“3,000, huh?” Jarek repeated. “That’s insane.”

“I wonder if their fifth squadmate had a hand in that figure,” said Maqsud. “And I thought our record was staggering.”

“I’ve never seen another four-person squad before,” said Perri. “Anyone who gets KIA is usually replaced, right?”

“Well, we all know they made an exception for us because Shanti’s absence is its own form of implied propaganda.”

Nic elbowed Max hard in his oblique armor plate. “Oops, you said that out loud. Let’s mind our surroundings.”

Max chuckled. “You know, with the suit, I barely felt that.”

By then, they’d lost their window for discreet chatter—Team Ivory was closing in. The one in front, ostensibly the squad leader, held out his white-armored hand for Nic to shake. “Nicolas Siegfried, right?” he asked. “Eli Pierce. Squad leader. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Nic replied.

“Oh, why am I keeping this thing on?” Eli reached up and activated his helmet’s releases on either side of his jaw, prying the bulky headgear off and holding it at his hip. “Too impersonal through the visors.”

Nic looked around the Simnasium, noticing that others had removed their helmets, too, and started to disperse. The mission briefing was over, and the armorsuits were mostly just a formality for appearing before the colonel. Nic removed his helmet and his squadmates did the same.

Eli had a head of well-trimmed blond hair, icy blue eyes, sharp cheekbones, and a square jawline. He was a few years Nic’s senior but seemed to take good care of himself; the war, and the Wargames that preceded it, didn’t seem to age him much at all. “This is Katrina, Ty, and Korbin.”

All eight soldiers exchanged handshakes and nice-to-meet-yous and broke the ice amongst themselves. Nic felt an inexplicable need to defend himself in front of the man, like their introduction was an argument of some kind. There was a self-assured confidence to the man that annoyed him for some reason.

“3,000 kills,” said Nic with a tone of begrudging congratulation. “That’s really something. I’m sorry about your fifth squadmate.”

“Thanks,” Eli replied, “and no need to be too sorry. Cassandra’s still alive. She just won’t be joining us for the foreseeable future.”

“Must have been a bad Hex injury.”

“It was the worst the medics had ever seen—well, at least in a survivor.” Eli let that answer hang in the air. “Granted, it was early in the war. She took a spike in her spinal cord, that strip of feedback suit right in the lower back where the plates sometimes separate. It was a miracle shot by the Sharpshooter, and she happened to move in just the right way to open herself up to the spike, at that exact moment. One in a million.” He shook his head. “A spike fragment is still in her spinal cord now. Doctors say if there are no CSF leaks and her symptoms don’t worsen, it’s too dangerous to remove. But she’s alive.”

“Oh.” Nic was taken aback. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. Glad to hear she’s still alive, at least.”

“Oh, yeah. She’s hanging in there. And for good reason.” Discreetly, Eli gestured at Korbin with a tilt of his head. “She’s a mother and a wife. She was actually pregnant when she got hit—miracle the baby lived. Life’s not easy with her condition, but she manages with in-home care, assistive machines, and a cocktail of pain meds. Korbin sends her every spare credit he earns, at least until he can go home to them.”

“Well,” said Nic, “it’s no wonder he’s so efficient at killing Hexes. He has a good reason to be.”

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Eli smirked. “Well, Team Scarlet’s record is nothing to scoff at, either. 2,000-plus? That’s in the 90th percentile. You guys are living legends—especially given your history. But I’m sure you’re sick of hearing that.”

“Eh, you start to get used to it,” Nic lied, but Eli was right.

“Well, I’m sorry that you’re a four-soldier squad, too. For an even worse reason. I would have loved to have met Shanti. From all the holos and docs I’ve seen, she seemed like a wonderful person.”

Nic nodded. “I didn’t get to know her long... but she was.” Eli’s sincerity was disarming; it chiseled away at Nic’s initial apprehension sentence by sentence. The Scarlet squad leader glanced over at the others embroiled in their own conversations and saw kindred spirits in Team Ivory. I guess I don’t really need to feel threatened. They seem cool.

And they’d have ample opportunity to get better acquainted over the course of the mission.

***

The ship’s mess hall was as big as the ones on base, but with two battalions sharing mealtime, it felt a lot more crowded than usual. Nic and his squadmates joined Team Ivory with trays full of their gray protein crumbles and nondescript carb slurries. Eli sat with a cup of appetizing golden liquid from the commissary.

“Orange juice from concentrate,” he announced, apparently sensing everyone’s question. “It’s a little bitter, but really cuts the aftertaste. Wanna try?” He doled some out to his squadmates. “I’d offer some to you guys, but I don’t know you well enough yet. You still have cooties.”

“Oh, the medic provided me an antibiotic,” said Maqsud. “I’m all better now. I really must remember to buy prophylactics for shore leaves.”

“A jokester, huh?” Eli laughed.

“Don’t encourage him,” Nic warned.

“We could use a joke every once in a while,” said Katrina. She had reddish hair shaved into an undercut—technically meeting GDF’s dress code, but walking a fine line. “We’re usually all business.”

Ty, the scrawny one, nodded. “Score-watchers, every one of us.”

“Oh, you wanna talk about score-watchin’,” Jarek chimed in, “you shoulda seen us last mission. Man, I was second on our squad for kills—Priority Four we had on Telum. Obviously, Nic had to steal the spotlight, ‘cause that’s what he does.” He elbowed Nic playfully in the ribs.

“Speaking of,” said Korbin, “finally got a Priority Three to sink our teeth into for a change, huh? It’s been three back-to-back missions making chump credits.” He stabbed a rubbery protein clump with his fork. “Not that I need an extra incentive for killin’ Hexes, though, right?” He bumped knuckles with Jarek.

“Let’s go! You got that right.”

Everyone laughed to some degree but Maqsud, who was poking boredly at his slop.

Since they were still in transit to the destination, and with no physical base to conduct field training, everyone was required to do a second round of Simnasium training each day in lieu of FTX. But Team Scarlet arrived fortuitously at dinner, according to this mission’s timekeeping. That left two hours of free time to fill as they pleased before bed.

When dinner ended, soldiers started to disperse from the mess hall in clusters. “Hey,” Nic said to Perri as they put away their empty trays. “So, we have a couple hours until lights out. I was thinking we could hang out back on the ship—you know, our ship. We could play a sim, just you and me, or watch a holo. Whatever you want.”

Perri gave him a smile that was meant to cushion a blow. “Oh, I would love that... It’s just, Katrina invited me to hang out before lights out tonight. We were gonna go to the gym and listen to one of her records—did you know she collects, too? What are the chances?”

“Oh,” said Nic, smiling back as best he could. Don’t cling. Don’t be weird. “Uh... Yeah, small world! Well, we hardly ever get a chance to make friends. You should take her up on that.”

“Promise you don’t mind?”

“Psh, that’d be crazy of me. Go have fun.”

Perri grinned and rewarded him with another peck on the lips. Most of their recent kisses had been pecky, he noticed. “Tomorrow night for sure.” And with that, the Scarlet and Ivory women left the mess hall together talking about vinyl and their favorite sims.

Nic watched everyone else in the mess hall scatter, even Jarek and Maqsud. For the first time in a long time, he felt cut adrift, happy that Perri had made a friend but wondering how he’d kill the hours himself. Duh. I’ll just hang with Eli. He seems like a decent guy to get to know.

“Hey, Eli,” he said, intercepting him near the mess hall exit. “I am itching for a leisure sim and you seem like a competitive guy—”

“Oh, you read my mind,” Eli laughed, surrounded by three Red Battalion soldiers Nic didn’t recognize, “but we actually already have four for this session. It’s a two-on-two. But next time?”

Nic nodded. “Definitely! I’ll be around.”

Eli flashed him a winning smile and a pair of finger guns as the foursome wandered off.

“I will be around,” Nic sighed to himself. Me, myself, and I.

He marched off to the barracks bathrooms, eager to burn his unused shower credit for the day.