Mark “Coop” Cooper

Location: North American Eastern Seaboard, Smokey Mountains, United Commonwealth of Colonies

Coop reluctantly had to leave his drug-induced happy happy fun land. He’d been unconscious for some time, but he knew he’d shifted from that state to dreaming at some point. You didn’t dream about being balls deep in your girlfriend when you were truly unconscious.

“Wha . . .” was his first word as the stupor he was in finally faded to the point he could open his eyes.

“Take it easy warrant officer,” a nurse materialized at his side and placed her hand on his chest to push him back down. He easily overpowered her and continued until he was in a full sitting position. “Um . . . doctor!” she called out, as Coop swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet.

he lost traction and toppled onto his ass. That was when he first took a look down at his feet . . . or more accurately, his foot.

“Damnit, not again,” he groaned and smashed the railing of the bed with a closed fist, leaving a big dent in the hard plastic.

He wiggled the toes on his left foot. They responded to his brain’s commands. That was good, but the metallic gleam of the peg where his right foot should be was unsettling. This wasn’t the first time he’d lost a bit of himself in service to the Commonwealth, but he didn’t normally wake up looking like a pirate.

“Warrant Officer Cooper,” a stern-faced woman walked in with a white lab coat. “Please return to your bed.”

“Where’s my foot?” he asked, not moving.

“Please return to your bed and I will tell you where your foot is,” she kept her no-nonsense tone.

Coop growled a few choice words under his breath and climbed back into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. He couldn’t give her exactly what he knew she wanted, so this was a good compromise. She gave him a hard look but exhaled. For the first time, he noticed how tired she looked. Her eyes were sunken, and a bun of graying hair, that normally would by tighter than a yoga instructor’s ass, had several stray strands falling into her face.

“Sorry,” he grumbled after taking a good look at her. “I . . .” he stopped talking. The doc was probably busy and didn’t want to know about his history of lost body parts.

“Your foot is in a locker down the hall,” she continued, ignoring his gesture of goodwill. “Something hot and powerful sliced it clean off. From what I know about the walking metal suit of death you wear, that was one hell of an attack you lived through.”

He just shrugged. He was glad he was alive, but with the epic clusterfuck they were in, it was more important to know the path forward from here. “How long until I’m good to go?”

“Well . . .” the doc hesitated.

“You’re good to go now,” the base CMDR walked into the room, looking even more tired than the doc. “We made some necessary decisions to make you combat ready as soon as possible.”

“I’m guessing this is the necessary decision,” he pointed at the metal peg sticking out of his leg.

“It is not optimal,” the doc’s words were measured with the CMDR there. “I don’t have the data to ensure your new appendage will work with the neural link your armor establishes.”

“Then let’s go check,” the CMDR countered with a hard glare.

Coop knew what was going on. It had happened more than once in his career. The doc was all about physical and mental wellness. She would recommend a course of treatment that ensured he could make a full recovery as safely as possible. The problem was that safe wasn’t in the cards right now. The CMDR wanted him back in action against medical advice. If he had to guess, the doc was a civilian from one of the hospitals that had been evacuated to the mountain bunker complex, and was having trouble adjusting. She clearly looked pissed enough when the CMDR suggested he go jump in armor right now.

“I’m sure everything works the way it’s supposed to, but I should probably let the drugs get flushed from my system before I try and synch. That’ll be the biggest issue I think,” he tried to appease both women, and as usual, they both turned on him with glares.

he leaned back in his bed and closed his eyes. The CMDR might outrank him, but as one of two MOUNT operators, she couldn’t really do anything to him. The doc wouldn’t withhold treatment, and if he wanted to, he could physically overpower any attempt to stop him. It didn’t matter if he didn’t have a foot, he still had two fists.

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“Hey gimpy,” the voice cut through him with a cyclone of emotions. His eyes snapped open and he found Eve standing there against the doorway.

“You look like shit,” he replied with a smile. She was still the sexiest woman he’d ever seen, but she looked ragged.

“Well, I had to cover your lazy ass. Sleeping on the job, Coop, not professional. Not professional at all.” Her words had no bite, but there was still concern on her face as her eyes darted to his peg.

“Like my new accessory,” he propped it up so she could get a better look. Then a lightbulb went off in his head. “oh my god,” his exclamation filled the three women’s faces with concern. “I just realized I can literally say I’m going to stick my foot up someone’s ass if they piss me off. With a normal foot, that’s anatomically impossible. But I’m practically walking around on a metal dildo. This is perfect,” a mischievous look filled his face.

The CMDR rolled her eyes, the doc looked disgusted, and Eve dissolved into a fit of laughter. “Well he’s fine,” she concluded. “Get your ass out of bed and out here. We’ve got the enemy massing. The intel types say that we’re looking at the biggest assault yet, and we’re going to need you.”

Coop hopped to his feet. This time not falling on his ass. “Sorry, doc, duty calls. Boss’s orders,” he inclined his head at the only woman in the room who held real power in his eyes.” His awkward gait took a moment to get used to, and he was sure it would fuck up his back given enough time.

“Get moving on baking up that new foot for me; chop chop,” he yelled over his shoulder as he hobbled down the hall.

He rounded the corner after her and she ambushed him with a hug and kiss. “Don’t do that again,” her face was hard and vulnerable at the same time.

“I made it back,” he replied defensively as she gripped him tighter. “I made it back,” he repeated, more for his own benefit than hers.

“Let’s keep it that way,” she released him, slapped him in the face, and then grabbed his ass before walking away.

he stood there frozen. He liked it, but he still didn’t have any idea what the hell it meant.

***

Benjamin Gold

Location: Aurum, Gold Technologies Corporate Territory, United Commonwealth of Colonies

Ben looked up at the roof of the thatched hut. As far as honeymoons went, it had been fucking awesome. They’d spent the first day in bed, going to town on each other to the point of physical exhaustion. They continued the marathon of love-making every night, but they started venturing out during the day.

Jacobi had been adamant about getting as far away from Gold Island as possible for the honeymoon. He was sure Thomas wanted them on the island and under close guard now that he’d announced his corporate commonwealth to the universe, but Ben told him to shove it. They were on the opposite side of the planet from his traitorous father.

Thankfully, Aurum was basically a giant resort. With a better-than-earth environment, it was paradise no matter where they went. They chose a privately owned resort on the opposite hemisphere that wasn’t much more than small, close-together island chain. It was perfect for them; something that his father didn’t own and operate. It was a family business, where the owner greeted all the guests at the door. Being outside the Gold Technologies supply loop, it was extraordinarily expensive to stay there, but the resort had a reputation of being excellent. So far, that was Ben’s experience.

“Ugh,” Jacobi moaned as she turned over next to him. “I’m sore.”

Ben laughed. “The mighty infantry officer brought low by a hike through the tropical forest. It couldn’t have been more than a two kilometers loop.” The islands weren’t that big.

Not there, here.” She patted her crotch, and Ben blushed a deep scarlet. “I don’t have the enhancements that you do, so take it easy on the old girl.” Ben’s blush deepened.

Jacobi had a full set of marine upgrades, so she was on par with Ben in most cases. That made the relationship hurdles he’d have to jump through with other women non-existent, but there were still some aspects of the enhancement of the human body that the marines didn’t consider worthwhile.

“Don’t look like I just spoiled all the fun,” she purred and laid herself over his chest to give him a long kiss. “A girl just needs some time to recuperate, that’s all. Let’s take the day off and do something else that involves getting wet and sweaty.”

Ben grinned. He’d been wanted to try a wind surfing class. This wasn’t the parasailing with a self-balancing board that you could sit back and have a drink on as a built-in motor skimmed across the waves. This was old-fashioned. You had to keep yourself upright and read the wind and waves to stay standing. It was a challenge, and exactly what his wife was describing.

he grinned. It was still surreal to think he had a wife.

The wedding wasn’t what they wanted. It wasn’t about them. It was about his father and the deal he was making to reshape the universe. They didn’t get to have their friends there; although, most were back in the Commonwealth armed forces and would likely have to invade Aurum to make it to the reception. Still, it would have been nice if at least anything they’d wanted was actually done for their special day.

In the end, no matter the journey, they got to the desired destination. Now, they were enjoying the free time away from everything. It was just about them now. As Jacobi pulled herself out of bed and headed for the shower, he realized as long as he had her, he’d be able to deal with the shit his family handed out.

She was family now, and the part that mattered the most. As far as Ben was concerned, if he never had any interaction with his father ever again it would be too soon. Ben didn’t care about the wealth, he could do without, he cared about Jacobi, Hope, and his mother. Everything else was just meaningless.

Jacobi stopped midway to the bathroom with a confused expression on her face. Clearly, something had popped up on her IOR. “It’s a letter from my new job. They expect me to report in on Monday for orientation and HR processing.”

In everything that had happened, Ben forgot she had a job lined up with Gold Technologies. A quick check of his IOR told him it was Saturday, and they were scheduled to be at the resort until the following Friday.

he thought as their honeymoon came to an abrupt end.