A small vessel surfaced from subspace one light second from the outermost edges of its target system. It was a strange vessel in that the majority of its surface was covered in rock, making it appear as if it was some form of a rogue asteroid.

Carefully disguised inside of a crater, the ships ion drive lit up and began to propel the vessel into the system. It would continue to run the ion drive at low power until it reached a predetermined velocity. At that point, the ship would go silent, running on stored power as it traversed through the system, taking in passive readings from a variety of instruments. It was a standard espionage run to keep an eye on the colonies. Just because they had been abandoned to their fate didn’t mean they should be ignored.

KIPOUEN

Joseph stood at the foot of the ramp staring up into the massive transport shuttle. It was one of the larger variety that had been used to land tanks on the planet. He would be leaving Kipouen for the first time in his life aboard that shuttle. He felt that strange mix of nervousness and anticipation that one always feels before one takes a step towards a big change. Just as he was about to board, he heard someone calling his name, “Joseph, what are you doing? I come here to see you since you disappeared on me again right after the raid, and what do I see, but you trying to run away again. Can’t even be bothered to say goodbye?”

Joseph turned to see his old friend Alex jogging up to him, shouting his head off in the middle of the airfield. Joseph burst out in laughter, “I’m sorry old friend, I almost didn’t say goodbye again. I should have known that you would find a way to see me before I left though.” Joseph walked over and met Alex partway and was rewarded with a slug to the gut that sent him back a step.

“That’s for being an ungrateful ass, you ungrateful ass. Now, what has you doing a fool thing like signing up with the Avalon Fleet? Don’t tell me you’re not, there’s no other reason you’d be getting on one of those shuttles. You have people here, there’s a life here for you if you’d only just take a moment to look. Don’t throw that away to join up for a fight that’s happening hundreds of lightyears away from here.” Alex’s impassioned plea was matched by an anguished look. It was as if his face was screaming, ‘I just found you again, don’t you dare leave,’ at Joseph.

Joseph recovered from the punch and stood back up. He put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes, “I’m sorry old friend, I know I have people here, perhaps even a place in society again. But there are too many memories here. Don’t worry though, I won’t be heading off to the front lines. The Avalon Fleet sees some value in hiring myself and a few others as special instructors. I can’t imagine why they want me for that sort of role, but I figured it might be interesting at least.”

Alex stared back, the resignation in his face apparent, “Well, it looks like I’m not going to convince you otherwise. You’ll be happy to know you aren’t the only idiot joining up. Shiroykos signed up as soon as The Fleet mentioned they were taking volunteers. Damn battle starved fool can’t get enough of the fighting, if anyone is destined to die on a battlefield, it’s that man.” Alex sighed and forcefully pulled Joseph in for a hug. “I suppose as long as your going up as an instructor it’ll be fine. Stay in touch this time around though.”

Joseph patted his friend on the back, and after a few moments they parted, “I will Alex, after all, the only reason I didn’t last time was because I thought you were dead. I’ll keep you plenty updated on all the knuckle dragging boneheads that I’m going to have the pleasure of attempting to train. But only if you promise to remind me of home now and again. I may be leaving for now, but Kipouen will always be home.”

Alex nodded, “I will, now get out of here. If I can’t convince you to stay you might as well get on that damn shuttle. I have some business to sort out with the commander of this base, I somehow ended up in the transitional government as the primary go between with The Avalon Fleet. Still wrapping my head around how I got stuck with that, but there are worse things I suppose.” And with that Alex jogged off, sparing Joseph a wave as he left.

Joseph waved back, a sad smile on his face as he turned and boarded the shuttle, following what looked like a team of nurses carefully moving a gurney onto the shuttle. He followed the directions from the staff officer who was organizing the loading and found himself sitting next to where the gurney ended up being strapped down for takeoff. He looked over to see a fairly bland looking young man. Joseph wondered what was wrong with him, he looked healthy enough, and his legs seemed to still be attached.

“Hello there, my name’s Gustav, but you can call me Gus. Looks like we’re both headed up for The Gringolet. Feels weird not being headed back to The Saratoga, but new assignment and all that, can’t be helped. What’s your name?” The young man spoke, interrupting Joseph’s thoughts. The name Gus sounded familiar, and then something clicked in Josephs’s head.

“You wouldn’t happen to know a fellow named Ansgar would you? He told me about a squadmate of his called Gus who had his insides shredded by a sniper.”

Gus’s face brightened in recognition of the name. “Yeah Ansgar and I were in the same squad and I definitely got shredded. I’m going to get a custom implant stuck into me so I can go full cyborg, can’t say anything about it beyond that, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s between that and retiring back home and I can’t say that thought appeals to me much.”

Joseph nodded, he could understand that sentiment, especially based on what he’d heard about Gus’s homeworld. “My name’s Joseph, sorry for not introducing myself,” Joseph said apologetically. “Your name just clicked into my memory and I had to ask. It’s unfortunate that you were crippled at such a young age. It’s a blessing that they can get you back up and functional again though.”

Gus merely nodded in reply as another man took the seat next to Joseph. He was clearly a Kipouen native and from the military at that. It was also quite clear that he did not want to be there. His expression was a unique combination of frustration and disgust. Joseph turned to the newcomer, “Hello there, the name’s Joseph, did you sign up with The Avalon Fleet as well?”

The man turned to look at Joseph with a withering stare. “Dan,” he grunted in reply, “and technically yes, but not by choice. My contract was transferred over.”

Joseph didn’t let Dan’s unfriendly attitude deter him. He needed to get used to dealing with people on the regular again. Dan’s attitude would just be good practice for later, “You don’t seem particularly pleased about it. I’d expect the guy with his body intact to be less sour than the crippled guy.”

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“I already wasn’t thrilled to be working alongside the Avalon Fleet after being captured in combat and I’m less thrilled to be transferred into their command. That being said, I’ve only got two years left in my contract so I just have to survive that long and I can return home. Not sure that I want that necessarily, but I have two years to think about it.” Dan sighed heavily.

Joseph nodded in understanding, “Fair enough, I imagine more than a few folks are getting transferred under similar conditions so at least you aren’t the only one.”

“True,” Dan replied. “What happened to you?” he asked, gesturing to Gus in an attempt to steer the conversation away from himself.

Gus smiled ruefully, “I got taken out within hours of deploying groundside. Sniper took out my squad sergeant and then slammed some sort of explosive round into a nearby boulder. Two guys were far enough back to come out unharmed, but the rest of my squad was killed by the barrage of stone shrapnel. I got pretty lucky to not die, but not lucky enough to come out unscathed. But I’m going to get dressed back up as a cyborg. Can’t really go into detail about it, but I’m allowed to say that much.”

The blood drained from Dan’s face upon hearing what Gus said, and he leaned back into his seat without saying a word. Gus shrugged and just laid back on his gurney. Joseph looked at Dan suspiciously for a moment before putting away his thoughts on the matter. From Dan’s reaction, he was either the sniper in question or knew him, but it wasn’t worth bringing the issue up. They were all on the same team now, no sense in creating unnecessary friction.

The three sat, content in the silence as the shuttle quickly finished loading up with personnel and equipment. They did not have to wait long. Within ten minutes, the ramp retracted, and the shuttle took off. Joseph wished there was a window or viewport of some variety so he could look out as they entered orbit. He supposed he’d just have to see if he could get a view after he arrived on The Gringolet. They wouldn’t be departing the system right away from what he’d been told, so he imagined there would be plenty of time for him to see his home one last time before he left.

The trip was short, and they soon landed aboard the Gringolet. A medical team came to move Gus while Joseph and Dan reported in per their orders. Joseph found that not much was expected of him at the moment. He would be drilled on Avalon Fleet military code over the course of the journey, but other than that, he was in deployment limbo. So he had plenty of time to gaze upon Kipouen before he left. After dropping off what little belongings he’d brought along in his new quarters, he made his way to the nearest hangar.

There was a small break lounge set aside nearby the hangar that you could look out from. He arrived to find someone else already there, standing near the large window staring at the planet. He decided to not disturb him and sat on a viewing bench drinking in the sight of his homeworld. He’d never seen it from orbit before, though he’d seen pictures. It was a different experience gazing upon it with his own eyes. The sheer scale was overwhelming.

The other man in the room shifted his stance slightly, breaking Joesph’s revel. He turned to look at the man and noticed the rank insignia. He’d only studied a little bit, but it was enough to realize that this was a full Admiral. Remembering that he was technically a military officer now, he suddenly shot up and saluted, “Sorry sir, I just transferred aboard and wanted to see my home once before departing, sir.”

The Admiral smiled in an amused fashion, “At ease soldier, It’s perfectly alright. I can understand wanting to take one last look. I’m here to be alone with my thoughts myself so I think its best if we continue as we were. There’s nothing quite like gazing upon a planet for honing ones focus.”

Joseph nodded and sat back down without saying anything else. He leaned back into his seat and drank in the sight. The Admiral was right, something about considering the sheer scale of the planet in front of him made him feel...sharper. It made him realize how small he was, but at the same time reminded him of all they were trying to protect. It wasn’t just this world, there were dozens that had to be shielded from harm, and they had to do it. He sat and pondered, letting his mind drift as he did. The Admiral left at some point, but Joseph remained. He had nothing else to do that day, and so he sat thinking about his life and what lay ahead.

***

Gus found himself being carried through ship corridors to an unknown destination. The corridors were a bit different from the Saratoga, but not so much that he didn’t feel comfortable. He imagined there was an amount of standardization from ship to ship. The indicators of deck level and position within the ship were certainly uniform, and he was able to identify roughly where in the ship he was even if he didn’t have a firm grasp of the layout yet.

As he was being carried, Gus thought back to his conversation on the shuttle. Joseph had seemed a pleasant fellow, it was a shame he’d likely not be able to talk to him again even if they were stationed together. Dan, however, had seemed more than a little surly, and the man’s reaction to his story was a bit unusual. Gus couldn’t quite get a read on him, but he suspected Dan might feel guilty about his comrade leaving Gus permanently crippled. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that he had passed into another section of the ship.

Gus was unsurprised that the orderlies had taken him to the ship’s hospital. He was surprised, however, when the orderlies transferred him to an operating table and then all left. He was left waiting for a few agonizing minutes when the door to the operating room finally opened again. He was expecting a doctor and perhaps some accompanying nurses, and instead, some sort of android entered. The outer shell seemed to be primarily some sort of dull grey metal that was interrupted by a rubber coating upon the hands.

The android ‘spoke’ through its lips didn’t move. The mouth opened, and sound emitted from a speaker inside. “Do not worry Gustav, it is I, Vivien. I will be performing the surgery for your implant personally. I was quite the accomplished physician before my own accident that led me to this life, so you’re in capable hands.” Vivien approached the table and began to assess the tools at hand as robotic arms descended from the ceiling.

“Well that’s good I suppose. I imagine it’s probably better to have you do it than a regular doctor. Especially since it sounds like this all involves a non-standard implant.” Gustav felt at least somewhat reassured. The appearance of the android was somewhat unsettling, but knowing that it was Vivien controlling it made him feel better. Though he supposed that made it less a proper android more of a remote-controlled robot. “By the way, you mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to really be human again, but you seem to be piloting that robot around just fine.”

“This is a pathetic imitation of what once was and a cruel reminder of what could be, we shall leave it at that for now. If you succeed in your transition you will understand. And yes it is indeed better for me to perform this operation, though I must inform you the process may be somewhat unpleasant for you. You have to be awake in order for the connections to properly form. This particular implant is extremely sensitive to such things, so you might experience some, interesting, sensations.” Vivien’s tone was even and borderline emotionless.

Gus nodded, “I’m ready, even if I’m not really ready. Just get it done.”

Vivien merely nodded in silent assent and began her work. Gus alternated from screams of terror and pain to uncontrollable giggling as she made her connections. It would be hours before silence once again reined, and her work was complete. Gus remained awake and conscious the entire time, though, by the end, he was hardly capable of coherent thought. Running the whole gamut of human emotions and suddenly having much easier access to your memories, especially the painful ones, to say it was unpleasant would be an understatement. Vivien knew it would take time for him to recover, but he had a strong mind, and she knew he would return to sanity with time.