Year 2514, New Colony World- AJS-982-JP

“Warning warp jump detected,” a synthetic voice rang out.

“Your coffee is ready,” another more cheerful synthetic said.

Mmmmm, I get why people love the stuff. The addiction is great and a cup of joe always smells divine.

“Warning warp jump detected.”

Clunk.

I sat my mug down and grabbed my toast, and went to take my first bite.

“Warning warp—”

“OKAY! I heard you, damn it…” I groaned.

I’m getting old, not going deaf… but I guess I did program the thing to warn me like this. I could only sigh deeply.

I don’t want to die on an empty stomach, but they must be getting close. I guess my time has finally come. It was always a matter of when not if. Only a naval destroyer or bigger would trip the alarm I had set up.

I stood up from my dining table, rolled my aching shoulders, did a few air squats that made my knees feel like dust, and went to go look outside.

Opening the door, I was greeted by the familiar sight of my fully automated wheat plantation. This tiny little backwater lush world was the perfect place for someone like me. It also helped that this planet was beautiful as all hell, with so much greenery.

It was destined that this planet wouldn’t survive five hundred years just like how I wasn’t going to last five minutes against orbital bombardment. The Human population of this world wasn’t even four digits large, nor was the AJS very big in the first place.

I took a whiff of the fresh morning air and gazed into the sky, and if I still had my coffee cup in my hand, I would have dropped it right then and there.

They brought a Dreadnaught… just to kill me? I’m honored. It looks like they value me just as much as you, Commander.

But there was something odd about the Dreadnaught’s massive silhouette in orbit. It was painted yellow, and it was the only ship that I could see. Dreadnaughts were capital ships that led entire armadas. Having one by itself defeated the purpose.

And why didn’t they just glass me?

I walked back inside and looked to see if any of my traps had been set off. Maybe they were coming to dispose of me in person. But upon checking the statuses, everything was perfect. Even my motion sensors weren’t picking anything up. I didn’t care if they were Gen 3s or not. These sensors would pick at least one of them up… but what’s this?

The main road motion detectors are going off? They are just… walking down the center and heading right towards me. Now that pisses me off. I deserve a little bit of credit. I’m still a Death Commando, even if my knees hurt when I wake up.

I went to the kitchen, punched the tile, and began removing debris out of the way. Motion sensors and warp jump detectors aren’t the only things I snatched on my way out. I grabbed myself one of these bad boys, with all the attachments to go with it.

Setting the long black box on the kitchen counter, I began assembling a medium-ranged bolter rifle. Judging by the motion sensors, I had about twenty-five minutes until they arrived, so I had all the time in the world. I was about to ruin some poor kid’s day.

I went up to the second floor with an extra ammo box in tow along with the motion sensor laptop and began to set up. I even had a hologram projector, not that it would actually fool someone skilled, but if they are just walking up to the front door, maybe they aren’t all that smart, to begin with.

With the hologram set and my weapon loaded, I waited for my prey to arrive. Do these asshats not know I was at the top of my class? Disrespectful.

I kept one eye outside and one on the computer. Five minutes…. three minutes… one minute… and… huh? They didn’t send an angel of death.

They just sent me an angel.

What the hell is going on? Three people were just leisurely walking up to my property. Two of them were Death Commandos in yellow armor and were escorting a Hispanic woman in her early forties. Of course, I’d recognize her from miles away. But the question was… why did they send her?

I moved my way downstairs to greet my unexpected guests. With my weapon raised, I opened the door with a smile. “Well, aren’t you a sight for these old eyes. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit, my beautiful doctor?”

“Heimdall. It’s good to see you. Or should I be calling you Vladimir now?” Suárez asked me with a strained smile.

I smiled wryly. “I’m afraid Vladimir died a long time ago, Doc. Heimdall is just fine.”

“This is a beautiful home, Heimdall. I can’t say all the green and flowers suit you, but at least you look happy,” she mused.

“Just for your information, I like plants and nature… for the most part. And the flowers weren’t my idea. Some of the little kids from the town down below planted them.”

Suárez eyed me, then giggled. “Kids, huh? Didn’t take you for the adoptive father type.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is.” Still pointing my bolter at the three. “This is nice and all, Doc, and it is good to see you. But why are you here?”

Suárez shifted uncomfortably, and I felt the Commando’s gazes bore into me. Yup, gen 2s, for sure. Too tall for gen 3s and not big enough for 1s.

“Well, I’ve come to talk to you about some things. May I come in?” she asked politely.

“Sure, but they stay outside. I run a strict no ugly people in my house policy,” I joked.

She smiled back.“That’s fine with me.”

“Ma’am—”

Suárez cut the Commando off. “It’s fine. Just wait outside for me.”

I beckoned the Doc in with a smile and gave her guards an even bigger one. I don’t think they liked it very much.

“Looks like I interrupted your breakfast, sorry…” she said apologetically while gazing at my cold toast and coffee.

“Yeah, you should. With how much you used to ride us on eating properly!” I teased. “Can I get you some coffee? Maybe some homemade toast that isn’t cold?”

“Haha, yeah… Coffee sounds good, thank you,” She smiled awkwardly.

I started the automated system, and it brewed another cup…, but in the meantime. “That yellow looks good on you. I think I prefer the white lab coat, but this is a nice change.”

“Thanks, and well… you look homeless, Heimdall,” Suárez said bluntly.

“Don’t have to say it like that… words hurt, you know?”

“Maybe you should shave and wear clothes that don’t look like they haven’t been washed in a week,” She added.

I guess I do look a little run down right now. But I’m not always like this. “Sorry, I was expecting to die, not to have coffee with you. Speaking of coffee…”

“Your coffee is ready,” the synthetic voice called out once more.

I set down the cup of joe and sat across from the Doc. “Now. What is it that you want? I doubt you came all the way out here just to see me.”

Suárez nodded and opened her satchel, and began pulling out… “Paper? What are you doing with all this paper? I haven’t seen this much… we'll ever, honestly,” I said, somewhat surprised.

“Simple. If they want what I have, they have to come and get it. Can’t hack or leak any data if I’m the only one with a physical copy,” she said proudly.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

That’s one way to go about things. Thanks, Man Machine Accord.

Suárez slid a picture to me and asked me a question. “Do you know what this is?”

“ I mean, I know what a brain looks like, Doc. Although I don’t know what all those colors mean, it wasn't my forte,” I said while taking a sip of my now cold coffee and putting it back down.

Disgusting.

“This is a scan of my brain. A normal Human brain. And this… this is the brain scan of a Commando,” She said while sliding me a new picture.

“It’s… not as colorful as yours,” I smiled while still being somewhat confused. “Can you just explain this to me, Doc? I tend to shoot brains out of things, not scan them.”

She chuckled. “I guess. I was trying to be dramatic, you know? Can’t you let me have a little bit of fun?”

“Oh… we can do it all over again if you’d like? I can even have you go back outside and give you a warning shot while screaming ‘Get off my lawn!’ or something.”

Suárez smiled brightly at me. “I’ll pass. But let me explain. This is the brain scan of a first-generation Death Commando. And yes, it’s not as colorful, but as you can see in other places—”

“It’s way brighter,” I said while examining the pictures.

“Yes… brighter. The more color and the brighter the color, the more brain activity that is present. As you can see, this gen 1’s brain has quite a few dark spots,” she explained.

“Emotions, huh? Those dark spots… are bright on yours. Things gen 1s would be missing like sex drive or another host of feelings. Right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Now that brain scan is an early one. One of the first for that particular Commando. I can’t be certain, but I imagine it was taken before they even left Mars. And this is a photo of their most recent before they were killed,” she said while sliding me another image.

A whole lot more brain activity, I think.

“Okay… so you mean to tell me this Death Commando started to what? Have more emotions or something?”

“Exactly. Do you remember that terrorist attack on Kalen 9?” she asked me.

“Yeah, the refinery world. If I remember correctly, some anti-war radicals blew up forty percent of the infrastructure on the surface.”

“Well, it wasn’t terrorists. It was Death Commandos. A team led by a gen 1 managed to hold out on the world. The squad killed a hundred fifty marines and two hundred penal squad soldiers before the navy decided to bombard them from orbit. It wasn’t even a full squad of Commandos either.”

“Are you sure? Did that… really happen?” I asked her.

“Yes, I did some digging after the war and I’ve been finding similar stories. At first, they just thought it was a rogue factor. But then… more and more gen 1s started exhibiting similar patterns of aggression. Some led to incidents some didn’t. But everything was swept under the rug as they began eliminating them. But now that the war is over, things are starting to resurface.”

“So… this is why they killed the Commander? But… he was loyal to the end I heard. It wasn’t until they cornered him and Hades Squad that he acted out. And why didn’t they just use a simpler method?” I asked. It was always on the back of my mind why they went through all that trouble.

“What are they going to do? Poison him? Gas him? Good luck with that,” she scoffed while taking a sip of her coffee. “If they are in their suits they are invincible to anything along those lines. That’s not even including Ambrosia. They couldn’t beat their bodies programming. If any kind of life-threatening toxin or even knock-out gas gets detected, Ambrosia is administered into the bloodstream directly. You gen 2s have a diluted version of Ambrosia. And I don’t need to be the one to tell you what a PTSD-ridden gen 1 on Ambrosia is capable of if they get shoved into a corner.”

That is… very true.

I’ve seen the Commander and other gen 1s on Ambrosia and I’ve felt the stuff myself plenty of times. I feel unstoppable because I pretty much am. Anything short of an instant kill couldn’t take me down. I’ve seen Commandos fighting with missing both arms or legs before. But still…

“So I get why. But how did they go about killing them off?” I asked.

“What do you think the 3rd generation was for? Soldiers picked directly from the military who were completely loyal to the cause. Give them a diluted form of whatever they gave you guys and some armor and send them out,” Suárez explained while taking a few more sips of her coffee.

“Because Octario’s loyalty got called into question… this was her way of saving face?” I guessed.

“Exactly, the gen 3s were made to replace all of you. Their first mission was to integrate into squads and begin to phase all of you out while killing off any remaining gen 1s. Then after the war, they would become the faces of the Death Commandos. Soldiers who were completely loyal to the military.”

“Then why did the Commander last so long? If Kalen 9 was the starting point for all of this, didn’t it take them far too long to get rid of him?”

Suárez smiled bitterly. “Because he was perfect, at least till he wasn’t. Kronos final year? He was the last-gen 1, officially at least. He showed no signs whatsoever. From what I could find, they considered him to be the perfect creation and, after the war, planned on keeping him around to study him. Look, here are all his brain scans.”

She slid me a manila envelope that was filled to the brim with photos of the Commander's brain. And sure enough, she was right. As far as I could tell he showed absolutely no change… until

“Yeah, that’s the last brain scan he ever got. I didn’t even know I was the one who gave him one. Bio-sculptors for Commandos are bigger, as you know. I just thought it was because you guys were well… bigger than normal Humans. Turns out there was a lot more in that piece of machinery than I ever imagined. When I had a tech tear one apart I was shocked. It wasn’t just a full-body scanner. When you guys went inside of one of those things they tested you for everything. Naming the things the Bio-sculptor didn’t test you for would be easier.” She seemed down on herself now.

“Don’t blame yourself for this. None of this was your fault,” I said while looking over the images.

“But it was. I was the final nail in his coffin. I was the one that reported that he had dreams. That brain scan wasn’t even that bad. He would have only been monitored as far as I could tell from the patterns. From what information I managed to bribe my way into, the gen 3s in his squad weren’t even sent to kill him but learn from him originally. Then whatever happened, happened, and well… the rest is history,” she said while taking a sip and staring into the table.

It’s not your fault, Doc.

“He wouldn’t want you beating yourself up over this. He sure as hell wouldn’t have blamed you. He changed, and if what you said was true, he would be killed regardless of what you did or didn’t do. And besides that, we can’t change the past. What’s done is done.”

“Yeah… maybe you are right,” she said solemnly.

“One more thing, Doc. Why didn’t you just send me a data pack? I mean, thank you for telling me all of this. It feels good to get some closure on all this crap, but I feel like it was a big risk. And what’s with all this yellow clothing anyways? More like, what are you?” I questioned.

Suárez smiled, but it was one of… pity?

“Do you ever wonder why you are barely thirty-seven years old, yet you have the body of somebody about to turn sixty?” she asked.

“Figured it has to do with whatever they did to me,” I answered back.

Didn’t think much of it really. It’s just the life I live.

“It’s the same reason they aren’t killing you gen 2s off. Because you are all going to die within the decade,” she said seriously.

“What… what do you mean by that?”

I knew I was going to die one day, but she made it seem like she knew something I didn’t.

“For you? Even less. I’d be surprised if you lived another five years as you are. Your white hair isn’t from a reaction to the experimentations. It’s from a faulty augment that either activated or broke inside of you. All you gen 2s have it implanted. An augment that accelerates your aging. After the war, when all the gen 2s got their final medical evaluations, they activated them. If the implant isn’t removed, you will continue to age at nearly two times the rate of a normal Human. The younger gen 2s? They are going to age at three times the normal rate.”

“How do you know this? Shouldn’t this be top secret?” I asked.

“It was. Until I used your blood to figure it out. Whether you know it or not, you saved a lot of your brothers and sisters.” I just nodded at her words.

Well… I’ll be damned. Here I thought I was just unlucky. But at least I was good for something in the end.

“And you want to stop my aging process?” I asked.

“For you? It’s too late. I’d have to find you a new… everything. I can stop you from aging faster, but the damage is done. No, I didn’t come here to just do that for you. I came here to ask you to join us,” Suárez said while gazing into my very soul.

“Join ‘Us?’ Who’s us?” I questioned.

“People that want the military and Octario’s crimes to see punishment. You Death Commandos? You are just the tip of the iceberg, Heimdall. Humanity didn’t just win this galactic war. We absolutely dominated it, and we did a whole lot of things to a whole lot of people. Humanity controls sixty-five percent of colonized space. The other thirty-five percent we control through proxies. We are now the number one sentient species in the galaxy. And we’ve done a lot of things that need to be answered for. And those in power right now? They won’t ever break the status quo.”

“So you are asking me to join your suicide squad? All because of what happened to Kronos?” I asked.

“Yup, that’s pretty much it,” she said with a tired sigh and smile. “You don’t have to come. All of Hades squad has agreed, and so have plenty of other Commando squads. Entire sections of the military have joined along with planetary governors and politicians. There is a chance… but it’s not all that great. I’d settle for Octario’s head on a spike if it comes down to it.”

“Well, damn. That’s all you had to say. You should have just told me that from the beginning? A one-way ticket to hell? I just might see the Commander sooner than I expected,” I laughed.

“You… would join that easily?” She asked, somewhat surprised.

“Doc, all I’ve ever known is war. I don’t even grow my own damn plants on this plantation… I just press the stupid buttons. And this war… sounds like a cause I can get behind,” I reassured her.

“You are probably going to die.”

“And? Wasn’t I going to die in five years anyway? Why not make it three,” I laughed.

“If you say so…” Suárez smiled.

“Besides, how could I ever turn down the forever beautiful Doctor Suárez!”

“Oh, Lord, I wish I saved you for last…”