The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet (33 page)

“This won’t do.” She said after five minutes I looked up in shock thinking she’d left when the door had closed.

She hoisted me out of my seat pushing me into the wall so that her face was inches from mine.

“Goddamn it James you’re these people’s leader, you don’t have time to mope over a loss, we’re still in enemy territory. They need someone to look up to, before it’s always been you, they need you again.”

“They need me? They’ll do just fine by themselves; all I’ve done is get them killed!” I snarled back.

“No what you’ve done is kept us human, given us direction, trained us so that we can survive and you’re working to payback our captors in spades. You’re the man with the plan, the man that’ll get us home.”

She looked at me her eyes searching as I looked away. The hope in her eyes unbearable I felt like putting my fist through the wall.
 
My nemesis was looking to me for guidance whatever would happen next?

“It’s because of me that he died.” I said quietly new grief rolling over me as I stated what I truly felt.

She acted as if she’d been shot, before coming closer to my face.

“Don’t be an idiot James, use your brain. The aliens that abducted us and forced us to fight are to blame for all of this.”

“You don’t understand.” My eyes boring into hers. “I was the one that gave the orders he was following me, not the damned aliens. In my gesture of trying to get some common ground with the natives. He did as I asked. I Commander damned Salchar.” I pushed her away with a swipe of my arm as I slumped back into the chair I’d been sitting in, bending it with the Mechas weight.

“More will die as well.” She said from behind me resting a hand on my shoulder. I shook it off before staring at the floor.

“Yes people will blame you for their deaths, but without you do you think we’ll lose more or less?” She continued.

“Get someone else to do it, Henry’s great with soldiers.”

“Yes he is but there’s too much going on for him to take over, plus he will never take over from you, he’s too damned loyal. Even though he acts like a dolt he’s smart and he knows that you can get us out of this mess. Did you realize that he and all of the leaders and commanders he chose fought us?”

“No.” I said, still staring at the floor, not really paying attention.

“He did that so that all of them know what kind of person you are and have trust that in the darkest situation you’ll look out for everyone, not just yourself. He’s been drilling that into the Commandos since he got training them. You aren’t just a man anymor3e. You are the embodiment of whatever the hell we are. If you give up then we will never have a chance.” She turned the chair resting both of her hands on my shoulders so I couldn’t turn away.

“James, they can’t do it without you, they need you, and they need the damned prick Commander Salchar. With his smiling mask and confident eyes, the man with a plan that isn’t perfect but cares for his people and will do what needs to be done.”

“What if I get them all killed?” I asked, not looking her in the eyes.

“They accept that they can die, but they’ve accepted you. If they hadn’t then we would already be dead.”

“I can’t do it.” I looked away, I knew I was being selfish, but there was nothing I could do I had seventeen thousand half trained or less scared people with Mechas that I could kind of rely on. A planet that would be destroyed with everyone we had ever known and an enemy that spanned systems and had billions of mindless troop slaves. Victory was not possible.

“They need you, MT needs you, and the human race needs you. I need you.” There was a crack in her mask, insecurity plaguing her face. I finally looked up, seeing the first real emotion on her face, I didn’t think as I grabbed the front of her Mecha, pulling her to me as our lips met.

I felt my worries seep away as for a few seconds we stayed there before I released her. She stumbled backwards looking at me stunned her hand hovering over her mouth as she stared at me.

Uhh, what… Why… ughh, dumb move James!
 
I thought as I saw my own shock echo back from her as she recovered first.

“Now are you going to help us, or look like a deer in the headlights as you Americans say?”

I grinned.

“What?” She said, her face becoming icy.

“Closest I’ve ever heard you come to making a joke.” my grin becoming a smile as she crossed her arms and raised an imperious eyebrow as my smile faded and our brief moment of levity faded as cold anger filled me at the injustice of everything that had happened to all of the enslaved Humans and Kuruvians, and Sarenmenti, and the hundreds of worlds of the Union. I fed on that anger as I thought on what Yasu had said. I leaned on the console in the room, looking at a series of lights without seeing them, feeling my mouth move as it seemed to bypass my brain’s own wants and hopes for another to take over, for someone with a real plan, instead of the hashed together mess I was creating to do what needed to be done for me.

There was no one coming, there was just me.

“Alright, if they need Commander Salchar then they’ll get him.” I whispered, iron in my tone as I stood slowly and donned my helmet, my face taking on an emotionless mask. Wondering what in the hell I’d just done, and why. Though I saw in that moment the uncertainty and fear that lay behind Yasu’s face clear, it was a look that I had seen on every Commando’s face, making it seem to be the norm. I would burden that fear and uncertainty, I would take the blame. And I would win.

I knew I had to leave my old self behind softness was going to have to become steel, I needed to change to not play at being Commander Salchar, but to actually be him.

I wasn’t the gamer genius Salchar that played MAT I was Commander Salchar and I would do anything to keep my people alive. I had no family; but I had one twenty thousand big. They may not like me, trust me or even want me alive but regardless I was going to do everything in my power to get them home and keep them safe.

I checked my weapons over automatically as I walked through the power plant, mentally preparing myself as I walked to the shuttle.

The medics and first aiders greeted me with silent nods. Third team was still there waiting outside as I walked inside.

The team mate of the now dead soldier sat puffy eyed looking at the seats her partner lay on. Unable to cry as her eyes had run dry. An attendant with her tried to rise as I came in the room startling her as she tried to do the same. I waved them down as I walked in front of the crying second team member squatting so I was eye to eye with her.

“Commander Salchar.” She stumbled over the words wiping her eyes trying to come to attention in her seat.

I touched her arm with a light hand. “Please call me James, my friends do.” I said giving her a sad but kind smile.

“Uhh, yes.” She nodded shakily.

“What’s your name?”

“Hitomi Robinson… Niiya now.” She said as she looked to be gearing up for another crying session. I brought her into a hug our Mechas clanking as she rested on my Mecha’s armoured outer layer.

“Come on Hitomi lets go grab some food.”

“But Steve.”

“He’s with his ancestors now and he wouldn’t want you to starve or be in pain on his account would he?” I said looking at her as she averted her eyes.

“No.” She said quietly to the floor.

“Come on, follow me.” I said as I helped her get to her feet letting her rest most of her weight on me as I numbly walked out of the shuttle and into the mess with her feeling like lead as I settled her at one of the makeshift tables we’d created in the room we’d turned into our mess.

“Yasu I need your help.” I said as I grabbed a plate of warmed rations over a private comm channel.

“What with?”

“Hitomi, we need to get her fed and hopefully get her to sleep.”

“Where are you?”

“In the mess.”

“Bring her to our quarters.”

“We have quarters?” I asked dumbfounded.

“Yes.” Her harsh tone returning before she calmed down. “Never mind, I’ll come and find you.”

She did so with a group of other Japanese looking women. Hitomi barely looked up having not touched her food except in mild gestures more for me than herself.

“Hi Hitomi, I’m Yasu, let’s get you out of that Mecha.” Hitomi nodded numbly as Yasu and the other women whisked Hitomi off. I continued eating my rations others soberly nodding to me as I ate.

After some time of being left with my thoughts they returned now both Yasu and Hitomi in new battle suits. Yasu was at her side, both of them talking in low voices.

Yasu signalled to me to follow I did so as they walked outside, into the now night sky. They sat along the wall of the power plant, looking up instead of out at the beauty of the night sky, the four moons visible.

The desert was bathed in a low blue glow, the moons green, purple, silver and pink. I stared at the moons and the stars for a long time, feeling infinitesimally small. Yet another biotic life in a teeming mass of them, barely a figure of note in the plan of things.

After a few minutes of reflection I moved to join Yasu and Hitomi.

“You and James are so perfect though, me and Steven we always had problems, we always fought and swore at one another. I wish our marriage was a calm one like yours but, it was destined to be another way.”

Both Yasu and I snorted at the same time at that. Looking at one another for the first time I think ever without open hostility, for maybe half a second and then she looked at me as if I was something to be scraped off her shoe and then burned in an incinerator.

“We have one of the worst marriages that I know of.” I grinned as I sat down opposite them taking off my helmet and gauntlets.

“Quite possibly, I don’t know many others which are as cataclysmically wrong as our marriage.” Yasu added Hitomi looking at us with confusion written on her face. I leapt in to explain.

“First off before this we were gamers I was the leader of a group called Mecha tail and played some games. When a new game that relied on physical input came onto the market, made by her father.” I pointed at Yasu.

“MT had to drop out to get used to the new input. While we were training she created a team called Samurai’s Revenge. A team of actual fighters making her my teams’ biggest rival. Plus messages by the media didn’t help our rivalry. The day we were recruited Yasu and I were going to finally have our show down to see which the better team, SR or MT.”

“They apparently thought we were dishonourable warrior’s. While we thought them as pompous shits.” I stared at Yasu who had the decency to look abashed as Hitomi let go a smile.

“Plus I mostly lived in Korea and as you know things between Koreans and Japanese have still not fully healed. Then she stabbed me and the rest is history.” I said with a grin.

“She stabbed you?” Hiotmi’s eyes went wide as she looked between us.

“The idiot launched himself at me while I had my sword ready, so he speared himself. Then held onto me as he knocked my visor off and then me out. Was not the way I was expecting to get a proposal. Wasn’t the worst one though I’ve heard by many accounts.” Yasu said with a certain amount of pride filling her voice.

“In our marriage we don’t fight as much as we’re cold to one another and we try to interact as minimally as possible. We haven’t shared our wedding bed yet.” Yasu said as I felt my cheeks redden. Shocked that she was saying such things. Though I guess it had all built up. She was finally getting her opportunity to speak and she was taking it.

“No! You haven’t consummated the marriage?” Hitomi asked looking aghast.