The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet (17 page)

We came into a room with people steadily filling in twos. We stepped into the straight lines which showed ranks and columns of a formation. Quickly the room filled and I found my eyes wandering to the only wall that wasn’t covered with the silvery material that could form doors at will and found myself looking at a single large door and two glass windows, one which looked out into space the stars so much brighter without the interference of an atmosphere, the other window showed the business end of a shuttle from what I remembered of my sleep learning.

“Begin boarding the shuttle, rear first.” A voice said, sounding bored, as if they were working at a fast food restaurant—as we followed the instructions. The large hatch opened revealing rows of seating the formation moving as people filled the shuttle. From my sleep-learning and my guesses I estimated that the shuttle carried two hundred people.

I followed Yasu looking around as I picked out people I’d played against in the arena. The inside of the shuttle didn’t show anything of space outside as we strapped ourselves in as if we’d ridden shuttles a hundred times—thanks to our sleep training.

Some people talked as they sat, saying how they were happy to not have training anymore and talking about how their marriage fights went, most of them even talked about how they
 
wanted
 
to become soldiers. I couldn’t say that I blamed them, the majority of the younger kids in my squad once I had told them to actually focus on learning had found military subjects easy and interesting, and they found soldiering fun. They liked being able to do what they could do. They wanted to be Taleel and the enforcers, able to run for hours without seeming out of breath or knowing everything there seemed to be on military knowledge. The Sarenmenti had become their idols and they clung to them. Their parents had been weak letting them go without a fight, or didn’t love them enough to save them. So they would be able to do what their parents couldn’t. In other squads it seemed that this was the accepted truth. I slumped unhappily in my harness as I continued to look around the shuttle’s inner bay.

Others slapped others on the shoulders as they noticed people from their old squads or people they’d fought against before; making a little small talk before settling in their seats. Everyone was trying to find their bearings. They would come with time, but for now we were strangers.

I caught the eye of a large man as he walked into the shuttle as he walked over to me becoming stiff.

“Fair fight Salchar.”

I felt all the eyes in the shuttle turn towards me as it became instantly quiet.

“As Always…Henry.” I said in recognition and astonishment as I remembered Henry being the leader of the first squad I’d gone up against. I offered my hand which he grasped it with a grin.

“Let me introduce Catherine.” An athletic built woman stood beside him her body language her eyes bright and nervous looking for threats.

“You’re Salchar.” She said with an appraising look. I stood to put us on even footing.

“The one and only.” I said with a winning smile offering her my hand.

She took it. “Thought you’d be taller.” She looked as if she could kill everyone on this ship with her fists as she thought I was taller.
 
The heck, I only played one game with them.
 
Keeping my confusion off of my face as my voice worked.

“Well definitely not as tall as Henry, no.” I grinned before gesturing to Yasu.

“This is my… partner, Yasu.” I said waving to Yasu who stood with her own winning smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Even as she smiled she was sizing the two up I could see. I stopped the grin I was feeling from reaching my lips.

“Blade mistress from Samurais revenge?” Henry asked as she held his hand her eyes going cold.

“Yes, I was known by those titles.”

Henry burst out laughing stopping himself. “Well fate is a strange thing isn’t it.” He said patting me on the back as I grinned. I liked this man, he had the qualities of a good commander.

“Didn’t know that she was in your squad. Isn’t she the one that attacked you?” Catherine asked, looking at Yasu as lights came on signalling the shuttle was going to be releasing from the training complex.

“Well let’s take a seat before we’re flying sans harness.” Henry said.

“Good idea.” Catherine said giving Henry a look causing him to smile at the intended rebuke as he fell into the chair.

“Excuse me, but you’re Salchar, the one that made the fair fight rules?” Someone asked seemingly having built up the courage to talk to me by being egged on by their newly found comrades.

I looked to Henry who nodded slightly.

“I guess I am I didn’t know how far my rules had gone. It’s good to meet you.” I said offering them a hand which they took not willing to get up from my seat for the
 
second
 
time.

Questions filled the air as people even to the rear of the shuttle began yelling questions.
 
Just who knew of me and my rules?
 
I sat there a smile on my face answering a select few as I hoped I could use this to bring them together into one unit as I had with my squad.

Some asked what my plans where for the Golden Refuge.
 
As if I know. Though they think that I do.

I was shocked by the last question so much that I couldn’t come up with an answer to it as the speakers in the shuttle came to life.

“Take your seats and lock your harnesses, lift in ten.”

The questions stopped as everyone checked their harnesses with the now ingrained habit of completing what had to be done as fast and as soon as possible.

I checked the harness which crossed my body the seat conforming to my size. When it expanded it was big enough to fit a person in a Mecha but for now it only fit a single human.

The airlock closed in a rush of air then the clamps disengaged. The shuttle’s thrusters turned us away from the structure we’d been living in for the past few months. The engines kicked as the pilot put us into full burn.

Across the surface of the shuttle screens came to life as we were able to see into space, on one wall and the grey surface of what we had called home on the other. We moved away with a puff of manoeuvring thrusters, the main engines kicking in as we were free. It seemed as if we were heading for space, except for the flashing, moving lights that looked like ants moving in the same direction. I looked back seeing what had I had called home over the past few months we sped out into space. It was an elongated scaffold frame which looked similar to a large uniformly sized wing, other than a lump three quarters down its length. Massive ships attached to four points and the central band. It had to be at least two or three kilometres in diameter at the bulge, the length, I didn’t know as the scaffolding was still being placed. It quickly disappeared as we moved away.

“Holy shit.” Someone said as I turned to look through the projected windows (that were working) towards the direction where the shuttle was going. The Imperial Dreadnought Golden Refuge swelled before my eyes. Panels of interlocking armour covered the hull, arrays of antennas used for communications and electronic jamming sprouting randomly from the ship. Batteries of deadly looking weaponry waited in their storage positions as if asking for a reason to be deployed. Missile tubes and Protection defence Systems or PDS were also visible in their clusters. Long ragged scars in the ship’s hull and armour were visible even from this distance. Scars that would have meant a lesser ship would have not survived.

Close to the ship’s prow were a series of rounded protrusions with PDS crammed around them.
 
Must be the wormhole generators.
 
I thought as I looked at the other structural oddities of the ship. A third of the ship back from the prow the hull belled, weapons batteries lined the sides as thousands of lights like fireflies signalled windows hangars and airlocks. It was an image of power and strength.

She looked like a ship that refused to die. The Golden Refuge had clearly seen some fierce battles and had lived to tell of it. She wasn’t flashy or pretty, she was dirty and grimy and gritty. I felt myself grin,
 
Just the kind of ship you’d use to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies.
 
I thought as we followed other shuttles. The Golden Refuge deserved a crew that were as hard as her, and would make it through whatever was thrown at them, even if it was the ones that practically owned them like slaves, she needed Juggernauts, no she needed Commandos, unrelenting Commandos that struck fear into their most stalwart enemies, never stopping, never giving up. My dark thoughts cleared as I noticed the shuttles that had left before my own, their engines sparks against the sea of stars.

My awe increased as the ship just seemed to get bigger, lights turned to hangars and hatches.

We passed under one of the guns stored away—what had looked like a toothpick was now bigger than the shuttle I was on.
 
We never stood a chance.
 
I thought as the hangar doors appeared before the shuttle and we taxied in. The Golden Refuge was two and a half kilometres long. At the belled out section she was a kilometre wide and eight hundred metres tall. She held a crew of twenty thousand and four thousand Mechas.

It probably had something to do with the fact that with all of our telescopes and technology we couldn’t see more than a tiny fraction of space in any detail. Wherever it had come from it had done its jobs; it had taken us from soft civilian (in most cases) humans and turned us into Mecha fighting bad asses. That could go out into the universe and spit in any enemies eye. As long as we were fighting hand to hand. We still hadn’t used melee or firearms yet.

“Docking.” The pilot said in the same bored voice of the boarding announcer.

Ramps lowered from the rear and sides of the shuttles as an officer walked in.

“Follow the blue and then purple lighting strips through the armouries to your rooms.” I slapped my harness. Releasing me, so I could walk down the ramp. A rush of fresh air and bright lighting met me as I felt myself relax. I felt my whole diaphragm relax as I didn’t have to take the massive breaths I needed to at the training station to get enough oxygen, and I could see clearly for thirty feet and my eyes didn’t hurt. It felt odd as I finally had an atmosphere that wasn’t made to specifically break me and make me stronger. I felt an alertness and lightness fill my body as my body sucked in the raw air as if it was ambrosia. The strength I felt was incredible; I saw a seat and wondered if I could rip it up with this new found strength. I felt alive for the first time in a long time. For the first time I was thankful for the soupy atmosphere and heavy gravity. It had taught my body how to live in a environment that wanted to kill it. Remembering where I was I continued on, finding the blue strip with ease. I turned around seeing that the others in my shuttle were falling in behind me, each stepping lightly as they continued with grins on their faces.

It looked like the mecha training had been more than a little useful as some people that didn’t notice the reduced gravity stomped the ground, falling over as they looked around dumbfounded.

Shaking my head I grinned as I continued on, other shuttles disgorging human Mechas that all flowed along the blue light strips which led directly to four armouries. The shuttle bay had painted strips showing where shuttles should land, and places where to walk. Even as the remaining shuttles came in, the hangar didn’t explosively decompress. An electrostatic field like that on our plasmid blades held the atmosphere of the ship so that we weren’t suffocating. It still made me speed up my walking not wanting to be in a room only protected from depressurization by an electrical field invisible except for the random particle interfering with its pathway.

The blue strip split into four, red, green, purple and yellow. I followed the Purple heading for armoury three. Inside it was like the armoury back on the training sphere, except for the first fifteen feet there was shuttered and locked weapon racks. After that there were lockers filled with mechas row upon row. I continued through the armoury into what appeared to be a living quarters. I could see people from the other armouries following their lights to their rooms.