“Next thing you know, these bleeding heart liberals will start saying that we need to make friends with the aliens. We’ve been fine for this long. Why in the hell would we want to invite that kind of rabble into our homes? Folks, you saw it here first. It won’t be long before alien refugees are taking your job and leaving you with scraps.” – From Bucker Jarlson Tonight, May 3, 3265

  “I can’t explain to you just how unbelievably stupid you are! At what point during that mission did you decide it was ok to get in a pissing match with another platoon?” Hawkins yelled at Jack while the rest of the squad removed their armor.

  They were in fourth platoon’s armory, but soon they would move to the briefing room with the other three platoons, and this dressing down would begin again. It wasn’t fair, Jack knew that, but at the end of the day, Scott was a higher rank than him. He had no right to command her, yet he did so anyway.

  “Sir, I…”

  “I frankly don’t give a shit what you’re about to say. Not only did you force your will on another squad, you also threatened to leave if she didn’t bow to your will.”

  “That wasn’t the…”

  “Just because the Cap chose to back you up does not mean we didn’t hear what happened. What, you didn’t think they deserved to die by human hands?”

  “No Sir, I…”

  “Look, you did a great job on that field… despite losses. But playing the bleeding heart for a group of aliens we had no desire to save was not the right move,” Hawkins said, pacing across the room. “Your squad decided not to kill any more than necessary to complete the mission. Care to explain why?”

  “Well, Sir…” Jack stammered, fully expecting to be cut off again, “Why hurt a people more than we absolutely have to? We made a lot of orphans today. If they weren’t enemies of mankind before, they will be now.”

  “So it was less humanitarian than it was trying to minimize our impact on their world.”

  “Yes sir. Their weapons and fighting style, well… it just doesn’t make sense to say they built that engine.”

  “Right then,” Hawkins said, clapping his hands, “Save the rest for the debriefing. Drop your armor and meet me in five.”

  The Officer walked out of the room without turning to face the soldiers.

  If they’d seen the prideful smile on his face, they would probably lose respect for him.

  And he couldn’t have them thinking this mission had gone well… it wasn’t his place.

  Five minutes later, Turaspeir squad stood at attention with the rest of their company, waiting for the Captain to stop pacing and get the debriefing over with.

  “Starting with the newest, Fourth Platoon. Report,” she said, much more formally than normal.

  “Ma’am, Fourth Platoon reports a successful mission. Further details will be recounted by Private Monroe,” Hawkins said, stepping forward and calling Jack to the front of their formation.

  “Captain, I’m fairly certain the Oteric did not build that engine,” Jack began. “They were… primitive. They had steel forgery and advanced circuitry, but almost nothing projectile-based. If I had to give it a number, I would say they were no more advanced than twenty-third-century Earth without guns.”

  “Interesting. But we already knew they were not exactly a ‘warlike’ species. What’s strange is that they choose to fight hand to hand when projectiles are so easy to create.”

  “Even given the number of enemy soldiers we fought, not once did two of them team up against one of ours. I believe it has something to do with their perception of honor.”

  “So we did nothing but prove ourselves craven?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Jack replied, “luckily they were easy enough to fight.”

  From behind, Jack heard a pointed cough. One of his squad mates was clearly not going to allow him to forget about the one that killed Ortiz. He saw its terrible haunting smile every time he blinked, images of his friend’s death encompassing his every thought.

  “Except for one.”

  “Yes, you mentioned that while you were still down there. Care to explain?”

  This was the meat of the conversation and the real reason they were first in the debriefing order. The idea that Jack would have to describe details he didn’t want to remember chilled him to the bone. It wasn’t hard to recall, but it was nightmarish to tell.

  “Would I like to explain? No, not really,” Jack said, breathing deep, “But, I suppose I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

  A tight-lipped shake of the head was all he needed to see before launching into a retelling of the battle. He explained everything, starting with the redirected landing, and finishing with the infiltration of the facility. At first, the story was going well. There wasn’t anything to even complain about.

  But when he tried to describe what happened to Ortiz, he froze.

  Fear washed over him like an ice-cold wave, crystal clear memories from the battle flashing before his eyes. The way it moved, the near invulnerability to Li-Tech, the way it laughed at their pain… everything. It all made him want to run to his cabin and seal the door, never to step foot on an inhabited world again.

  To treat all of this like it had never happened.

  But it did happen, and the missing face in their ranks was an all too real reminder of that.

  “Ma’am, the creature… I… I don’t know how to describe it. But I can say without a doubt that it was not an Oteric. Li-Tech couldn’t touch it at all. It was like the bullets just went through it. I’m not sure if it was some sort of tech they had or if the creature could just do it on its own, but its body was malleable. It took everything I had just to pull a single strand out,” Jack explained, watching the look of concern deepen on her face.

  “So, how did you kill it? It is dead, right?”

  “Yes Ma’am. When I finally was able to pull a frequency out of it, I looped my team in on that same strand. Forcing Light out of the creature was the key. Once Light can both enter and leave their bodies, we can kill them.”

  “By completing the circuit.”

  “Yes. Unfortunately, before we could figure that out, it killed Ortiz.” Jack said somberly, “The truth is, we are lucky there was only one of them. By itself, it was able to seriously hurt our team. I wouldn’t have been able to handle pulling another strand out of another one.”

  “West,” she said, pointing at the Aegis, “Why didn’t you block it with a shield? I get our weapons couldn’t touch it, but surely a barrier could’ve helped.”

  “Ma’am, that thing walked through my shields like a hot knife through butter. It was like they weren’t even there,” Dave answered. “It went through three before I figured out it wasn’t doing us any good.”

  “Once Light becomes concentrated enough, it can even hold out the vacuum of space. If this thing can really do what you say… well, it spells very bad things for the AHF as a whole,” Captain Griffin said, “Thank you for the report. Hawkins, document this and have it on my desk in the next few hours. As for you nine, fall out and get some rest… You’ve earned it.”

  The exhausted soldiers of Turaspeir broke formation, walking towards the door only to be stopped inches from freedom.

  “Oh, and one more thing, you’ll probably hear more about Ortiz in the near future. Don’t be surprised if someone comes asking questions.” She said, stopping the squad, “but you all did a good job down there. If it wouldn’t have been for your actions… well, this room would have many more missing faces.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Jack said, taking the compliment for the entire squad. They would have time to recognize what they’d done, but tonight was not that time.

  That night, Jack lay in his bunk, unable to sleep. The horror of the day’s events still burned in his mind, refusing to give him a moment of peace. He and Thea had decided not to join the others at the bar, a mistake he was regretting with every passing moment.

  The couple had enjoyed their evening away from the group. They’d gone to one of the nicer restaurants and simply talked about everything they’d seen and done that day. Thea tried to drill into him that Ortiz’s death was not on his hands and that the mission was an overall success. She even explained that it didn’t matter what he did, someone was about to get hurt in the field one day.

  But Jack was having a hard time accepting that.

  Her ability to rationalize everything was a gift. As much as Jack wanted to begrudge her for that ability, he couldn’t.

  He kept asking himself why they had to die. What excuse could possibly be good enough to justify breaking into a foreign laboratory to steal tech that was obviously not native to the planet? Could the brass explain why they, a supposed defensive force, had to murder every Oteric they passed?

  And if they could explain all that, could they explain why Ortiz’s life was worth so little?

  They’d slaughtered soldiers that wore almost no armor. Their weapons? Hardly even worth mentioning. If it wouldn’t have been for the toxin on the end of the Oteric weapons, they would have been less effective than cavemen throwing spears at an iron wall. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for their poisons, any soldier could’ve held the hallway alone.

  In the end, the best conclusion was that these people didn’t create the engine. With their level of technical ineptitude, it was simply the only answer.

  So, if they couldn’t have built it, who did?

  But in his heart, he knew… oh; he knew.

  The memory of a creature standing taller than the rest of its ‘kin’ flashed in his mind. Its skin—if it could even be called that—was blacker than the space between the stars. It contrasted the stone walls so completely it felt like the creature was drinking in the surrounding light.

  He remembered thinking it was nothing more than a big Oteric, or maybe even their version of special forces. It was a plausible theory until its arm unraveled into a wriggling mass of tentacles and crushed his friend.

  When he closed his eyes, he could hear the crack of breaking glass as Ortiz’s faceplate finally gave way to the pressure.

  The engine.

  There was no doubt in his mind that the horrific creature he’d met down there had built it, and that its species was significantly more advanced than humans. Was it even possible to fight something that was a natural counter to their powers and technology?

  His thoughts were cut short by a message ping in the corner of his HUD. As much as he intended to take it off when he slept, leaving it on was more habit than it wasn’t at this point. Ironically, it was almost as bad as his prior obsession of carrying his mobile device back on Earth… except that it was literally attached to his face.

  Come to my office. I know you’re awake. – Albert

  Unable to ignore a request from the leader of his corps, Jack carefully extracted himself from the tangle of limbs that was Thea and quietly slipped on a crumpled uniform from the corner of their shared cabin. He hated leaving her with no notice, but what else was he supposed to do? When an Unranked officer tells you to jump, you don’t ask him to reschedule. The most he could do was send her a message and hope she saw it when she woke up.

  He took his time getting to the Unranked Officer’s cabin for several reasons. First, he was not in a hurry to retell the story of Ortiz’s death again. Laying it out for the Captain was more than he wanted, but he knew it wouldn’t be the last time. Second, he was pretty sure that Sergeant Scott would make her formal complaint soon, and when it happened, it wouldn’t be fun. If this middle-of-the-night adventure was the beginning of that conversation, he was screwed. Last, and the most important to him at that moment, he didn’t like being pulled from his bed. Most conversations could wait until morning if the Officer chose. Calling him in the night meant it was probably something he didn’t want to hear.

  Jack was no longer affected by the sheer opulence on display in the Officer’s cabin. He’d spent enough time with the man to realize that his position matched his tastes. If not, there was no way he’d be able to afford the wooden desk and large number of books on display.

  “I got your message,” Jack said, settling into the chair facing Albert’s desk.

  “Obviously. I needed to speak to you regarding the mission.”

  “Obviously,” Jack said with a frown. The last thing he wanted was to relive those memories… again, and yet, here he was. The man had to know the mission was traumatic and that he needed time to recover.

  “No, I’m not going to ask you to retell the story. As unfortunate as it is, they will force you to retell it a number of times in the near future. Any chance I have to save you pain—even if only a little—will be taken.”

  The desk had been modified to house the large touchscreen system that Officers used to feel important. It was useful, but there was nothing it could do that his Vis-HUD couldn’t. Right now, for instance, it displayed a 3D model of the creature’s body laid out on a slab.

  “Thank you,” Jack said sincerely, happy to find a note of empathy in the man.

  “No… I don’t think you should,” Albert replied sadly. “You see, Jack, we’ve known about those creatures for quite some time. We Unranked Officers have fought them on several occasions, and while we can defeat them, it isn’t always a walk in the park.”

  “Forgive me, but if you’ve known about them, why was Captain Griffin so surprised by what I told her?”

  “Because for her, it was the first time she’d heard about them. We have kept their existence from the general population of the AHF. In fact, only the Steel Brigade really knows everything.”

  “What are they? When did we first run into them?” Jack asked, filing away the tidbit about the Steel Brigade and focusing on the real questions.

  “I can somewhat answer the first question, but you don’t have a high enough clearance for the second,” Albert replied, thinking hard about what he could and couldn’t say, “I will try to explain, but you will leave this room unsatisfied.”

  “We know very little about them, not even what they call themselves. The handful of times we’ve been able to interrogate one, it’s been tight-lipped until the last breath. What we do know is they are a type of invertebrate that can mold their bodies into nearly any shape they want with little to no difficulty. Every time we’ve encountered one, it’s holding the shape of whatever creature it is fighting alongside.”

  “At first, we thought they resembled the Earth octopus, but later found that it does not have the camouflage that terrestrial cephalopods have. We also discovered that they use their ability to change shape as a way to integrate with the species they are trying to subjugate.”

  “Have you fought enough of them to say that subjugation is the goal, or is it just a presumption?” Jack interrupted, drawing an annoyed looked from the old scientist.

  “I’m afraid that, at this point, it is still just a presumption. We hope not because if they are taking over these planets, we are in for a much bloodier war than we expect,” Albert replied gravely, sitting back in his chair and steepling his fingers. “We also know these creatures have incredible strength and are nearly immune to Li-Tech. I need to know… how did you pull it off?”

  “Well sir, after it killed Ortiz, I just kinda lost it. It was fully immune to our weapons and I couldn’t understand what was happening. When I looked at the threads, I saw no Light escaping its body,” Jack explained, “I was so angry and sad, and a dozen more emotions I don’t even know how to verbalize. I just knew that I needed to understand why.”

  “And?”

  “And nothing. I forced one frequency into its body and pulled with everything I had… it hurt so bad I thought I was going to die. Eventually, I forced the circuit to close, and all of the sudden our attacks started hitting the creature.”

  “And that worked?”

  “I mean… I had to loop the rest of the squad in on that frequency, but yes, it did.”

  “Interesting,” Albert said, standing up to look out of the glass-steel window that took up an entire wall of his office. “Jack, we are headed to Phoenix Prime. Your commanders and I have been ordered to give a recount of what happened today. As you know, nobody in your chain of command experienced these creatures. As a result, nobody other than your team can answer their questions.”

  “Who could possibly have the authority to command you to do… anything?”

  “The Senate,” he replied simply, “but this only concerns you because they’ve already expressed an interest in hearing directly from you.”

  “And if I don’t want to give another retelling?”

  “Too bad. This is what happens when you run into a race of murderous squids and lose a squad mate because of it,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone before changing the subject, “So, now that you’ve been on a real mission, how do you feel about fighting on the front lines?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Honestly.”

  “It did nothing but concrete my belief that I should always fight beside my men. If I hadn’t been there to pull that thread, every member of that squad would have died. However, I can see the merit in playing a midfield role where I can support while still being on the ground,” he explained.

  “How very mature of you. Based on our previous conversations, I was sure that you’d be in the front row with Private Walker, sword in hand, and ready to die for the cause.”

  “I’m not stupid Sir, I know for a fact that I could never keep pace with her. Sure, she can be a little rough around the edges, but I’ve never seen a person fight like she does.” Jack said, closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair, “Someone needed to assist the others in securing the package, and it didn’t make sense to take one of my real fighters away from the battlefield to do it.”

  “I never said that you were stupid, nor did I say that Private Walker wasn’t a protégé with the blade. I merely suggested that fighting on the front lines was not a wise move for someone that is essentially a support person,” he placated. “Your actions, your choices, saved many lives today. You did better than any greenhorn team has the right to, and you did it without complaint. Those salty soldiers out there owe you their lives, and they know it.”

  Jack didn’t see it like that and didn’t know if he ever could. Sure, his choice to go find the others saved their lives, but at what cost? Wasn’t it also his choice that landed them away from the primary fighting force? Didn’t he, a Private, force a Sergeant to obey his commands?

  “Thank you, Sir,” he replied, not voicing his concerns.

  “Get some sleep Jack. The next few days will not get any easier.”

  Nodding, he rose to his feet and wished the Unranked Officer a good night’s rest. The idea of sleep was now more alien than ever, especially knowing what was to come. While the conversation was enlightening, the information left much to be desired.

  Where did we first encounter these things, and why was it so secret?

  Would future interactions with them be just as bloody?

  The only thing he knew for certain as he tried to crawl back into bed with Thea was that he needed answers. Without them, it would be impossible to keep his friends alive. If he was supposed to be their leader, then it was his job to figure out how to protect them.

  As he drifted off to a fitful sleep, he knew one thing for certain. He would need to be stronger to face these things on equal footing.

  Much stronger.