The beeping of my alarm wakes me from my sleep. Moving quickly, I rise from the bed and head over to the closet. I quickly put my uniform on before combing my hair. Checking the mirror to see that everything is in order, I head out of my room and make my way over to the mess.
The trip over to the mess is, fortunately, uneventful. None of the others are in the hallway, allowing me to get to the mess without any issues. As I arrive, I see Lieutenant Blaustien directing some of the ship crew to move tables. Seeing he could use a helping hand, I make my way over.
“Hello, Lieutenant. Is there anything I can help with?”
“Thank you for the offer, but there is no need,” the Lieutenant says, shooting a glance my way. “This is in your honor, after all. It’d be like helping to set things up on your birthday.”
“That’s something I’m rather used to,” I chuckle. “It’d feel wrong just sitting around doing nothing. Even if it is just moving tables and chairs, I’d like to help out.”
“Well, if you are gonna insist like that, can you help move some of the supplies from the kitchen? That would be of decent help, and you should keep your uniform looking pristine more so than move around some tables.”
“Understood,” I say with a nod and a quick salute. In a matter of minutes, I am helping to move cutlery and platters of food. Time goes by fairly quickly, and while I get some looks from the crew for helping out, they are merely ones of curiosity, which barely last a moment. A few minutes after I started working, I hear a commotion. Glancing from the kitchen, I see another man in a pilot’s uniform standing in front of Lieutenant Blaustien.
“I can’t believe you can’t even manage this simple task right!” the man shouts, jabbing a finger into the Lieutenant’s chest. “You were entrusted with the simple task of having this done before the graduates arrived. But not only did you fail to do that, you have one of them working with the crew!”
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Grimm,” Lieutenant Blaustein replies, his face expressionless. “I take full responsibility for this failing.”
“Of course, you will. It’s your failing and yours alone,” the man sneers before walking off.
Seeing him walking away, I quickly walk over to the Lieutenant.
“I’m so sorry for causing trouble. If..”
‘It’s fine,” he interrupts. “He would have found some issue with me no matter what. That’s just the kind of person he is. I recommend that you do what you can to stay away from him. He’s the type who picks on anyone he sees as beneath him. And, forgive me if this is a bit presumptive of me, but you don’t seem like you are on more well-off side of things.”
“You aren’t wrong, and thanks for that advice. You still want my help?”
“He can’t complain more than he already has. So go right ahead.”
With that, I get right back to work. Fortunately, Lieutenant Grimm doesn’t show up again, and by the time others start to trickle in, everything is set up. As they arrive, I head over to the side, watching carefully as Lieutenant Blaustien and the workers direct the others to grab some food and sit down. After a few minutes, I decide to make myself a small plate and sit off to the side. Keeping to myself, I focus on eating quickly.
A few minutes after starting, however, I hear a pair of familiar footsteps.
“Peon. At attention,” the sharp voice of Auclair-Stolz interrupts my meal as I look up to see him and my walking headache, Salvador Di’Lotta. His smirk is focused firmly on me as he tosses his black hair back, standing proudly to Auclair-Stolz’s right.
“As I am sure you know by now, I am in charge of this little squad,” Auclair-Stolz starts, glaring down at me. “I don’t know how you managed to join this elite group. However, I refuse to have you weigh me down. When we fight, you will follow my orders to the letter. Am I understood?”
“You are, sir,” I reply with a nod.
“Good. Now tomorrow, we will have sim training. It will be first thing in the morning, so you better not try to skip it for breakfast. While I have arranged this training, it will be your job to make sure that the sim is free for us in the future. I expect time either before or after lunch. Any time that you get for us outside that range, I had better see a full report explaining why you were unable to obtain a proper time. Am I understood?”
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“Yes, sir,” I respond quickly
“Hmph.”
With that, the two walk off, sitting with the rest of the well-to-dos. As things are winding down, the Captain enters the room and gives his second speech, my fourth of the day. The speech passes through my head, though I try my best to appear attentive. It is filled with the usual empty platitudes, praising “us” for being the finest generation and calling for “us” to unite to serve our nation.
“In the coming days, you will have your first operation,” at those words, I tune into his speech. “Operation Consuming Fear. We will take action to dismantle the corrupt anti-liberation regime of Mars. So prepare yourself and make ready for the first steps of our liberation!”
There is a wave of cheers to which I offer my voice, but I quickly return to my meal. The celebrations last for a bit longer after the Captain speaks, though I still keep to myself. The others break up into their squads and leave the room, with Auclair-Stolz and Di’Lotta heading out fairly early. Once the room is emptied out, I get to work helping the crew with cleaning up.
As soon as everything is cleaned, I make my way over to where Lieutenant Blaustien is.
“Excuse me, but would now be a good time for you?”
“Sure. Now works. And thanks for helping, by the way. You didn’t need to at all. Especially since this event was partially for you.”
“I wouldn’t sit right with me to not help out after getting in early. Besides, I’m used to it. I helped out all around the house growing up, and I even managed to make some money on the side helping out at the academy. So moving some stuff around was barely work.”
“Still, thank you,” the Lieutenant says, offering a smile. “So, were you curious about Blaustien?”
“Yes. As I mentioned, they always praised the revolutionaries as “The first stars to strike back against our Terran Oppressors,” but they never really talked much about it. It was just sort of breezed over.”
“Huh. Well, can’t blame them too much,” he sighs. “It would sorta mess with the rosy picture I hear they have painted of us. As I have said to some others who have asked, we really weren’t looking to make any grand statement of revolution when we started. We were just sick of it all. They worked us to the bone there. Day and day out. It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from.
“And people came from all over. Most of the people there were from the colonies, true, but there were several people from Mars, Luna and even Terra. However, where you came from didn’t matter to the overseers there. They worked everyone the same.
“The only rest you could catch was the short breaks we had to stuff down a meal bar and liquid nutrients. If you had the misfortune of falling ill, you had to be lucky enough to know someone with any degree of medical skill cause they didn’t offer any care for us. A simple cough could be the end of you. And if it was, they just cleaned off your belongings and tossed you into the void.”
At that, he pauses, the blaze that has been steadily growing in his eyes flaring up as memories dance within his mind.
“Eventually, some of us had enough. We weren’t the first, of course. Others had tried before us and were cast out to the void. But….We just couldn’t live like that anymore. So, we fought. There wasn’t much of a plan. Not at first. We just sorta…snapped. I found one of my comrades beating up a guard who was assaulting a child, and I joined her. We managed to grab the guard’s weapon, and we started there.
“From here, things just spread like wildfire. Eventually, some of the miners started to use their equipment as makeshift power armor. We started using that to take out operations across Blaustien. After a while, we were pretty close to being free.”
“Where does the UCCs come into the story?”
“Well, right at the end of it. Just as we were putting pressure on the last groups of resistance, they came in with early production Ashigaru. They blew up some buildings, called it a victory, and declared us all patriots and heroes.”
“Wait. That’s it?”
“Eh, oversimplifying things a bit, but there wasn’t much for them to do at the time. Blaustien was short-staffed thanks to the Martian Rebellion, and we happened to be lucky enough to throw our revolt right in the middle of the worst of it. There weren’t many people who were really going to resist us, and besides the security forces, there were a lot of people on Blaustien who were sent there to end their careers. We had plenty of collaborators to help us once we started looking.
“By the time the UCC got involved, most of the fighting had been done. Though I can’t say they did nothing. They brought food and medical supplies when they arrived. All were severely needed, as what little transports Terra sent had stopped by that point.”
“So what has you fighting here then?”
“Well, I was born in the colonies, so it feels right for me to fight for them. It’s not like I have any other real skills at the moment. I was on Blaustien for most of my life. So, the only skills I have are mining and fighting, and I NEVER want to use power tools as they were intended ever again. Hell, I still feel a bit dirty misusing them. It’s why I didn’t cling to them like some of my fellow fighters.
“Also, I like the message of the UCC. We colonists shouldn’t be bound by the government of Terra any longer. Especially given how they view us. We aren’t human in their eyes. We are numbers on a sheet. Numbers to be thrown away the second another number says we aren’t profitable. I refuse to live like that any longer. And fighting here gives me the best chance to do something about it.”
“Even if you have to put up with people like Lieutenant Grimm?”
“He talks a big game, but he’s nowhere near the worst I’ve dealt with. But yes. I’ll endure a thousand of them if it means that we can be free from Terra. I’d endure anything for that.”
“Well, thank you for answering my questions. Sorry if I brought back any bad memories.”
“You’re fine. I wish you luck during your stay here. Feel free if you ever want to talk again.”
With that, he walks off, throwing me a wave as he marches off to other duties. Seeing no more reason for me to stick around, I make my way back to my room. I take some time to write in my journal, one of my few personal effects, before heading to sleep.