He ran a diagnosis on his suit, it told him the wound was nothing serious and the bleeding had stopped. The suit had already beagan to repair itself. The hole wasnt too big and it had completely missed his armor.
‘Damn that fucker was good’
He continued to check for any further damage but appart from some minor scratches to his suit or some missing paint nothing major was on. The missing paint was probably due to some shots connecting but not having enough strenght to pierce through his reinforced armor plates. They could withstand most normal weapons from most militaries, it was expensive but worth it for the special operators among the Confederation.
He decided it was enough checking as it was, and when he took a shower at base he would continue to inspect and see how good was the xenos medical treatment he recieved.
‘At least it did not damage the fucking tatoo’
Once the checking was done, he looked to the others, no major injuries from his squad. Out of the 12 members from his squad only a couple more were somewhat wounded. Those were good numbers, considering the shit storm they had been on once the reinforcements engaged them. He saw Heax talking over the comms and Marsqa also chiming in, he didnt bother too much to overheard the whole conversation, but it seemed the assault went pretty well and they would have some time to recover.
The pair that was wounded, appart from himself, were called Ushnor and Oqarth, both Zaaliks, but Oqarth was a darker green. One was wounded on the leg and the other one on the arm, he noticed how both of them carried heavy weapons, machine guns.
‘Poor bastards, surely the enemy targeted them first. Hm didnt noticed the difference of green was such until now, guess it has to do with their age’
Oqarth noticed he was looking, smiled signaled Ushnor about him.
“Logan, thanks for providing such a wonderfull distraction, we sure owe you some beers. My buddy here was certain the rumors were pure exaggeration, but seems he was wrong”
He noticed how Oqarth began to side glance him.
‘They must have some time serving togheter if they joke around like that’
“Well it wasnt only me, if it wasn’t for Xocarion I would probably be fucking dead back there. Ya know, planting explosives is a job for two.”
“Well, I will make sure Ushnor pays for him then, seen as his younger mind is quick to not reflect about our commarades.”
He noticed a snort and another glance from both torwards the other.
“Anyways, it is glad to have you both, after we both served in the Coalition Heavy Infantry we hoped our team had equally capable members. And with ya both, our expectations are surpassed. I’ll be happy to get ya beer any time. Now lets let both our operators rest young one, you still need to learn to dive from incoming rocket fire when I tell you to.”
They both started arguing and teasing each other, while letting Logan and Xocarion rest a bit more.
‘How does he know how to say operator in english? Has he served with terrans before? Gotta ask that old man.’
He made a mental note and then looked at what Xocarion was doing. He seemed to be fixing some parts of his armor. It was a slick design. Active camouflage from what he could see and some non reflective dark grey as standard color. It seemed like a very upgraded version from the recon units he served in. But it was more durable, that was a given, seemed as he took some pretty heavy fire and was not wounded at all.
As he continued to observe for a few more seconds, Xocarion began to speak.
“Logan, where does that drone come from? I had never read reports of those types of drones to exist among terrans. Are those bastards from intelligence that bad at their job?”
He was perplexed for a second.
‘Now how the fuck does his goverment have info on the Confederation but I had never heard of his goverment? Fucking spooks, must have known but figured it wasnt relevant for us... I fucking hate them’
“Well, almost all terran units have some form of drones to scout and keep an overview of the situation on the ground. But this guy here” he says while tapping at the small drone “is one of the most advanced fuckers you can get your hands on. I’m sure the tech dudes already got newer models, but this one serves me well. And yes its only a select few units who have them. But gotta ask, do our goverments know of each other existence and are in the talks? I know we are out, but always wanted to know how much information those fucking spooks keept from us.”
“Well, be mainly bought some intel from another empire, or stole it from one common enemy, but I dont think they know of my empire, we are pretty far away from Confederation space.”
“Guess we’ll never know, is not as if they trusted me.”
“But how come you still have the drone? I did not know terrans were so lax with their military grade weapons.”
“Well, it was a parting gift from my unit commander. He wanted for me to not die stupidly and decided dragon here would keep me safe. So far it has worked wonders. And what about you and your armor? Did the team here provided you one or did ya recieve it as a parting gift as well?”
“Oh I see. Well it is tradition to take the armor and weapons you served with, since they are tailored to your dna, at least in my previous unit they are. So it’s a given we will take the suits and weapons with us either in death or after we retire.”
“Hmm interesting, so it has your genetic code or some shit like that? Or is it like the drugs on my suit that are tailored to my blood and mind?”
“Some of both I’d say. Cannot tell you for sure, Logan, I am no scientist. But enough talking about this, tell me a bit more about your unit, the Devils.”
“Well not much to tell to be honest, didn’t knew we had a name like that, and did not know we had such a reputation, so much for quiet professionals. But it is your run off the mill special operations group I’d say. After you have served and proven yourself enough, you get invited to their selections and then if you pass you are part of the group. We used to do more risky missions, but doesnt change much from the stuff we did today.”
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“Hmm I see. Well in base we can perhaps share some stories over some food and drinks. Maybe you should by one to Araknu, after all he did treat you.”
As Xocarion mentioned Araknu, he noticed his medic was heading torwards them, and began to speak.
“Nice to see you are no longer bleeding Logan, and glad to see you are unwounded Xocarion. Now tell me, does it still hurt? I have some extra shit for you, seeing as you are the key to avoiding losses on our squad, would not want you to get some extra time for an injury.”
“Nah thanks doc, I’m good. The healing spray worked wonders, and it did helped me recover quickly. Made the combat drugs more effective than usual. Anyways, let me get you a nice drink once we arrive at base. Would not want ya to be feeling bad for not being appreciated.”
Araknu smiled and nodded, then seemed a bit intrigued and asked him:
“Hey about those combat drugs, what type of shit you cannot take? Have not had time to get a full review over your medical files, the human ones that is. I have pretty much any combat drugs or pain relieves for most of the guys here, but if ya tell me what definetely cannot be taken it would greatly help me.”
“To my knowledge all things are good. If anything is somewhat toxic some drug is released into my system to counter it, as long as it aint a big dosis I should be fine.”
“To many ifs and shoulds for my taste, I’ll be sure to read those files then. I’ll get goind, take care, Logan, Xocarion”
They both nodded. He noticed how Xocarion had somewhat of a smile. He was the only one with his helmet fully on.
‘Guess old habits never die’
During one of his depoyments his transport was shut down, after finishing a mission. Damn thing was a cathastrophe. Since those days, way back in the recon unit, he always wore his helmet until he was at base.
Heax standed up and signaled 1 minute till they were in base. He gathered his stuff, packed his rifle, made sure he had all in the right place and got ready to land. Once the ship landed he could see multiple ships doing the same. His unit proceeded to move into the base, lead by Heax. They moved into the small meeting room he had seen when he first arrived. They were told to take a seat.
‘Guess this is the debrief’
The first one to talk was Heax.
“Alright boys we did good. Command is proud of us. That old man was happy to see his new operators were up to the task. As for the main operation, I wanted to congratulate all of you, and more specially Logan and Xocarion, you did an outstanding job helping the troops. Thanks to that distraction we took minimal causalties.”
“Now with that said, try and not take such risks. Both of you are our only scouts. As you can imagine it is not that easy to find people of your talent. So avoid to take unnecessary risks and die while it can be avoided.”
He grinned. ‘Like being back with good old Mach’
“You all can rejoy as well, we have at least 2 days of rest. Do not drink too much and do not neglect training. Even if we have R&R all of you are ordered to assist our CQB classes and our hand to hand combat. It is time to get to know all of us and work as a team. Now Marsqa will give a small talk and then you will be dismissed.”
“Thans Heax, now for the new ones, which I guess is all of you. There are 2 main areas where you can spend your free time, the gym and the library. The bar is a given, but if you spend the whole day there, command will have a word with you. That means you need to READ and TRAIN. We expect nothing less from such a bunch of promising recruits. IF you believe in some or other god, we do have a small temple where you can worship. No symbols are in place, just some benches. Other than that food and schedules are as usual. We both will be open to questions. Almost forgot, the shooting range is open all day and night. Dont hesitate to go there and get some rounds. Come to us if you need some special ammunition and we will see what can be done. Thats all, enjoy your R&R. Dismissed”
They all stand, and begin to move to their respective chambers. Xocarion and himself find themselves quickly at their room and he begins to pack and refit everything.
“Logan, just how often were you deployed to missions in your previous unit? You are always rearming, making sure all is perfect for a mission. Does the Confederation has such high need for your unit?”
“Ya see, we have periods for deployment normally, but my unit was active almors all year round. And since we were at war at the time, I only had 1 or 2 months off to head back home, if any. It ain’t as if the war has stopped, but guess our unit was just too valuable for high command.”
“I am glad I never had to do such a thing”
They continued packing, then Xocarion headed for the showers. After checking all was in good order, he moved to the showers. Had a quick one and checked his wound while under the stream of hot water. It was a nice new scar, but almost all healed up.
‘Fuckin xenos spray does work wonders’
After a nice relaxing bath, he picked up his “civvie” clothes and grabbed his gun.
“Logan, what are those drawings on your back and arms? Are those tribal markings?”
“Those are tattoos, they are inked into your body and blood. And they represent my former unit and fallen brothers. This one right here is for protection, and perhaps one day I’ll tell you what all of them mean.”
“And the skull? I know it represents death, but why have it on you?”
“Ah, this? Well we will all die, I accepted it long ago. But I will choose how I die, and it will be worthy of Valhalla. And before doing so I’ll make sure my comrades are never forgotten.”
“I am relieved to see you are such honorbound human, and, I would be glad to listen to their stories, Logan, if you allow me.”
“One day you all will. Don’t you worry”
He finished putting on his “civvie” clothes and then concealed his gun. He noticed Xocarion had somewhat of the same setup for him, and probably everyone at base was armed even while off their armor.
‘Damn this feels good, almost as if I was back there’
As they exit their room, they go ahead to the bar, nothing more can be done after a mission, either succesfull or unsucessful. A drink to celebrate or a drink to mourn, it was always the same, and it seemed to him the xenos understood it all too well.
Once they entered the bar, Xocarion noticed their squad on one of the more recluded tables. The music was not too loud, and no exotic dancers were around. Guess it was imposible given their current base was secret.
‘A man can dream’
He followed Xocarion and then took a seat. He saw two of his squad already there, while the others were taking some drinks. Trox and Ahloomshka, both parackstians.
“Ah our scouts! Come, sit, Araknu and the others were grabbing some drinks, some are still missing but should be here any minute now. Glad you were not the last ones to arrive.”
“Glad to see ya outside of your armor Logan, and you too Xocarion. We already ordered some drinks, I think you prefer beer Logan? And we got you some tarashian spirits for you Xocarion.”
“Thanks, apreciate it brothers. And same to ya, glad to see yer ugly faces outside from the helmets.”
All four laughed.
“Glad terrans have such great sense of humor. You wont be missing the old joker from the squad Trox!”
They continued to talk while waiting. Apparently both of them had served in the same unit as shock troops for the Eqarioth Empire. They both were younger than he was, but they had trained since they were 10.
‘Ah the joys of a proud military family’
They were distant cousins, but as Ahloomshka showed great aptitudes to be a warrior, he trained alongside his cousin and they became insepareble.
‘Shit they remind me so much of Jessie and myself’
As they continued to talk, the drinks arrived along almosst all of the rest of his squad. Only two were missing. The rest where there. And they began telling stories about their previous military glories. Some of them had served togheter in the same unit, as Oqarth and Ushnar, and even Araknu had served alonside both cousins. Even Heax and Marsqa served both under the same commanders and were part of the same platoon at some point.
‘It would have been nice if some of ya guys would have made it here with me’
The least experienced among them had 7 years in their goverments military, which meant they were all pretty used to combat by now. Heax said he still felt the same rush when he enteder a fire fight. Which almost all agreed, including himself.
‘No matter how many times I get shot, the rush is always there’
As they continued talking, the last two arrived.