SHAD POV

I was to meet with my civilian expert squads in Assembly Bay 14. On the way I passed by a bunch more Assembly Bays where ETF soldiers were getting ready to receive their orders.

The ETF uniform was solid green, harkening back to the look of the old US Army World War I style. In a reality engine, there was no point in camouflage patterns, and so we'd gone back to some of the old classics. They stood in neat rows—men and women—with oval-shaped caps on their heads, faces shining, the best and the brightest, trained in Kronos and all given classes that would enable them to go head-to-head with aliens who'd been doing this for millennia now and win.

My crew were a much more motley bunch. Nobody was in rows. Instead, the 120 civilian experts were clustered together in little clumps. Their outfits were a riot of color and patterns, sometimes fitting in with a class theme, like how my drover's coat hung off my shoulders even now, while others just wore whatever they liked. I went to the front of the room and cleared my throat.

"Attention!" I called. I didn't have to shout; Coyote took care of acoustics in here. The chatter died down, and everybody turned to face me.

I took a deep breath, suddenly finding this harder than I had thought. Colin was supposed to be here with me, helping get this all set up. I said, "You've all received your initial assignments. Be prepared for those to change out as the first couple weeks shape up. We're going to be supporting the ETF when they ask. But as you know, our first priority is to gain a foothold for all of the Misfits Guild crafters and farmers. Our ally Leonardo has got us access to a couple of likely-looking zones.”

I had images projected on the screens. "This one is overrun with giant lizards, similar to dinosaurs but six-legged. As far as we can guess, these were the dominant form of life on the rogue world when it was knocked out of its star system half a billion years ago. We're going to be seeing these guys a lot.”

I played a couple of scenes for them to let them get a feel. “This is looking to be an important farming zone. A lot of our crafters use leather and scales, and these guys have both.” I called up another set of images.

“We're also getting a lot of alien influences from the various Dominators the aliens are using. One of the zones we're trying to contest is partially under the control of a Proxima Dominator."

That got some boos and jeers. I grinned. "Yep, that's right. Our old friends, those assholes at Proxima, are here with their fingers in all the pies. Anyway, this is themed on some legend from the primary space elf homeworld. There's dueling courts of elves. They're having a civil war. It's got dragons. I'll get you the details on that."

I was really having trouble ginning up any interest for this task, but I plowed on. “Here’s the third zone we're hoping to contest. We're actually allying with the Church of the Progenitors. Our old acquaintance, Patriarch Kvaltash, is the head of the Second Advent faction. He's hired us to get a bunch of their archaeologists into this level. We're thinking that this zone is pulling on imagery from the Progenitors who went into this engine because it doesn't really match up to much of anything else that we've seen."

I pulled it up. A gleaming city hung in front of us, made of shining white metal. Most of the buildings were big ovals on long stalks. The tops of the ovals flattened as we watched a flyer approach one of the buildings and land at the top of it, then disappear inside.

"They're very interested in seeing how far we can get them," I told the team. I had been, too, a few days ago. Unlocking the secrets of the Progenitors seemed like a big deal, then. “This mission is critical not just for the funds, but to get us some allies. We don’t have many people on our side out here.” I knew for a fact the EEF had offered protection for Kvaltash’s people, but had been turned down; the Patriarch didn’t think they could do the job, but he trusted my people. I had two teams assigned, including a specialist team with classes I thought would help uncover the secrets, and another on standby.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

At the end of our assembly bay was a blank doorway big enough for three to walk through abreast and about eight feet tall. Now, as I confirmed assignments, it blurred then refocused to look out into a swamp filled with tall ferns and giant mushroomy things. In the distance, something screamed. The teams assigned to take and secure our target swamp farming locale assembled and proceeded through the doorway.

As I finished handing out assignments, one of the teams approached me. I tensed. I had been expecting this. The gamer squad. Colin's gamer squad. The team he had brought with him from Earth and forged into one of our premier fragment-taming groups. They wore mostly jeans with an assortment of different t-shirts, though the middle-aged woman who called herself Alpha had on a neat blouse and slacks. She stood at the front of the group as they came to me.

I acknowledged them each. “Alpha, Pete, Sam, Rose, Amber. What can I do for you?"

Amber's eyes were red. All of them looked angry, miserable, or pained. I couldn't blame them.

"You can tell me what you're thinking, sending us in without our captain," Rose said. She had a Black Sabbath t-shirt on, a spiky collar around her neck, and her hair up in two bright pink pigtails. She crossed her arms as she continued to speak. "You expect us to just go in and act like nothing's happened?"

"I expect you to do your job," I snapped. "And so would Colin if he were here."

"But he isn’t,” Rose retorted. “That matters.”

"What is it you want?" I asked. "Some time off? This is a critical time in our mission. I know you're grieving, and I know exactly how you feel. So I'm sympathetic, I really am, but I also need you out there. Colin shaped you guys into the tip of the spear. Without you, a lot of this strategy falls apart."

They were supposed to be entering the Fae court scenario and scouting around to get a feel for what was really going on. Once they'd gotten us the lay of the land, I was planning to switch them over to the Progenitor level. I had been counting on Colin to help get a look behind the scenes there, to know what was really going on and help us penetrate the mysteries of the Progenitors. If his team was going to act like this, then I was going to have to rethink all my plans.

"Nah, mate, we get it," said Pete, the big blonde Aussie. He pushed his hat back on his head and continued, "We're all having a rough time of it. But we know the job. What we don't have, though, is someone calling the shots. We were wondering if you had anyone for us. Not to replace Colin. No one can. To help us deal with his not being here."

I stared at them, my mind completely blank. Of course, I was going to have to eventually replace Colin. But it wasn't something I could think about just now. For an instant, I wanted to say I'd go with them. I could do with a couple of days of time spent just kicking up hornet's nests and blasting away at enemies with my six-gun. It would even be reasonable. The team needed help. We had to establish these footholds. Grandpa would understand. So would Juana, but I knew very well that wasn't why I would be going. I was looking for an excuse to run away and not have to deal with the real world.

I shook my head. "Sorry, guys. I know it's rough on you. It's rough on all of us. But I need you to do your best. I'll have Allison look through the personnel files, seeing if they can find someone compatible with your team. But you aren't going to want to take orders from someone you've just met anyway. You'll need a new team dynamic. One of you stepping up to be shot caller."

I turned to Sam, the short Asian man who served as the team's support caster. "Like you. Half the time, the solutions your team implements came from you anyway."

He shook his head. "I'm not good at speaking up in the heat of things," he mumbled. "Colin could take my ideas and turn them into a battle plan. I don't know how to do that."

"Then you're going to have to learn on the fly," I said bluntly. I looked them over and realized what they were really asking. They wanted me to appoint someone leader, because they couldn’t face replacing Colin on their own. "Alpha, you're in charge of the squad. You call the shots. But listen to Sam, because he's got some very good ideas. Now get in there. We need to know how much of the intelligence in our briefing can be trusted and which of the factions we're going to side with. By now, Proxima's probably already up to their eyeballs in intrigue. This is the first zone where we're going head to head with them since our own reality engine. And I want it to go well. Any questions?"

They shook their heads. “Then get moving," I said as the aperture at the end of the room changed. Now, instead of a swamp, it was looking onto a graceful woodland full of spindly, delicate trees gleaming in gold and silver, with moonlight filtering through branches. "Dismissed."