on too.”

  “You know, some of us don’t have watches,” Chris said.

  “Well some of you better figure something out so I don’t have to break any bones today,” Rex said without turning around.

  They all ran off to breakfast. They ate quickly and all were back on the field with five minutes to spare. After yesterday’s experiences, no one doubted that an actual broken bone would result from not obeying Rex.

  Their day started off with laps around the fields. Apparently, this was a common way to start the day, and there were many squads running the long loop around the fields. Although Rex had them running as fast as they could, they were the slowest ones on the track. Squads would run around them from behind, often lapping them twice per loop. One squad even made a point of jumping clear over their entire group each time they lapped Rex’s trainees.

  After about an hour of running Rex peeled them off into an empty moss field and introduced them to a martial art he called “Kobudo”. It was an ancient Japanese martial art, like karate but with weapons. Rex walked them through a few different forms with their weapons. Each set of moves was called a kata, and Rex showed them a few different ones. It was almost relaxing, each move flowing into the next and much less strenuous than their morning run.

  Except of course when Rex cut them for doing a kata wrong.

  Next they were sent back to their barracks to drop off their weapons and harness and “Get gussied up” as Rex put it. For the first time, Peter thought about how little time the women had been getting to maintain their looks. He was fine with his short hair, but none of the women had their makeup and some of them had long hair, like Lola. That must be a hassle to manage out here where the water basins near the outhouses didn’t even have mirrors. The men combed their hair and were done quickly. All of the women managed to make drastic improvements though. Despite the basic equipment, each showed that there was a big difference between efficient ponytails and styled hair.

  Lola in particular had made a drastic improvement. She had styled her hair instead of hiding it away, and her skill showed. Peter caught himself staring at Lola’s long red hair and turned away. He doubted that she would appreciate the gawking. It didn’t seem like anyone was thinking about romance around here, but if Peter had to guess, he would think that Lola would gravitate towards Jonas since they had so much in common.

  Why was he even thinking about her in that way? Sure, she’s attractive, but he had only known her for a few days. Peter’s dad had told him once that you can’t really like someone if you don’t know them, otherwise you just like the person you imagine them to be. Remembering that advice made Peter a little sad, his dad died a while ago. Peter shook his head and walked back to stand near Rex.

  “Thanks for trying to look better folks. Most of you still look like shit, but at least you tried,” Rex said.

  The meeting was in a building not too far away from their barracks. There was a large conference room where they filed in and sat down on cheap folding chairs. The front of the room had a holoprojector, but the rest of the large room was unadorned. It looked like all of the squads from the first day were in the meeting. This time there were enough seats for everyone, although their trainers just stood in the back.

  Once the room was full, Thor walked up to the front to address everyone, “Thanks for coming everyone, this is an important meeting. After the intro video, you will be meeting the command structure for the base and our part of the war effort. After that we will also do some basic training using your cuff. The commandant and others will be appearing on the holoprojector behind me. Please give them your attention and respect, and remember that they can see and hear you too.” Thor nodded and walked to the back of the room and stood at attention.

  After a moment the holoprojector flickered on and a green and brown planet filled the room. It slowly spun in place, showing the planet in beautiful detail. A voiceover explained, “This is Eternium, former home of the Vindilar, the species we know as the trolls. Once a peaceful and kind species, they were attacked decades ago by the vicious Klaxon. Unused to war, the conflict cost the Vindilar dearly.” The spinning planet slowly started losing it’s green and turning brown all over.

  “Eventually the Klaxon were fought to a standstill, but not before the planet was made uninhabitable.” The image showed a few spacecraft fly away from an all brown planet.

  “Their resources stretched thin, their survival at stake, the Vindilar came to Earth to ask for our help. They improved the lives of every human on Earth, and in exchange, they only ask that we help defend ourselves. If the Protectorate were to fall, the Klaxon would attack Earth,” the voice continued as an image of Earth appeared and started to turn brown as well, “And with no one to stop them, the Klaxon would devour Earth as well. You have been drafted to be the shield that keeps all of Earth safe.” The brown Earth faded and a green Earth replaced it with the symbol of the Protectorate superimposed over it.

  They all sat in stunned silence for a moment. They had been told on Earth that there was a war going on, but not that it was against planet-devouring monsters.

  The holo-image morphed and the bust of an older Chinese man appeared in the room. He was wearing a military uniform with a large group of multi-colored awards on his right breast. His head loomed over the assembled soldiers and smiled.

  “Good to see you all
, soldiers. My name is Commandant Jinping and I am the leader of the United Protectorate Army, Human Division. You have been granted the opportunity to join our illustrious forces in protecting Earth and other Protectorate planets. I know that this close to your choosing day you may not see this opportunity for what it is. But I hope over time you will take advantage of the wonderful advancements the cuff can offer. You will be able to do more, be more, than you ever could before. I look forward to watching your careers over the years as you grow and develop into the soldiers I know you can be. I must leave now, but I leave you in the hands of your planet’s Lieutenant, Lieutenant Rawat,” the commandant said and smiled as he faded away.

  Next appeared an Indian man, slightly balding with a comb-over, obviously Lieutenant Rawat, judging by his uniform and only slightly smaller set of metals on his chest. He did not smile as he said, “Greetings. As our great leader said, I am Lieutenant Rawat, the highest ranking officer on Omicron, the planet you find yourselves on. I have put in the work and fought in many battles to rise to this rank, as I hope many of you here will follow in my footsteps. It is my duty to bring you all up to the galactic standard so that you may be useful to the Protectorate. The divine orbs found in the creatures of this planet are an invaluable resource that you must take advantage of. I expect you to work hard to unlock the divine in you all. Together we will beat back the Klaxon and make the universe safe for all our families. Namaste.”

  Shortly after his image faded away, another one faded into view. This woman projected her entire body into the room as she strolled to the center of the room. Unlike the previous two leaders, she wore the same uniform as the soldiers, one obviously made from the alien fabric. She also sported a few metals on her chest, about half as many as the Lieutenant. Brown hair in a bun and combat boots on her feet completed the ensemble.

  She turned and looked at the assembled and said in a British accent, “Afternoon. I am Captain Mason and I am in charge of Base Alpha. I apologize for not appearing in person, but circumstances kept me away. There are two bases on Omicron, bases Alpha and Beta. Your first task as soldiers of the Protectorate is to gain enough skills and orbs to progress to base Beta. I will oversee you from levels one through eight, and my colleagues will help you along up through levels eight up to twenty. After that, you will graduate the boot camp here on Omicron and be eligible to fight in the war. We will work together as a team to mold you into a fighting force worthy of that challenge. I know that as you follow the guidelines and structure we put forward, your team will quickly advance in power and standing. Many of you will have questions and requests, and I ask you to respect the chain of command and go through your trainers and Ensigns. I am sure I will meet you all again soon after your level four ceremony. Until then, good day.”

  Thor walked to the front of the room as Captain Mason faded away. He made sure that everyone was paying attention before saying, “We have a good group of leaders, and we are lucky to have them. Each of them deserves your utmost respect. If you ever see any of them in any situation, be polite and respectful and obey any request without question. You are not smart enough to question any order they give. And while we are talking about etiquette, if you ever see a Troll, get out of their way and stand against a wall, and stare them in the eyes. People have been killed just for getting in their way.”

  Thor sighed and continued, “For Americans, this is the hardest part of adjusting to your new life. Not the superpowers or magical healing, but the fact that we are not all equal. There is a hierarchy and some people really are better than you. That Lieutenant you saw? He isn’t just better because of all his ribbons, he is the best sniper I know, and he is twenty levels above me. The commandant is so high that I can’t even read his level. Until you get some levels, you are at the bottom of the pile. Just accept that fact. If that bothers you, you can do something about it. Kill some monsters and level up.”

  With a wave of a hand, a close up of a cuff appeared in the air beside Thor. “This is your cuff, and we will go over using it today. Normally this is a presentation we do on the first day, but there were some scheduling conflicts for this room. Anyway, pay attention to what Lauren has to say about the cuff, it is literally the most important thing in your life now,” he said.

  Lauren walked up to the front of the room and said, “Hello everyone. My name is Lauren Bander and I am going to show you some additional functionality of the cuff. Please pay attention. You know by now that the cuff has the amazing ability to improve your body and grant you skills and powers. But before we delve into that deeper, let's go over a few simple things you can do with your cuff. First off you need to be able to call up your screen at will. It is actually fairly simple. You just need to think the word ‘Walc’ormeretal’ clearly in your head. ‘Walc’ormeretal’ is galactic common for status screen. I want each of you to touch your cuff, say ‘Walc’ormeretal’ in your head until your screen pops up. Once you get your screen up, hold up your right hand.”

  Directly after she stopped speaking two women in front had their blue screens up. In a few moments ten more screens popped up. Two minutes later all but three people had their screens up. The three people seemed upset, but their trainers walked over to them to help them.

  While the trainers talked quietly to their trainees, Lauren turned to those with screens to say, “Normally we are rather strict with soldiers who have their screens up, because one slip of the finger and your orbs are wasted on the wrong upgrade. You haven’t had the chance to go hunting yet so we aren’t worried about you hitting the wrong upgrade today. When you go hunting at the end of the week, make sure you are careful with your cuff after that.”

  Rex was immediately beset with twelve accusing gazes. His trainees knew now that he wasn’t supposed to send them into danger as soon as he had. And although the rest of the trainees would have a relaxing instruction hour, they would have to watch every move so they didn’t waste their orbs. Lola even went so far as to mouth some German swear words at Rex.

  “Looks like everyone has their screens up, excellent. The first feature we are going to discuss is the timekeeping feature, found on the triangle formation of your screen. Everyone’s screen is slightly different, but you should have just one set of symbols that form a triangle. Once you see it, go ahead and press it,” Lauren said.

  Peter thought he saw it right away but still examined the rest of his screen to be sure.

  It really didn’t make much logical sense. The text slowly rotated, each group moving at a different rate. Still, there was only one triangle, so he pressed it.

  Immediately all the other words fell away and a picture of a globe took its place. It was the planet they were on, Omicron, with a representation of the local sun on the upper right. On the lower right was a small black humanoid, slightly better than a stick figure. The globe was bisected with lines at regular intervals, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

  “That’s it, good job. This is your clock. That little man you see there is you. If you watched him through the day you would see him swing around the world and this planet rotates around the sun. Your little sun on the upper right stays put, just the world below it rotates. Each day is split up into 16 stans, or 32 half stans. Today’s meeting will take about another half stan longer, and you should see your little man move that far across the world by the end of the meeting. If I tell you we are meeting at the gates on the third stan in the morning, just look at the world and count three sections from the dawn line. You should be at the gates as soon as the left foot of your little stick figure man touches the line for the third section. It takes a little while to get used to it, but soon it will be second nature,” Lauren said with a smile.

  “Next is communication. You can make or receive calls on your cuff, just like a cell phone or smart glasses. When someone is calling you, your cuff buzzes. To answer the call, just bring your cuff to your face, and make a fist. That will automatically show you who is calling and you can either answer or put your arm down t
o hang up.”

  The instructions continued on for what seemed like forty-five minutes, but Lauren was right, their clock showed just a half stan. In addition to the clock and phone, they learned how to input their names so the system knew who they were. They learned how to locate other members of their squad if they got separated. What they didn’t learn was how to use their orbs to upgrade, that was something their trainers would only teach them as they needed it. They didn’t want to have anyone try to use their orbs on their own for an upgrade only to pick the wrong thing accidentally.

  Once the meeting was over, it was back to more running. This time they ran between buildings instead of on the track, a much longer loop but still within the English section. Rex ran ahead and set ambushes around corners every so often. After Peter got cut for the second time, he really started to wonder why he didn’t hate Rex more. Every training method seemed to involve pain and surprises, but Peter still thought of him as a lovable jerk. The jerk part made sense, but where did the lovable part come from?

  Chapter 10

  “I think it is time for us to use our orbs, Rex. I have a mini heart attack every time I open my status screen. I want to upgrade so I don’t have to worry about it,” said Simon.

  “Oh, that worry never really goes away Simon, the higher your level is, the longer you have to save up orbs to use them. There is always the worry that one slip of your finger could waste three months of savings. Instead of the blink-step you were saving up for, now you have advanced toe dexterity. I have seen more than one man break down crying after a big mistake like that,” Rex said.

  “But you are right, let’s go ahead and upgrade. Everyone gather around. Y’all have a choice, strength or speed? Do you want to get stronger next or faster? It doesn’t matter much, since we will pick the next one after our next hunt. Any preferences?”