The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet (20 page)

Eddie shut the hatch and the humming sound lessened so that we could actually talk.

“Now I said that I would talk to you about the Planetary defence force, and the Resilient.”

“Yeah what is that?”

“Resilient?” A hologram came to life, the hologram was of a creature wearing what looked to be combat armour, she had four legs where a person’s legs would be and fine tentacles instead of hands. She was slight blue with two appendages that hung from either side of her humanoid face, I wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be like human hair or ears, but they moved independently, her eyes were
 
old,
 
yet kind, there was a slit that ran from one hair like appendage to the other. There was no visible way of how she breathed.

“Hello James Cook.” She said, her voice soothing like a caring mother’s.
 
Her mouth isn’t moving.
 
I realized—a shiver running down my spine.

“Hello, who are you?”

“I am Resilient, this ship.”

“So wait. You’re one of the ships that disappeared after the Kalu-Union war?”

“Yes, if you must remind me of my age.” She said, an amused look on her face.

“How can you prove that you’re an AI?”

“How can you prove that you’re sentient human?”

“I can give blood, finger prints…”

“I can show you my servers and my electronic signature.” She cut me off.

“So I’m going to have to trust you.”
 
Great, first time on a ship and it’s sentient, oh and the Chiefs barking mad. Good stuff.

“Is that not the basis of every relationship?” She asked, reminding me of a wise woman.

“Why should I, you work for the Syndicate.” I crossed my arms.

“Not quite. “She replied as Eddie shifted uncomfortably.

“How so?”

“They don’t know of her existence, they just think that she’s a normal ship with no AI.” Eddie supplied as my brow creased.

“Why don’t you get rid of them?”

“Well I am just one ship and I can’t manage everything by myself. Also I needed to find someone willing to defeat them.” Resilient said.

“Why?”

“It is a test.” She said.

“What kind of test?”

“I was sent with a mission by the Planner. If you pass my tests then I will swear my allegiance to you.”

“How do I know you won’t break it?”

“I will write it into my code.” She said as Eddie’s breath rushed out in a hiss.

“What?” I looked to Eddie.

“If she goes against her code it’ll destroy her.” His face serious.

“You would swear your life to do what I said?” I asked in astonishment.

“Yes, or to someone that passes my tests. There have been one hundred and eighty nine before you.”

“How can I confirm what your saying is true? This could just all be a test by the syndicate/defence force.”

“There will be a raid on a ship in twenty minutes. I have put you and your partner on the roster. You better get in you Mecha.”

“How do you know?”

“I am this ship; I am tied into everything from communications, life support weapons and sensors.” She said cocking her head to the side.

“Oh.” Eddie was already moving to the maintenance hatch opening it to the buzz of the shaft.

“Won’t the syndicate see what I’m doing because if you’re saying what I think you’re saying?” I said as Eddie grinned.

“I’m the most complex super computer in light years. I can take care of the syndicate.” She sounded rather pleased with herself as Eddie grinned.

“We’ll keep you safe.”

“Pull all of the ships information that you board, and stay alive Salchar.” She said her hologram disappearing as I made to follow Eddie. My head full of questions as I was still trying to understand what had just happened.

Shrift was waiting in the maintenance room.

“Capacitor three Echo went.” He said as Eddie emerged.

“Damn idiots!” He said, turning as if remembering I was there as he turned to me.

“As she said keep yourself alive.” He gave a fierce nod before he marched out of the room.

“So you met the ship.” Shrift said with a grin as he escorted me back to the armoury.

“Yeah.” Not knowing, what else to say.

“She is something I’ll give her that.” He said winking as we were back in the armoury. I looked at Shrift as we stood there.

“Well out with it Salchar.” He said after a few seconds.

“Is what she and Eddie said about the AI’s Union, Syndicate and all of that true?” Eddie’s face took on a grave look.

“Yes, and she’s our only hope of defeating the Syndicate and freeing the people she’s enslaved. I guess that you are now too.”

I looked at my Mecha, right where we’d left it as I let that sink in.

“Well she said that there would be a boarding party, if she was wrong about that then…”

“Prepare boarding party!” The person that used the intercom said.

“You were saying Salchar?” Shrift said, grinning as my data pad chirruped with an incoming message.

“Looks like I’m part of this boarding party.” I said quietly.

“Stay alive and worry about revolts once you’re back on Resilient.”

“I guess the Syndicate named her the Golden Refuge?”

“Yeah, damned assholes.” Eddie said moving to the armoury closest to the hangar.

“Well we’ll have something to do when you come back, here.” He pressed his hand to a circle next to one of two heavily armoured hatches. It unlocked revealing exotic weaponry from rail guns to plasma cannons, fletchette shotguns and crew serviced bead support weapons. Through his implants Shrift had already had the needed Mechas rotate down, their coffins waiting for their users to unlock them and climb into the secured Mechas.

Shrift gave me a hand with my own Mecha. I ran through diagnostics as he moved to the right wall of weapons.

“Hand out their weapons, the rack will flash as they come past.”

I grabbed my long sword. The thing weighed twenty pounds but my time training made it feel like nothing more than a needle. My heavy rail gun was outfitted for my Mecha, its fifty pounds feeling closer to five.

The Mecha and the weapon synced as the HUD displayed by the visor now showed an aiming reticule for the weapon as well as ammunition count and a green light for weapons function.

I put the sword and gun on my magnetized clamps on my back as I put the ammunition belt around my waist, I checked everything was in reach as the first Mecha—Yasu ran in. She opened her coffin and got into her Mecha in practiced movements as more and more people got into their Mechas.

I would be lying if part of the reason that I had stayed in the armoury instead was to avoid her, and the room that we shared.

I grabbed the first flashing rack; I recognized the sword as I grabbed both it and the associated rail gun. Yasu snatched her weaponry from me, her face cold.
 
Nothing new there.
 
Screw space killing me, or some alien I’d never seen before, or even my kill switch, this woman was going to kill me I was sure. No matter how long we were married for I had no doubt that it was going to feel like a
 
very
 
long marriage, I thought.

“After we need to talk.” Her eyes said it would not be on a topic I would very much enjoy.

“You’ve got it.” I said in a light tone which made her eyes thin in annoyance as she stormed out.
 
Oh joy.
 
I thought as I handed the next Mecha their weapons.

“Do not load your weapons, or pull out your melee weapons until I say so. We don’t need anyone dying from blue on blue!” I yelled to the compartment as the next person took their weapons gingerly, obviously cowed.

Better to have them to be respectfully scared of these weapons instead of filled with unwarranted confidence and shoot something, or someone.

The armoury was now fully open to streamline people running in one side and getting in their Mechas. Me handing them their weapons, then running out the other side, into the hangar and onto the awaiting shuttle.

I continued yelling my orders about weapons until no one else entered the armoury.

More ran past, nodding to me as they went. The last of them done, I ran out, loading and cocking my rail gun before placing it on safe. I had a firearms license in South Korea, plus in MAT the user reloaded manually and used a variety of weapons.

I glanced around the room and it was clear most of these people hadn’t looked at these weapons in any way other than something to be cleaned before; nearly none of them knew how to use them. I could see with how they pointed them at one another, slung them on their shoulders as if they were a rake, while holding the trigger. Others were still coming from other armouries as I stood at the front of the shuttle.

“Alright take your fingers off of the trigger and look here! I am not going to repeat this!” I barked as people turned to face me.

“Take the magazine; insert it into the mag well like this. It will click telling you it is firmly in there.” A few dropped theirs. I pointed to those who’d obviously used weapons before by their relaxed stance their barrel control and the fact their fingers were well away from the triggers.

“You, you, you and you spread out and help.” They nodded turning to the group and assessing the worst off.

If you’re resting point the barrel at the ground and for god’s sake keep your damned finger off of the trigger unless you want to kill someone.” I said.

A few people hastily aimed their weapons at the ground.

“Remember only point at what you want to kill. Use your swords where possible. Those comfortable with rifles use them. Messing around with a gun you don’t know how to use will get you killed.”

“Everyone grab a seat and keep those weapons pointed at the ground and the finger off of the trigger!” I pointed to the few that knew weapons and pointed them to other shuttles. My impromptu lesson over, it was up to those that knew how to use weapons to educate those who didn’t.

“Educate them as much as possible.”
 
Should’ve had Henry go over those lessons sooner rather than later. Fucking bastard syndicates think of us as nothing more than mildly useful cattle.

I paused, realizing how I had already changed to believing the PDF was really the Syndicate.
 
Though how would it be possible for a military to exist on slaves alone for this long. Plus with the PDF being multi-race why would there be a caste system of singular races for anyone below the ship’s crew.
 
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I clamped my feet to the shuttles floor and began talking through how to use the rail guns everyone was equipped, they already knew how it worked through their lessons.

I wish the Syndicate thought it would be useful to teach us how to use weapons, instead of how to mistrust our fellow humans.

I thought as I moved on with my display, hoping that enough of them got what I was telling them.

The shuttle sealed itself before manoeuvring out of the bay before the main engines came online. We sped out of the bay, accelerating as we bore down on the enemy vessels.

On our HUDs a Sarenmenti Officer appeared. “You are to kill all inhabitants; it is believed they are carrying a deadly toxin in their bodies to release on the general population of the free planets. Not one being may be left alive.”

“My name is Turek and I am in charge of these two platoons. This is a temporary posting so don’t get used to me commanding you.” With that the HUD went back to its normal settings.

So we were going to be killing the equivalent of space terrorists I thought to myself as we waited in silence. Though what Eddie and Resilient had told me kept coming back as I wondered if they were really terrorists. The nerves now kicked in as I realized for the first time I was going to board an enemy ship in space in a Mecha.

This was the kind of scenario I’d gamed out in MAT but now it was real. Here I could die. I was with people who didn’t know which was the right end of a rail gun and who I had been fighting for months now. Any grudges they might have, I’d probably feel by way of a ‘stray’ round.

They probably felt the same way. We were so unorganized it was pitiful and it didn’t look like our officer was going to do anything about it. Grinding my teeth I spoke up.

“Alright, you and your partner will be a team. Five teams will make a section, ten will make a squad, and you already know the breakdown for platoons and Companies.” I threw up a grid of the seats different colours highlighting rows of ten people on my HUD transmitting it to the rest in the shuttle.
 
I really need to thank Shrift for these little tricks.

“Those the same colour as you on this map are your section mates.” I threw up another one now in numbers. Sighing as I recognized one Mecha

“Those with the same number are in the same squad. You have a minute to pick a leader for both sections and squads.” I changed to a side channel.

“Alright Henry this is your show.”

“You’re the boss; you were the one that laid down the rules for us.” He said dumping responsibility right back at me. Putting me again in the lime light and making me the easiest target for the others grievances.

“The fair fight crap?” I said angrily.

“Yeah, that stuff stopped a lot of brawls getting out of control, those rules and words reminded us of our civility. No Salchar you’re the boss I’ll follow you.”

I hadn’t realized how far my little saying had gone, when I’d been saying it I was just hoping that the people opposite me wouldn’t kill me. Instead it had spread like wildfire. Humans clasped on to that statement which proved we had honour to one another, those that didn’t were left to get pounded by the enemy squads.

“What about the weapons stuff?”

“Don’t try to undercut yourself; we both know you just went over as much as possible. We’re attacking a ship; there should be hardly any opportunities for us to use our firearms.”

“Alright, though stay alive, we’re starting those classes as soon as we get back to the Re…fuge” I said, hoping that he hadn’t caught my slip as I composed myself as the weight I hoped to be gone from my shoulders firmly landed back on them.

An unknown private channel opened. “Hello Salchar.” It had a southern drawl

“Eddie?”

“One and only, now you know the universal port in your forefinger?” He paused waiting for me to confirm.

“Yes.”

“Good, use this to connect to the data terminals in the ship, discover the truth. Me and Resilient will keep you guys covered and make sure the Syndicate and your Sarenmenti officers don’t see what’ you’re doing.” With that the channel ended. I shook my head clearing it as I focused on just staying alive in the next few minutes.

“Henry you’re in charge of two platoons, I’ll take over one.” I changed to the general channel as I saw that leaders had been picked. I slotted them into the nets they would need to be in to keep command and control. I didn’t know how well it would go, at this stage it was adapt or die.

“Alright, if someone comes at you with a weapon put them down. Don’t piss on them, they will kill you. They won’t fight according to our code. Watch out for your teammate, section squad and platoon and do your job. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Ten seconds.” A voice said through our helmets as the shuttle began jinking as we burned off speed.

The shuttle rattled dangerously as weapon fire came close enough for a few projected screens to go blank. I gritted my teeth against the forces pushing us around as the shuttle stopped braking and jinking with the clink of magnetic clamps locking to a surface.

“We’re on the hull.” A dull thump sounded. “Entry made!”

“Alright you Human bags of scum! Move!” Turek said on our HUDs.

We thumped our harnesses releasing them as we rushed to the magnetically clamped door, dual airlocks still closed as they equalized the pressure.

“Up and at them! Come on, I’m getting old here!” I said as a few were slow getting out of their seats.

I pulled my cocking handle, letting it go with a satisfying Mechanical click as my HUD warned me my weapon was loaded.

I brought it up to my shoulder as the airlocks opened the pressure equaled on either side as pop up sights appeared on my visor, without a word me and Yasu moved forward her sword ready and her rail gun on her back. A squat green looking humanoid peered around the corner ahead of us I let loose a burst as I advanced, the kinetic forces ripping apart his smaller body. We continued advancing into the larger area to get more people into the ship.