Mars.
Mars, Mars, Mars.
“What were you thinking, dipshit,” he said aloud to himself.
He had finished moving his quarters over to the Lux Orbis complex and he was fighting the urge for a drink. Seeing Ella certainly didn’t make that any easier.
Mars had loved Ella like no one before or since. It tore him apart that abysmal day he broke it off with her. But it had to be done. Mars hadn’t been able to justify having a serious relationship while he was fighting for the future of his species.
He wanted it all with Ella; six kids that came screaming to him when he returned from work for the day, three dogs to protect them while he was away, and Ella; beautiful, serene, Ella.
Mars knew she couldn’t forgive him because he knew that Ella wanted all those things too; and Mars had never forgiven himself. He knew he could have been nicer about it though.
And now he was part of a strike force to attack Proxima Borealis. Parabellum Scramasax V. He decided he would shorten that to PSXV when he took over the squad in the morning; he hated all these long-ass names that administrators picked for projects.
He scratched at his eye. He knew what was there; he had 3-D photographs of his iris for just such a reason, and he knew he was played that night at the bar. He had to have his friend from the Chicago Pyrἰnas check on the status of the signal trace so he could get this piece of shit that thought Mars could be used as a pawn. This fucker didn’t know who he was tangling with.
Of course, there was the matter of the information Ella had told him, but he had written her a note before their meeting with his eyes closed, and had it passed to Ella so she could be prepared. Hopefully she could read it…
He slipped back into thoughts about Ella.
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Mars groggily woke to his alarm blaring at him. Out of habit, he looked at the calendar-clock on his nightstand…05:45, Wednesday, 14 May, 8454.
“Damnit all,” Mars exclaimed as he stretched the sleep away; it was his ‘get out of bed’ mantra.
He took care of his business, donned his new uniform, and went to go meet his PSXV squad.
He walked through the gigantic Lux Orbis complex till he reached his destination, a multi-story training facility with every state-of-the-art piece of equipment available. Mars was impressed.
A tall, athletic, thirty-something man with black hair and green eyes approached Mars. “Imperator Thegn Kane,” the man said, “I am Verick Sanborn; I’ll be one of your team leaders, sir. The other is Jaquan Fields and he goes by Jef,” Sanborn pointed to a young-looking, powerful man who was training with a dagger against a combat-android.
“Very good, thank you,” Mars told Sanborn, “I will introduce myself to the rest of the squad.” Mars walked to each person and asked their background; there were eleven men and five women. Mars would be sociable with his PSXV Berserkrs, but he would also maintain a professional distance from them. Who knew what he might have to order any one of them to do. Friendships made commanding more emotional, and emotions caused carelessness.
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Mars watched his Berserkrs train. He noted tendencies in their fighting styles and the different nuances in their conduct when interacting with various squad members. He could see the cliques that had already formed within his ranks, and he would have to implement plans to put a stop to it. They would train as one team, fight as one team, and die as one team if necessary.
A young, red-haired man came in the training arena, looking for Mars. “Imperator Thegn Kane, I am Luther, Director for Stratego Fleury. She needs you immediately—please follow me sir.”
Mars looked at Sanborn and told him to upload each PSXV Berserkr’s file to his arm holo-cast, so he could gather the intimate details of who he was commanding. He then followed Luther, who was already walking away.
As they walked at a brisk pace to Ella’s office, Mars turned to Luther. “What is going on, Director?”
“I think it is best for the Stratego to tell you herself, Imperator Thegn, but I will tell you that there was an assassination attempt against her last night…”
“Last night?!” Kane barked, enraged at all the hours of opportunity lost. “Why am I only being told about this now? Was the assassin apprehended?” He began walking faster.
“As I said sir, please wait for more information from the Stratego.”
Three minutes later, Mars burst into Ella’s office. She had a guard of ten Berserkrs covering all access points now. “There was an attempt on your life, and I am only getting informed about it now?” Mars yelled. He had no shame.
“There was no need to inform you immediately Thegn. We captured the assassin within the hour, hiding in the sarcophagus of Zavyr Paxt. I thought I would let you get your beauty sleep. Besides, I’ve been surrounded by Berserkrs ever since the attempt.”
Mars still wasn’t happy about not being informed, but he forced calm upon himself. “Thank you for the consideration of how much sleep I need, Stratego, but I advise you to inform me next time. Where is the assassin now?”
“Dead. She had a suicide device implanted in her hip and activated it. Consul Blake acted quickly though and he, along with the Thegn of the Shadow Berserkrs, activated a deep retina scan within seconds. We will have the assassin’s memory scans shortly.”
“Memory scans are valuable, obviously, but I could’ve exploited the assassin’s network. I don’t care about her; I wanted the one who was telling her what to do, and I could’ve used her to infiltrate and extinguish it.”
“But that is not why I brought you to the Lagos Pyrἰnas, Imperator Thegn Kane. I know your past and what you did at the Chicago Pyrἰnas; I know what I can use you for. You know your mission here. You have six months to get your Parabellum force ready. I suggest you spend your time on that.” Ella subdued a smirk as she said this. She had received Mars’ letter before they met in her office yesterday and had planned accordingly. The attack on Proxima Borealis would not be in six months…
“Yes, Stratego. But if you do not want my assistance with the assassination attempt, then why did you want me immediately?”
“Well, I do want your help with one particular aspect of the attempt on my life…when you infiltrated the clone spy-ring in the Chicago Pyrἰnas, did you ever obtain intel about a weapon that could phase solid matter to allow a portal to form?”
“I never saw one, but I heard rumors. I didn’t think it possible, but I still put it in my report. My superior, Colonel Jacoby made me rescind that portion though because he thought I was insane to put something so stupid in an official Federation Historia intelligence report. I submitted a complaint against him for it…”
“Well, it is in fact very possible. One was used last night on my bathroom mirror and a laser shot out of it,” Ella said, still remembering how her body had thrown her to the ground just in time.
Mars was intrigued. The assassin had used a little-known weapon against the Stratego, thereby erasing any doubt about its existence; the Stratego’s word was above reproach. “I will task my two squad leaders to conduct specific training regiments that I will provide them with, and I will take some time to investigate this matter personally, Stratego, with your permission, of course.”
Ella thought about it for a moment. She gave Mars a cold stare as she did. “Okay, Thegn. But you know what your priorities are. As long as your first priority mission is complete, accomplish whatever tasks you deem suitable.”
Mars left Ella’s office with a smile. He had an idea on where he would start his investigation.