“One more rep, Meinrad!” Klaudia cried to the struggling boy who lay under her, doing his best to keep the hefty barbell from crashing onto his head or chest.
Spurred on by his second-in-command’s encouragement, Meinrad forced his elbows upwards as straight as possible, even though his arms were wobbling. After 20 repetitions, fatigue would get to even the strongest Initiated Terrans. Seeing that the boy was having a hard time, Klaudia tried to bring her hands underneath the bar to help him.
“Don’t even think about it!” he snapped as he brought the 2,000-pound assemblage of bar and plates as high as physically possible, successfully completing his final rep. Shifting his wrists backwards to re-rack the bar, he finally accepted some of Klaudia’s aid. He slipped out from below the bar and looked behind him, where Klaudia awaited with an open palm and a wide grin.
“Light work.” he flashed a smile of his own as he slapped Klaudia’s hand in a high-five.
“Not too far from the Colonel’s personal record.” Klaudia giggled. Meinrad gave a sigh and made a waving gesture. Klaudia responded by passing him a rag which he used to wipe the sweat off his face. Clad more often in a pair of black shorts, a white t-shirt, and training shoes than in any kind of military uniform, Meinrad and Klaudia each accepted the fact that their roles in the Terran-Titanian War were now minimised. Aside from a few reconnaissance flights over North Yeupis, they had seen little action in the three months since the Battle for Depot-011. Their main task now, given by Lieutenant General Brose, was to focus on physical fitness in order to keep up with their Titanian peers. As it turned out, to remain at the same physical level as Titanians, they had to undergo routine training. Not just for armor and weapons, but for strength and cardio as well.
“Only 500 more pounds to go.”
“You’ll get there,” Klaudia gave him an encouraging pat on the back. “You aren’t Captain for no reason.”
“Yeah,” he nodded absentmindedly, before rising to his feet. “I think I’ll go take a shower now.”
“No worries.” Klaudia affirmed, before taking her leave.
Leaving the weight room, which was on the same floor as the former great hall in the Solich Palace, he went to the locker room next door. He took out a towel and a pair of slide sandals, which he slipped into after removing his socks and shoes. He made his way to the top-most floor, the only one dedicated completely for use by the Frei Squad. He entered the men’s bathroom and soon found himself in the shower.
Water, rare to find on Titan, rained down on Meinrad’s robust body, sourced from underground reservoirs on Mars. Its coolness offered instant relief to his body. But the substance itself, which he’d seen perhaps too much of in his time on Terra, brought him renewed mental anguish. Images of bathing side-by-side in the lakes and hot springs across North Yeupis with people who thought they could call him comrades flashed through his head. This false camaraderie shifted itself for even more bitter memories. Memories that were far more recent.
The Battle for Depot-011 had brought him more combat experience to put on his belt, but nothing else beneficial for him. On that day, Lucia was recorded to have created the most kills for a single soldier, even compared to the soldiers of the ground invasion. For someone who relied solely on her abnormal speed ability, she got far too much credit than she really deserved. It was one thing to celebrate the record of kills, but it was another to celebrate taking the lives of Terrans like they were something entirely different from her, which bothered Meinrad. He felt that he started to understand some of Klaudia’s animosity towards her, but he couldn’t let it be known. He was the Captain of the Frei Squad. The Captain of a mission that strived to gain him more recognition, but also brought him much embarrassment and pain.
Out of the Frei Squad, it was not expected for anyone to die that day. But someone did, despite extensive efforts by her squadmates to save her life. That was without mentioning the treacherous indignity one of her own caused to her body after she breathed her last. Meinrad could not even guarantee the safety of her mortal remains.
Exiting the Depot, with the short window of time the ground invasion provided, was just more salt to the wound. Carrying Lucia’s unconscious form over his shoulder while Joakim kept dagger-like eyes on the barbaric detained Sindri, all while running to the northern edge of the wall away from the fighting had been burdensome, something he was barely mentally prepared for. And he could not imagine the misfortune placed on Klaudia, who had to carry Malin’s corpse in her arms, whose upper half was bound tightly in white cloth to keep pieces of her crushed skull from scattering over the earthen field between them and the Light Pillar emerging from the stealth Craft waiting to pick them up.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
It was a shame, a travesty of what a leader should’ve done. And all he could do to distract himself from it was to keep lifting weights.
If not a captain, then what am I?
No, that wasn’t it.
If not a soldier, then what am I?
Once out of the shower, he got himself into a set of fresh clothing and made his way to the first floor of the palace to fix himself some dinner.
Expecting to eat by himself that night, he was surprised to see three others sat at the dining table, as he exited the kitchen with his soup made from processed ration cubes, and crackers on the side of his tray. Since the beginning of the war, though, he and all other Titanians were provided with a biscuit that provided additional calories to fuel them throughout the days and nights of battle at each meal, this one included.
“Hey there, Cap’,” Lucia said with a soft smile about her lips, sat beside Joakim at one of the four seats in the dining area. There had once been six. “Care to join us?”
“It’s not like I’m allowed to sit anywhere else, now am I?” he chuckled, sitting next Klaudia who was positioned opposite of the two soldiers who had returned from their briefing.
“You and your witty remarks,” Klaudia scoffed, averting her gaze from the girl diagonally across from her. “Pointless.”
Meinrad didn’t have to look at the girl to see who the subject of her remark was, but he knew how to defuse the one-sided tension perfectly.
“Lucia, Joakim, is there anything about your meeting with…”
He trailed off, as even he did not know who they’d been sent to speak with.
“The General.” Joakim filled in with a nod.
“Is there anything about your meeting with her that Klaudia and I should know about?”
“Confidential.” Joakim quickly muttered, before slurping down a spoonful of horrid-tasting soup.
“But either way, it doesn’t involve you two,” Lucia informed the senior soldiers of the Squad. “Nothing you really need to worry about.”
It looked like he wouldn’t be getting any answers that night. As leader of the Squad, he was naturally worried about his subordinates. But he knew better than to question the orders of the Military’s supreme leader.
“Meinrad, Klaudia,” Joakim spoke after a few silent, uncomfortable minutes of devouring. “I… want to ask you guys something.”
Klaudia nodded, while Meinrad gave him a verbal go-ahead.
“When you guys were serving with the Terrans, what was it like living alongside my brother?”
Meinrad and Klaudia were dumbfounded. They dreaded him asking the question, and despite it taking as long as it did, they slowly made contact through the corners of their eyes. Neither of them were prepared with an answer to give him.
“You can tell me the truth,” Joakim reassured them, sensing their apprehension. “That’s all I want.”
After several moments of brutal internal deliberation, Meinrad gave an answer he believed the boy deserved.
“It was… always very clear that he was very strong. Leagues ahead of almost any other terrorist,” Meinrad answered with a low voice, his gaze locked onto his tray of food. “It wasn’t that he was ever weak in my time with him, he was just lacking in experience. And you know what?”
“What?”
“He never complained about not being good enough, nor did he ever brag about being strong. I was the only one who was ever able to spar against him, and in a way, I kind of did make him the way he is,”
The monster that he became at Depot-011. I made him.
“And even then, he never acted like he was any better than anyone else.”
Klaudia saw beads of sweat forming on the boy’s temples, and under the table, she found him wringing his hands.
“And… he was very close to the people he found himself with,” Klaudia answered truthfully, saving Meinrad from his inner burden. “The bonds he made, it was as if he’d had them for years and years. It was intimidating for a lot of the terrorists to try to acquaint themselves with him just because of his strength, but those that did, they… they ended up gaining something more than just a comrade. He was a true friend to them.”
A grin slowly formed on Joakim’s face.
A real smile, Lucia mused. You don’t see that from him very often.
“I’m glad to know that he’s coped well with everything,” Joakim spoke with a hint of passion. “Growing up, he was the more outgoing one, always taking the time to talk to kids we’d meet on trading missions with the elders of our village. I think…. I think he’ll do just fine.”
“Yeah. Fine,” Meinrad said, plastering a false smile on his face. “He’ll be just fine.”
“Good that we agree,” Joakim said, taking his bowl and plate with him. “I’ll be heading back up now.”
As the boy took his leave, Meinrad gave a subtle frown to Klaudia.
“He’s not him,” Klaudia mouthed so that Lucia couldn’t hear her. “They’re not the same.”