Unfortunately there had been casualties during the fighting. 2 soldiers from Squad 4 had fallen when they weren’t able to repel a charge from one of the beetles. While they wanted to give the fallen a full military funeral, it wasn’t something that they could do at Echo Base. Not with the enemy knocking on the door, looking for a way in.

A black helicopter arrived the day after, and two caskets were loaded onto it. All the surviving personnel on the base stood at attention and saluted as the fallen were carried away. It was only once the helicopter was out of sight that they finally lowered their hands.

“To the fallen,” Smith said. No one else said anything, and they quietly shuffled back to the meeting room that they had claimed as theirs.

“That could have been one of us,” Monroe said once they were seated. “Any one of us.”

“But it wasn’t. We somehow made it out,” Conners said. “As much as I would like to attribute it to skill, we simply got lucky.”

“Do you think that's all it is? That squad 4 got unlucky.”

“Yes. That’s all it is, and was.”

“Enough,” Smith said and stood between the two. “All we can do now is remember. Both so that those that have fallen are not forgotten. But also so that we don’t end up falling in the same way.” The two of them glared at Smith for a moment before they both looked away. Monroe turned herself so that she was facing the door. But no matter how much time passed she stayed seated.

“Has there been any news from Myles yet?” Jamieson asked.

“Not any more than the last time that you asked,” Smith said and shook his head. “Command still hasn’t passed anything down yet.”

“The rest of Squad 4 and Squad 8 are leaving the base this afternoon,” Barten said. “I overheard it yesterday while speaking with the techs.” He looked over the others in the room. “From how it sounded they might be going to Alpha Base. But they refused to clarify when I asked.”

“Could be. I know that one of the squad 4 members was in a bad way mentally and they were going to get some leave,” Smith said.

“It would be nice to get some leave,” Conners said. “Better than sitting around.”

“I’m sorry,” Jamieson said.

“What? No. I’m not blaming you or anything. Please don’t think that poorly of me.”

“Alright. Everyone’s on their nerves it seems. Maybe we should leave any more discussion for later. Did either of you hear anything from the techs about your extra stats?”

Barten shook his head. “The techs here haven’t heard anything more on it. Seems like they are more here to document and record. While the research proper is being done elsewhere.”

“Pretty much what I heard as well,” Jamieson said.

“Alright. Get out of here and stop being jerks to one another,” Smith said and walked out of the door. Only nobody moved to follow after him.

“I think that all of this has been hardest on Smith himself. It’s never easy being a leader,” Monroe said, stood, and left.

Barten looked between Jamieson and Conners for a moment. The former appeared to be lost in his regret at causing the squad trouble. While Conners was picking at his fingernails without paying any attention. He stifled a sigh and left himself.

***

Without much else to do, Barten found himself running around the base or otherwise training his body. Exercising wasn’t something that he ever put too much thought into. Mainly just doing the minimum required and enough so that he could fly. But now that there was a numerical representation of how strong he was. Barten found that there was more motivation than ever to move his body.

Only issue is, that no matter how many times he checked his terminal, his stats weren’t improving at all. What was it that caused them to rise? Barten, as well as the rest of the squad, had bumped their con by 1 before the pulse had happened. And then after that Barten was flying around and he didn’t get a chance to check. After that was the fighting against the beetles and the millipedes.

Was it fighting that allowed for them to grow faster? There was also the fact of how did any of it even make sense? Here they were, running around in the real world, and yet Barten was trying to figure out rules that would better belong in a video game. It was easy to accept at first when he didn’t really believe in it. But now… with proper evidence to back it up…

He had been running for an hour. Something that should have taken a larger toll on his body. And not something that he would have been able to do before coming to Echo Base. Before that chip was implanted into his head. But now it was easy. A jog was effortless. A run took barely any more.

Just to see how far he would be able to push himself Barten started sprinting. Only his stamina just started to go down. It didn’t quit after one lap like it should have. Nor after 5 laps. Just as it was coming up on his 10 lap he started to feel it.

“Barten!” Jamieson was standing at the edge of the path that Barten had started to wear into the grass. “Slow down man, you’re making the rest of us look bad,” he said with a laugh.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Barten shook his head and finally slowed down. His breathing was labored. But considering the effort that he had just wrung from his body it should have been a lot worse. He took a quick look at his terminal before showing it to Jamieson

Kyle Bartin

Str: 10

Con: 12

Agi: 11

Dex: 11

Per: 12

PRe: 10

Jamieson whistled. “That’s some improvement. Now I really look like a slacker with my 11s.”

After another moment to catch his breath, Barten spoke, “I mean. I could be wasting my time out here. Unless we find out what causes our stats to increase it’s all moot isn’t it?”

“Maybe. But it could also be everything that we need. Effort before results right?”

“You’ve put in enough haven't you?”

Jamieson smiled and shook his head. “I wish that were true. But I can’t help but think that it would have been better if I was able to hold onto myself you know? I don’t want to be the one holding everyone else back.”

It was the truth that the squad was in some trouble due to hiding Jamieson’s sudden lack of clarity and wandering. Should they send that up to command? Would they take Jamieson out of combat until they figured things out? Or if Jamieson stuck around did that mean that there was a ticking time bomb in the middle of the squad. Waiting for a bad moment to go off and take out the rest of them with it.

“I… don't know what to say really,” Barten said and smiled. “I don’t blame you at all. I don't think that anyone does. But we worry. About what happened and why. About the next time that it may happen. When we are on the front lines, trading ammo with the enemy we need to think of everything that might go bad.

“But that doesn’t mean that we would ever let one of our own down you know? Fighting together builds stronger bonds than that. I’m sure that the others think the same. That we want you to continue being a part of this squad. That we all want to come home together after fighting.”

“Thank you,” Jamieson said and half turned away. “The others have pretty much said the same. For some reason I thought that you might resent me. Over the fact that we might not get a chance with the davs like the other squads.”

Barten took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I mean. I’d give everything that I own to fly one of those. But. That’s only what I own. Never would I sell out a squad mate for something that only benefits myself.”

Jamieson rubbed his eyes and sniffed. “Thanks Barten,” he said. “I think that I know what it is that I need to do now.” He waved and walked back to base. Barten watched after him and felt that it wasn’t fair. Though the world never was. But rarely did one encounter it like this.

***

Ever since that first attack by the beetles there wasn’t another assault on Echo Base. The lack of action along with the pending investigation meant that Delta Squad 5 had plenty of free time on their hands. Which meant that, at least in Barten’s case, he was getting pulled away often in order to fly this here or there.

He was currently landing at a small landing point that had been hastily setup. Really just a field that was already clear of trees. And it was the location where all of the civilians who rallied at Echo base had been evacuated to. Barten had heard that as soon as the first beetle appeared command triggered the evac. And they had found some transports and started removing the civilians. Which the squad was glad for given the condition of the base after they had come back.

With a grunt he jumped out of the chopper and ran to the staff waiting nearby. “Private Barten from Echo base,” he said.

The staff member, who looked to be a civilian fresh out of college, looked over her clipboard a moment before she spoke, “Alright. Food supplies, is it? We’ll get them loaded up,” she said and belted out some orders to the others waiting nearby. They jumped to their feet and started hauling crates of food into the bay of the helicopter.

“How is everyone settling in?” Barten asked.

She shook her head. “Many are unhappy about being here. Would rather be at home or some sort of luxury hotel. The new ones are the worst, at least until the ones who saw combat mention what they experienced. Fear seems to be enough to make people put up with things they might not have otherwise.”

Barten sighed. “At least they are alive right?”

“That just means that they can complain more,” she said and laughed.

Once the cargo was fully loaded and strapped down Barten was in the air again. Going north towards the base. He was happy with the fact that he was still able to fly. Even if it was just something as simple as helping with restocking. They would have gotten it from the city. But it had been leveled by the beetles in the days since the g object awakened. So instead he got to fly south to the relief point. From the map that he had seen, there were more than a few of them.

It felt strange to him to fly back north. It almost felt like there was a pressure sitting on the land. That got even worse once the object appeared over the horizon. Sitting there menacingly, beetles, that looked small in the distance, swarming over the land, leaving it barren with their passing.

Setting down at Echo Base, Barten was glad to get out of the air. Just so that he didn’t need to look at the object anymore. Mess wasn’t busy given that it was already after supper. But he was still able to score a hot meal by himself.

When he saw Sergeant Myles and Jamieson walk by, Barten felt like something was off. So he quickly scoffed the rest of his food and left to find the others. He had expected them to be off doing their own thing. And was surprised to find the squad hanging out in the meeting room.

“Hey,” Barten said as he walked in. “I just saw Myles and Jamieson together.”

“That’s right. Seems like Jamieson turned himself in. Even if it ended up with him leaving, he didn’t want to hold the rest of us back,” Smith said.

“Right proper man that is,” Conners said. Monroe frowned at him, but didn’t bother to say anything.

“What does that mean for the rest of us?” Barten asked and winced. “Sorry. That makes it seem like I don't care about Jamieson.”

Monroe shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. The elephant in the room that we’ve all been wondering over.”

“That’s right. And my guess is that we’ll find out tomorrow. From what Myles said they are concerned, but not that much that they would kick all of us out,” Smith said.

“Doesn't mean that we would get a chance in the davs either. Just no funemployment,” Conners said.

Barten shook his head. “Being unemployed was never fun for me.”

“Just means that you need to try harder. Restless relaxation isn’t any good for no one. Pay yourself for your time and make sure to take plenty of breaks.”

“How many times have you been unemployed? To have such wisdom?” Monroe asked.

Conners shook his head and smiled, “More than a few.”