Sergeant Myles had called a meeting with the squad. It ended up being held in a small boardroom style room. It was one of many that they had been using. With big comfortable chairs, a heavy wooden and dark table, along with whiteboards and a large screen mounted on the wall. Myles was fussing around with his laptop, trying to get it connected.
“This is what I wanted my time in the reserves to be like,” Conners said as he reached forward for another donut. “Coffee and donuts for meetings. Comfy seats. You know, fulfillment and all that.”
“All of which Echo Base was missing,” Jamison said and sipped his coffee. “You go over this shtick every chance you get. I liked Echo Base. It was charming in a way that Alpha is not.”
Conners gave Jamieson an incredulous look. “However could you find that hole as anything else?” Jamieson shrugged at his question.
“No. I get what he’s saying,” Monroe said. She was eyeing the plate of donuts but had already eaten her two. “While it’s nice having everything like this. It was also a simpler time. And for such a time simple things were best.”
“Another one. Come on Smith, Barten. One of you has to have my back on this.”
Barten shook his hand in a soso motion. “I can kind of see what they are saying. But also davs… But… davs,” he said and then shrugged.
“I can’t tell if you are agreeing with me or not. It’s probably just cause you're a vehicle idiot,” Conners said and looked at Smith.
“Hrmmm. I mean. I would have liked this luxury without the impending alien invasion and all that,” Smith said.
“Xenos,” Myles said as he continued to fiddled with the dock for his laptop. Jamieson was already there as well helping him.
“Ah yes. Xenos.”
“I like the meeting room setup at Echo Base at least,” Myles said. “This plug and play crap or whatever never seems to work. And I end up wasting so much time. Which doesn’t mean much when it’s you chuckle heads. But when giving a report to someone above me I get really bad side eyes at wasting their time.” He shook his head, thanked Jamieson, and finally pointed at the screen. “Now that setup is done we can start the meeting.”
The screen was a satellite view of the g object that had appeared near Echo Base. If Barten hadn’t see the image before he wouldn't have known where it was located. The beetles had been hard at work and stripped everything barren.
“You’ve come far enough along in your training to be used in live combat,” Myles said. “Along with the other squads on base we are to make an exploratory assault on the g object.”
“What about the defenses?” Jamieson asked. “From the word going around they are pretty nasty.”
Myles nodded. “That's right. Auto defenses, as much as we can tell, will shoot a light beam at anything that gets too close. More so when it is someone with a chip. We’ve had better luck with both drones and ground based units. Research thinks that it might due to them having some overlap with the signal that the beetles give out. Though it only works a few times and then the objects learn.”
“Ugh, learning? Are they AI’s or something?” Conners asked.
“We don’t have enough knowledge about them just yet. But it’s expected to be either organic or AI. Or both. We’ll know more once we finally crack one open or get a live sample.”
“And that’s coming up is it?” Smith asked.
“In about a week,” Myles said.
Everyone in the squad took the news differently. Jamieson had a slight tremor and was fussing with his hat. Monroe started bouncing her knee at some point and was sitting on the edge of her seat. Conners looked more annoyed than anything. Though that wasn’t really anything new. As for Smith, he seemed calm. Composed. Though his hands were balled into fists.
Barten himself felt a hint of excitement in his chest along with a flutter. Flying out was always rough at first. The adrenaline caused his heart to pound in his chest. But after a few moments it would all go away and he would laser focus on the task at hand. At the enemies on the horizon.
“So that means that you all get a break from now until then. A one day rescinding of the liquor ban, and some additional special meals.”
“Wait, you mean we get to eat at the officer mess?” Conners asked. He was sitting up straight for perhaps the first time that Barten noticed. “I heard rumors on the quality of the food, that even back on Echo Base it was out of this world.”
Myles shook his head. “And that’s the thing that has you excited? I would have thought that that booze would have done it as well?”
“Meh. No booze is still better than bad food. So how many times can we go?”
“You’ll each get three tickets. How and when you spend them is up to you. Please don’t go trading them, they will be keyed to your name,” Myles said and pointed at Conners. “Also,” his face took on a more somber expression, “Be sure to use them up.”
If Conners was affected by Myles' change he didn’t show it. Instead he had already launched to his feet and held his hand out. “Tickets please. And I would have traded for more. Stolen them even. But I guess that I’ll need to tough it out and deal with only having 3.”
“They should have been put in with your mail. So-” Conners was gone before Myles finished speaking. “Well. I guess that is as good of a time as any. The rest of you can go. There will be more information to come. But take it easy this next week.”
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“Alright! I’ve been itching for something more to punch on than you lot,” Monroe said. She had started shadow boxing as she walked for the door.
“Shouldn't you be shadow shooting something instead?” Smith asked. “Unless you want to get up close and personal with the beetles.”
“Nah. This focuses me more. And what, do I look like I still have eighth grader syndrome to you?” She fired off some finger guns to prove her point while making pew sounds.
Barten shook his head and chuckled, took his last bite of donut, and started walking out with the rest of them. “Hey!” Myles said from behind. “Where did all of the donuts go?” Barten turned back to look and before anyone could point at Monroe she had already started running down the hall.
***
Smith came up with a great idea. And after schmoozing with the quartermaster he managed to get it to come to fruition. Though Conners complained about losing one of his tickets to something other than a meal at the officers mess.
“Alright. I’ll give it to you Smith,” Conners said. “I was against this idea at first. But having a bbq in a mountain meadow does have its appeal. Though I’m still leery about this camping nonsense.”
“Jamieson is working on it, but there’ll be a fire as the sun starts to set,” Smith said as he looked through the coolers.
Conners laughed. “Like anyone, fire holds a special place for me.”
“Cause you like lighting things on fire?” Monroe asked. She was lounging in one of the chairs they had lugged up the trial. Barten dropped his cooler and sat down on it instead. Electing for a faster way to rest than a more proper one.
“Which cooler has the beers in it,” Conners asked.
“Mine,” Barten said and patted the one that he was sitting on. “Jamieson is off getting wood through. We should go and help first, yeah?”
“I don’t believe in these other two at all,” Conners said and glared at Smith and Monroe. “Smith might seem lawful good at times. But no one can be that proper all the time. More so when there’s a chaotic neutral here like Monroe.”
She laughed. “What does that make you? Neutral Complainer?”
“Nu uh. I’m a proud true neutral. I do what I want, when I want, for whatever reason I want.”
“Doesn’t that seem kind of Chaotic to anyone else?” Jamieson said. His arms were full of twigs, branches, and other deadfall that he had found. “If anything I’d suggest that Conners is the most chaotic out of all of us.”
“What! That’s nonsense. I’m lawful at times. Just as I’m free spirited at times.”
“Sounds like something a chaotic person pretending to be neutral would say,” Smith said with a smile. “Where did the bbq end up?” It took a bit of work to find it, which was under the cooler that Barten was sitting on. But they eventually got it set up, a small fire started for ambience, and Smith started cooking.
“We never finish speaking about people’s alignments,” Conners said with beer in hand. “Jamieson is probably neutral good. Barten… lawful neutral?”
“As much fun as it is to try and label people towards one archetype or another. Isn’t the real world such a place where people pick and choose what they want, when the time presents itself?” Jamieson asked.
“Wait. What was all that? That sounded rather complicated for our jughead minds to properly comprehend,” Conners said.
“I’m just saying. That labels like that are okay as part of a gaming system. But when they are brought into the real world they are too rigid. And it’s best to think in a more open minded manner, where people can pick and choose where they land. And not be pigeonholed in acting in a certain way.”
“What the hell did you do with my big lovable giant!? Is your hat on right?”
Jamieson rolled his eyes. “Before I enlisted I got a philosophy degree. Why can’t I have a handle on some of the questions we should be asking instead of just going with the flow?”
“I… well damn. You’ve surprised me,” Conner said and downed the rest of his beer. “Any of you other jerks holding back? Hiding secret pasts or skills?”
“I went to school for accounting before changing into the military,” Monroe said. “Something about how numbers worked together and lined up nicely was neat in high school. But quickly lost its appeal as I became an adult.”
“Wait, what?”
“My father wanted me to take over the family business,” Smith said. “He had built it up from the ground with his and my mother’s efforts. Only I saw how miserable it made them. Working so hard to create a life for my siblings and me. So I ran off at 19 and enlisted.”
“Ugh. I’m somewhat like that. My family was a bunch of farmers. Couldn’t stand the dirt anymore,” Conners said.
“It seems like everyone has their own colorful past,” Barten said. “I-” he didn’t get far before Conners interrupted him.
“Wanted to be a pilot since the day you first walked?”
Barten smiled. “Nope. Never flew before the first time in the military. It was then that I found myself finally loving life.”
Smith frowned. “What did you do before? You didn’t enlist right out of school did you?”
“Not so much. I bummed around for a few years. Part time jobs and all that. Felt that my life wasn’t going anywhere and ran into a vet. He had a good enough opinion of his time in the forces that he recommended it to me. Said that it would be putting me on a path, and I could walk it if I so choose.”
“Sometimes the way forward comes from the places we least expect it,” Jamieson said with a nod.
“Wait. Stop it. Give me old Jamieson back please. Not this new wise version with the quips,” Conners said which caused Jamieson to smile.
“I kind of like this version,” Monroe said. “I’m tired of playing the straight man to you Conners. It would help to have another archetype around. Smith is too serious. And Barten needs to try a little more.”
Jamieson sat back, crossed his legs, put his beer into his lap and held his hands together. “It is improper to try and change others. What is proper is to change yourself. Either to accept others as they are, or to provide a role model so that they might one day change themselves.”
“Ugh. I need another beer,” Conners said.
They continued to talk about their lives before or outside of the military. Until the end of the night when the fire finally went low,. It was fun, getting to know the others like that. Barten felt that they had all come a long way during their lives. And even with how tumultuous their time together was he found that it had been one of the more enjoyable parts of his life.
He lay there trying to fall asleep and took a look at his terminal.
Kyle Barten
Str: 12
Con: 15
Agi: 13
Dex: 16
Per: 16
PRe: 10
What a wild ride that old vet had put him on so many years ago. Would the old man even believe him if Barten had a chance to tell him? As sleep started to come he wondered what would happen next on this path of his.