“The issue in the UHR today is the total lack of trust between the arms of government. The Court doesn’t trust the High Minister, the High Minister doesn’t trust the Senate, and the Senate doesn’t trust the Court. And none of that touches on how little trust or respect the Senate has for the AHF. If things don’t change, well, we all know what happened to Rome.” – From Free the Presses, an analysis of the UHR.

  “Jump to Phoenix Prime will begin in five seconds.” The Commander said over the ship-wide intercom.

  After two years in the AHF—one of which was completed in space—Jack had become very accustomed to the process of Light-based Gate travel. While being broken down into particles of Light and reassembled on the other side was never pleasant, it no longer left him feeling sick.

  True to habit, he found himself standing hand in hand with Thea in the Observatory when a beautiful blue-green orb appeared after they rematerialized. It was similar to Earth, but it lacked the grayish taint of pollution caused by a thousand years of indifference.

  And it was larger, much larger.

  Two rings encircled the planet, crossing at the poles and held in place by a series of elevators. On the surface, the shadow of these great mega-structures swept across the landscape like a wave across water as they watched from Orbit.

  These bands provided more than just an occasional break from the sun, they actively generated power for the population. A super-absorbent material coated the outside of the rings, taking in massive amounts of Light and converting it to power. The inner portion of the structure sat the largest megalopolis in human history and served as the primary gateway of commerce for the UHR.

  “It’s beautiful,” Jack whispered, unable to tear his eyes from the planet before him.

  “I never thought a planet could feel more like home than Earth, but here I am proven wrong,” Thea said in awe.

  They watched as a cargo ship left its hanger and flew silently toward the hub-ship. Knowing it was probably for them, the couple left to join their company. It wouldn’t be long before they had the chance to explore somewhere new, and that thought was intoxicating.

  Soldiers of the Seventh Mechanized, we will be in orbit of Phoenix for the next few days. All with the proper clearance may take a shuttle to the ring city of Orasinel and the elevator down to the planet’s surface if they so choose. You will be notified via HUD six hours before we disembark. Enjoy your leave.

  The memo appeared in Jack’s HUD mere moments after stepping into the hangar. Inside, hundreds of soldiers stood in formation, waiting for their chance to get off the ship and into fresh air. Near the center of the crowd, he spied Captain Griffin at the head of their company, giving a final set of orders before leave began.

  When he saw the empty place where Ortiz normally stood, a pang of sadness hit him like a punch in the face. A month had already passed, but such a short time didn’t ease the guilt Jack felt for being unable to save him. It didn’t matter if he’d return as a Steel Cast. To Jack, his friend was dead and gone.

  “As you know, Only Fourth Platoon has been ordered down to the planet’s surface. That said, all members of our company that want some shore time may join us.” The Captain said once all members of Jack’s platoon were present, “Once there, Fourth will follow me into a long and irritating conversation with the Senate where they’ll answer question they don’t want to answer. Long as the rest of you don’t add to or subtract from the local population, I really don’t care what you do.”

  “Fourth,” she said, focusing on the squad of privates, “I’m going to apologize now. These bastards are going to make you relive and retell everything that happened on that day. They don’t believe Ortiz died the way he did and will be actively trying to piss you off and kill your credibility. To a man, they are aiming to point the blame back on our company, and more specifically, you. Yes, Private West?”

  Dave lowered the hand that had slowly crept into the air and stepped forward. “Ma’am, I don’t understand how they could say shit. They weren’t there.”

  “Because they are afraid, and if charging you all with a bogus crime allows them to pretend that you are the actual problem, they will do it in a heartbeat. They would rather smudge your name and history than admit another race was stronger than us.” She turned and walked to the open cargo door without hesitation. “Don’t be their patsy. Fall out and find a seat.”

  Jack watched the city grow larger with each passing moment. As they rode the planetary elevator down, the artistic freedoms given to the architects of the city took him aback. Each building was a masterpiece unto itself, and couldn’t compare to the plain, lifeless skyscrapers on Earth.

  “You never forget your first look at this place,” Summers said, relaxing in the seat beside him. “When you’ve only known Earth, seeing the unrestrained beauty of the human mind is… well, beautiful.”

  “Unrestrained beauty of the human mind? That’s quite poetic.” Jack replied, eyes unmoving from the city below.

  “On Phoenix, you can’t build anything without approval from the local government. If you want to build, you can submit a design to the proper department, and they will verify that it is unique. Once that’s done, they reach out to the Light Architects Guild to find someone skilled enough to make it happen. After that, you provide the cash, and they do the rest.”

  “That sounds like Earth. What makes this different?”

  “The fact that everything here is built to be different. There is no such thing as ‘cookie-cutter’ here. If a building stays vacant for six months, they tear it down and sell the space to the next investor.”

  “What about housing for the homeless?” Jack asked.

  “What about them? They’re given every opportunity to help themselves. If they don’t take it… that’s on them.” Summers replied, “On Orasinel, everything is fair. Food, clothing, and shelter are all extremely cheap. Not to mention all trade schools are free up there.”

  “And job shortages?”

  “Non-existent. You can stop at nearly any public kiosk on the ring and find gig work that will pay enough for a few days of food and shelter.”

  “But they’re still forced to live in squalor.”

  “No, they’re not. The rooms are comfortable, the clothes are clean, and the food is good. You want more? Get trade certified and move up in the world.”

  Jack had to stop and ask himself where the line should be drawn. On Earth, if a person didn’t work, they didn’t eat. The few programs that existed to help the poor hadn’t worked during his lifetime, and he was pretty sure they never had. If a person fell on hard times and had to sleep in the street, you simply walked around them on your way to work.

  But here, every person had easy access to food, water, and shelter, provided they take at least one job from the board. The habitation pods weren’t the most glamourous life, but it beat sleeping in the icy rain on a winter night.

  Eventually the platform finally came to a stop, and the barriers of Light dissipated. Jack found himself in the heart of the most splendid city he could’ve imagined. The individuality of the buildings from above was nothing when compared with the street level. Twisted metal monoliths stood beside wooden structures grown into reality by careful control of a plant’s growth over the course of decades.

  And trees? The people—and by extension the government—had gone far out of their way not to disturb the natural mega-flora that dotted the streets. It was almost like the ancient redwood forest had been revived and transplanted here from Earth, only for a city to grow around it with no impact.

  “Welcome to Tara. They are waiting for us just down the road,” Captain Griffin said, turning to walk down the street.

  She led them down roads that dodged natural landscapes and past sights Jack wouldn’t have believed existed if he wasn’t standing there to see them. At one point, they passed a tree that stood nearly thirty stories tall and made entirely of light blue sapphire. A light pulsed from inside its trunk, throbbing like the heartbeat of the world itself. Their darker leaves appearing to be pulled from a different mine entirely as they tinkled in the wind.

  When he asked about its construction, the First Sergeant smirked and told him it wasn’t manmade. The sapphire tree had existed long before mankind found this place and would still be there long after humankind had returned to dust.

  As they walked, Jack noticed the community gardens spread liberally throughout the city, each heavily laden with food. Through further probing, he discovered that maintaining the gardens was one of the many jobs a person could get from the job board.

  The First Sergeant’s explanation about opportunity was clear now. These people, no matter their background, had every chance to thrive. Between the nearly free housing and the seemingly endless supply of food, there truly was no reason a person would need to be homeless in this city.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “We are about to enter the seat of human government,” Captain Griffin said, stopping in front of a row of arches leading into a large spherical building. “I said it earlier, but I’m going to repeat myself just to be certain. Be on your best behavior, answer each question as truthfully as possible, and do not, under any circumstance, agree to anything.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” they said, nodding their understanding.

  “Good, follow me.”

  After nearly ten minutes of twisting corridors and long hallways, they came to a set of double doors with a guard waiting for them. If he focused, Jack could hear dull chatter from a myriad of voices inside. Based on the number of people in attendance, this would either be a shit show, or the most overrated mission debrief in history.

  He was betting on a shit show.

  “416th Iron Panthers, Charlie company, step forward.” A powerful voice boomed out of the chamber, silencing the chatter.

  Led by their commander, the soldiers stepped into the room and onto the metallic platform at its center. Before they could fully contemplate the agony of standing for the entire hearing, the Blue Light of the Aegis Corps materialized thirteen chairs. Of the group of soldiers, only Summer and Captain Griffin remained standing to address the room.

  “Good morning Ms. Griffin,” Senator Bacon said after the doors sealed shut and all other noise faded away, “As I’m sure you know, we called this session today to hear the recounting of a recent mission taken on by your company. Per your account, the mission did not go as smoothly as planned, which resulted in the untimely death of a few soldiers.”

  “Few?” Alec whispered harshly. “We lost one. And the one that died was a hell of a lot braver than this sack of shit.”

  Just before Jack could respond, the Senator’s words cut him short, “That may be, Mr. Morningwood, but this cowardly sack of shit holds your career in his hands. Might I warn you that the platform is microphoned and everything you say can and will be transmitted to all of us?”

  Turning red with embarrassment, Alec quietly sank deeper into his chair to hide from further scrutiny.

  “Since you’re so talkative, how about we begin our inquisition with you? Please step forward and answer the questions presented.”

  “He will not.” Captain Griffin said, her voice carrying through the room without assistance, “I apologize for Private Morningwood’s words, but as his commander, I will be taking the first response to any and all questions.”

  Taken aback, he sputtered, “Well then, yes, let’s have it. Ms. Griffin, your men located the package at around 11:00 hours on the morning of the mission but did not send the package until 11:45. Can you explain the missing time? Can you verify the soldiers’ activities during that timeframe and provide a true accounting of the events?”

  “Yes, I can. As a Captain, it is my job to ensure that the right people get assigned to the right job,” She emphasized her rank like she was trying to teach a particularly dense recruit, “As the only active strike team in my company with an Optic, I decided it would be advantageous for them to infiltrate the base. I gave the green light to verify their new and adjusted course. After finding the engine disassembled, Turaspeir acted quickly and decisively to reassemble it quickly. To be certain of its retrieval, I had a pair of tech experts at my side in case of emergency. Fourth Platoon's soldiers had both mechanical and technical aptitude, so my stand-ins were not needed.”

  “Your point? I didn’t ask about their skill level, Ms. Griffin. I asked for an explanation for forty-five minutes of lost time.”

  This guy was already pissing Jack off. Any senator worth their salt should be able to tell rank. If a person worked with soldiers every day, it should be something easily picked up. But two years of recognizing rank was more than enough for him to see the level of contempt this Senator held for the AHF.

  “My point, Jim, is that it takes a long time to rebuild a sub-light engine. Even if the tech was explicitly human in design, it would have taken at least two hours to rebuild it. More if not for Private Morningwood embracing his talent. But they adapted to the situation and were able to perform this feat while still under fire.”

  “Again, your point?”

  “The point is, these soldiers are damned impressive. It’s not easy for experienced soldiers to rebuild alien tech in the field, steal schematics, and open a gate all while under fire. Considering this was Spier’s first solo outing, I’m damned impressed.” As if to accentuate her point, the Captain sat down, effectively ending the exchange.

  “I disagree. We trained them to work under pressure. This mission was the definition of pres…”

  “Put a sock in it, Jim. The odds of these soldiers pulling off a snatch and grab like this were slim to none in the first place. It’s not right to belittle their efforts with your stupidity.” Senator Granger said.

  Glaring at his opponent, the senator continued, “That brings me to my next question. Ms. Griffin, I would like Mr. Monroe to answer this one.”

  “That depends entirely on what you ask.” She replied with visible annoyance.

  In an attempt to keep the peace, Jack connected to his Commander’s HUD and typed out a hurried message, “Ma’am, do not lose your cool. It is neither the time nor the place.”

  After reading the brief message, she replaced her annoyance with a mask of resolve. “You’re up. Don’t say anything stupid. And… Thanks.”

  “I will be as kind as possible while still being thorough.” Senator Bacon said, turning his attention to Jack, “Mr. Monroe, you allegedly lost a member of your squad on this mission. I say that because the story doesn’t line up. To my eyes, it looks like you saw someone causing a problem in your little group, and you decided to fix it.”

  Visions of his friend’s death flashed before him. How dare this… waste of space accuse him of killing a friend?

  “Or, in the unlikely event that the local aliens actually killed private Ortiz, you made a bad call and have been trying to cover it up for a month. Why didn’t you go through the gate until after he died? It was open, so why allow one of your people to die before saving the rest?”

  “Senator, your accusations are nothing but a vicious jab at the people who lost a friend,” Jack said flippantly, catching the stares of hatred pointed at the man. “Get to the point instead of driving another nail through our souls.”

  “My point, boy, is that YOU were the squad’s field commander. YOU allowed a so-called friend to die. Doesn’t all of this mean that you are unfit to lead?”

  “First,” Jack said with a raised finger, patiently waiting for the brief outburst of talking to subside, “I am going to address a few things before we unpack what you’ve been saying today. Mr. Bacon, you staunchly refuse to recognize our ranks in this fabricated inquisition. If you even had the slightest respect for us, you would at least recognize my captain’s rank. You stand claim to stand for us, yet you can only be bothered to help the corporations that support us and line your pockets.”

  “Second, until you spend a year on Algol, you have no right to question our devotion to each other. Perhaps there are a few dustups between squads, but we hand-picked our family and would do nothing to hurt it. But, as someone who has clearly never had to sacrifice for the good of another, I will explain it in a way anyone with a baseline education could understand. The soldiers behind me are my family. I would rather die than see one of them fall. Watching Ortiz die on that field was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I would appreciate it if you would stop with these claims and allow the report to speak for itself.”

  The man was shaking. Jack had overstepped his bounds, but every word was a truth the senator didn’t want to accept. With two simple statements, the young soldier had completely unraveled his attempts to undermine their authority on this matter.

  Jack ground his teeth. This man knew exactly what he was doing, and how ludicrous his claims were. The senator’s eyes kept flicking back to his desk to check notes, giving the appearance of trying to get the facts right before responding.

  He was stupid, or overconfident… or both.

  The moment he opened his mouth, Jack knew the senator was bad news. He’d forged a bond with the man in that instant and had watched as he turned the investigation into a more elaborate farce.

  “All of that said, your timeline is entirely wrong. Four soldiers, including myself, were inside the lab, reconstructing the engine and securing the data. The remaining six were outside in the hallway, fighting off a near-endless wave of opposition. We did not know what the creature was, or what it could do when it appeared, but my men did their best to bring it down. My squad assumed it was like every other alien we’d faced that day and therefore susceptible to our attacks. But you already knew all that, didn’t you?”

  The captain swore when she saw what Jack was doing. But at that moment, there was nothing she could do to stop him.

  Jack’s eyes flared with violet Light as he dropped the connection with the senator’s vision. In the same heartbeat, a flash of Indigo from Warren was the only warning before the Senator’s notes were up on the holo-projector for everyone to see.

  “You’ve been trying to discredit us since we walked through the door, and this is the proof.” He continued, “But to answer your questions; No, there was no way for us to simply open the gate and retreat. No, we didn’t betray our brother’s trust and kill him. And yes, my failure makes me unfit to lead. But that is the weight of leadership, isn’t it? Having the knowledge that you did everything in your power to save the people counting on you, and you still failed. Senator, you have never had to make decisions that cost the loss of lives of people you know. You get to send us out to die, but don’t understand the cost of surviving a mission when all that comes home is a heavy boot. It hurts, more than I could possibly describe, and you use us like an unlimited supply of chess pieces.”

  Jack took his seat and conversation broke out around the room between senators from all parties. Was it wise to speak like he did? No, but the words needed to be said. Was it wise to admit failure? Again, no, but it was important that he admitted his own failings to himself.

  He would never stop fighting for his squad. He would never stop trying to rise.

  “I,” Bacon said angrily, casting a wave of quiet across the room, “find it hard to believe that a group of privates on their first mission are telling the truth when our intelligence says the timeline runs differently.”

  On the Holo, a new image took the place of Warren’s stolen one, “Mr. Monroe, my intel states the threat was negligible and that your Gate to travel away was always available. You could’ve left, you could’ve saved your teammate. For all your talk of brotherhood, you’re nothing more than a traitor.”

  “Fine. If your intel is so capable, how about we launch them down to the surface and make them Gate back to the ship with nothing more than a radio? Better yet, let's send you as well to get rid of two problems, if your intel is so capable.” Jack retorted.

  “You have no right…”

  “I have every right to defend myself and the actions of my team,” Jack shot. “Do you really want to know why we couldn’t leave? That planet has a strange distortion to Light that makes it incredibly difficult for the Gate-room to lock on to a location. In my two years with the AHF, I’ve never seen anything like this. It took a concentrated effort between two soldiers of different corps to create a bond with the ship and find ourselves. All while taking on fire and hoping we didn’t die.”

  “Silence!” the senator roared, banging his desk.

  “No. Not anymore, Senator. You chose to ask me the questions directly against the will and advice of my commander. If you can’t handle the truth, then don’t ask for it.” Jack reached into the Light spectrum with his eyes blazing, fully intent on linking every senator in the room and forcing them to watch the battle from his eyes. Before he could, however, First Sergeant Summers placed a hand on his arm and shook his head.

  Slowly, Jack's eyes returned to their normal color as he pushed the memory of the fight to the back of his mind.

  “Senator Bacon, since you obviously cannot be subjective in this matter, I will take over questioning.” A senator the HUD identified as Cliff Bergman said from the opposite side of the room, “Private Monroe, I want to apologize for my colleague. Your answers and recollections are highly valued, and it is important to remember that this is not a criminal trial.”

  The senator turned off the holo in an attempt to remove the feelings it invoked before continuing, “We understand the intelligence community is not always accurate when it comes to the… intricacies of battle. That said, if it wasn’t one of the local species that killed Private Ortiz, what was it?”