All My Sins Remembered (2 page)

“Without further delay, let me present our commander, comrade, councilor, and brother, Colonel Hawke Bakore.” Nathan stepped back from the podium and held out an arm towards Hawke who reluctantly stood to his feet amidst shouts of approval, applause, and cheers.  One enterprising Marine, obviously already a bit under the influence of the liquor that had been flowing freely since before Hawke arrived, even climbed on a table, to nearly fall flat on his face, if it hadn’t been for a couple of the other Marines who showed more sense
and pulled the staggering man down off the table before he could hurt himself.  Stepping up to the podium, Hawke smiled, and held up a hand.  After a moment, the room grew silent once again.

“Thank you.  I appreciate everyone coming here tonight in my honor, but it is I who must honor each of you.” Hawke began. “I will not keep you all listening to the droning of my voice.  I’m a Marine, and we tend to make our points rather concisely.” The Marines in the room laughed loudly, and ‘hoo-rahed’.

“We’ve all kicked some serious tail in the name of the Gadari Republic.  We have shown ourselves to be more loyal to the ideal that the Gadari Republic represents than to the paycheck it gives us, and I think that is what separates us from most PMC’s out there.  Yet we have all had to do some things that made us lose a piece of our soul.” Hawke paused as memory threatened to choke him up.  Roughly clearing his throat, he took a sip of his scotch.

“Now, that chapter in my life is complete, and a new one has begun.  For those of you who have chosen to join me, you too are beginning a new journey.” Hawke held up his glass of scotch in a toast.
“So I say this to you tonight, ‘To new beginnings.  May our road be long and amazing.’” In solemn toast, the officers in the room lifted up their glasses and joined in the toast.

The sounds of the retirement party faded a little as Hawke walked into the viewing room attached to the banquet hall a little over an hour later.  It was one of the main attractions of a restaurant like
Dugan’s.  He had always enjoyed coming here to look out the station windows that overlooked the planet below while he enjoyed a cigar and a glass of scotch.  There are some sights you never get tired of seeing, such  as gorgeous waterfalls, colorful nebulas...and yes, something as common as the sight of a planet from a window.  This was part of the reason why he had commissioned the construction of the
Heaven’s Gaze
.  It was a capital class ship, based upon the Gadari Republic’s Starfury carrier design.  All of
Heaven’s Gaze’s
systems were designed to be somewhat modular so that they would be adaptable to changing situations, but the systems being installed on her now were primarily geared towards exploration.  After years of killing, destroying, and doing distasteful things that gave him nightmares, Hawke felt that peaceful exploration may be the one way he could contribute something positive to humankind.  While he was aware that he was both feared and respected as a product of his past actions, he did not want to be remembered for his sins.  He wanted to be remembered for something, he hoped, that would be far more meaningful.

Hawke reminisced about his company, Hawke’s Talons, and about how difficult the transition had been.   His so-called retirement caused no small amount of controversy among the other private military companies.  So-called, because in a brief press conference he announced that the Hawke’s Talons would no longer be a PMC, but rather w
ould be repurposed towards exploration.  The moments directly after the press conference were troublesome as many investors sold off mass quantities of Talon stock, while other investors clamored to purchase stock in droves, heralding Hawke as a true visionary who saw that the future of mankind was not in warfare, but in exploration.  Meanwhile, the Gadari Republic began making inroads towards transitioning the Talons out, as they had been their most actively utilized PMC for any action requiring more than a platoon of Men or a single ship, because Hawke’s Talons was one of the few PCMs that had an entire fleet at its disposal, as well as nearly three hundred thousand employees ranging from research and development to nearly forty thousand well trained and well equipped Marines.

In another shocking move announced scarcely a month later, Hawke announced that the company was drastically downsizing, reducing its workforce by nearly two hundred and fifty thousand, leaving the company with only fifty thousand employees, most of which were experts in all manner of scientific fields.  This left only twenty thousand personnel that were made up of pilots, Marines, and other support personnel.  Also announced was the commissioning of
Heaven’s Gaze
, one of the few privately owned capital class ships, a carrier, which would be heavily modified to be used specifically for the purposes of research and exploration.  Again the Company’s stocks were bought and sold frantically as nervous investors sold, and excited ones bought, but after it was all said and done, Hawke didn’t care.  Not one of the remaining Talons was worried about getting paid.  Every last one of them wanted nothing more than to see what was out there, beyond the confines of the four empires, which had all but given up on space exploration, content on their border disputes and petty bickering.  They too longed for a better future for mankind.

“You’re missing your party.” Nathan’s gruff voice interrupted his thoughts.  Hawke glanced at Nathan, giving him a weak smile, though he really didn’t feel like smiling.  “And you are thinking of both past and future, unless I miss my guess.”  Nathan added, holding out a glass of scotch towards Hawke in one hand while he took a sip from his own glass.  Hawke took a deep breath, and let it out with a soft sigh as he accepted the offered glass.

“Maybe.” Hawke allowed, then added, “I am just...thinking.”  Nathan joined Hawke in gazing out the window.  Nathan nodded as he let his gaze drift out towards the planet on the other side of the window.  He had been with Hawke since the beginning.  He was one of Hawke’s drill instructors during boot camp in the Republic Marines, then met up again with Hawke as his commanding officer nearly a year later during some fierce action against the Rejai Empire.  Soon Hawke’s rank equaled his own, and Hawke had already made it clear he was a Marine for life.  Then there was The Reformation.  All four empires disbanded a majority of their standing military forces in favor of private military contractors.  Of those military forces that were outright disbanded were the Gadari Republic Marines.  Hawke did not deal with it well, drinking himself into a drunken stupor for nearly six months until Nathan smacked some sense into him.  After that particular brawl, a bruised Hawke Bakore created the Talons, and an equally bruised Nathan Schultz was its first member.

“You think too much.” Nathan
accused.  Hawke chuckled, his faint smile genuine this time.

“And you never think enough.” Hawke replied, finishing one of the many friendly rituals they had built between them over the years. Nathan grunted, then finished off his glass of scotch.

“Don’t be long.  It’s your party, you should be there.”  Nathan said.  Hawke nodded once as Nathan turned to leave.

“Ah! There you are!” Commander Adam Spears smiled as he saw the two by the window.
  “Congratulations on a long and illustrious career, my friend.  I, for one, will not be happy to see you go, nor will the Gadari Navy.”  Hawke’s thoughtful expression was replaced by a smile, though anyone that knew him recognized it as him trying to exhibit at least a little social grace.  The Commander, after all, had been the Talon’s handler for nearly as long as they had been in business.  The professional relationship between Spears and Hawke had grown rocky sometimes, but Spears always handed out the choicest, and usually the most critical, assignments to Hawke’s Talons.  Hawke, for his part, always got the job done.

“I am honored you could make it.” Hawke lied.
  In truth, he thought Commander Spears was a fake.  He always put on a facade so obvious it was irritating.  Sometimes he wished he could just yell at the man to be himself, but he knew his words would be lost on him.

“I would not have missed it.  After all, the Talons have been at the forefront of every military action for the last twenty years.  You, and your company, will be sorely missed.” Spears replied.  “Are you sure I cannot get you to reconsider?”  Hawke smiled politely, and shook his head.

“I am afraid not, my friend.  The
Heaven’s Gaze
is being loaded with supplies even now.  It is my intent to launch her by the end of this week, and be on our way to begin our explorations after a one month shakedown cruise.”  Hawke said.

“Ah...well, I had to try.” Spears said.  “But can you stop by my office in the morning?  I have one last thing I have to talk to you about.”  Hawke’s grin became a little more forced as he nodded.

“Sure, Adam.  I’ll be there first thing.”  Hawke promised.  Spears nodded once, satisfied with Hawke's reply, and then sighed as he saw his empty glass, and held it up.

“Well, I suppose I should go get a refill.  Congratulations again!” Spears said.

“Thank you.” Hawke said.  Extricating himself, Commander Spears made his exit, and Nathan gave his customary snort.

“Sycophant.” Nathan grunted.  Hawke could not disagree.  As much as he liked Spears, he was very much motivated by his own ambitions, a fact which had gotten the Talons into more than one scrape with poor intel, not enough men or ships, and often lower than usual pay.  Those were usually
the times Hawke and Spears went head to head afterwards, and Hawke found he had to help Nathan write letters to the next of kin of way too many dead Talons.  Hawke sighed, and glanced distastefully at his scotch.

“I wonder what
he
wants.” Hawke said before gulping down the remainder of his glass.

“I wouldn’t trust him.  We’re too close to being done with him.”  Nathan cautioned.
  Hawke nodded absently in acknowledgement as he stared out the window.

“I know, but you know me.”  Hawke said.  “I don’t like to burn too many bridges unless I have to.”

“This is one bridge you can afford to burn.” Nathan remarked.  He never thought too much of Commander Spears, yet he knew Hawke was right.  It would not be professional not to show up in the morning.  Plus, Commander Spears could still cause them no small amount of difficulty so long as the
Heaven’s Gaze
remained in her berth at the nearby shipyard.

“Well my friend, shall we?” Hawke said, giving Nathan a hearty slap on his shoulder.  Nathan nodded, and motioned for his friend to lead the way back to the party.

***

Hawke rubbed the heel of his palm into aching eyes,
as he tried to ignore an aching head.  It was 09:00 standard time, and he found himself wishing he would have just rolled over and gone back to sleep.  If it weren’t for his promise to visit Spears this morning, he would have.  He still considered it, even going so far as to hit the snooze button twice, which was a very rare occurrence for him, but then his sense of responsibility kicked in as he grudgingly forced himself out of bed and into the shower.  After twenty minutes and a short ride on train, Hawke was stepping into the Naval Contracts Office once again.  The Naval officer sitting behind the desk made brief eye contact with Hawke and held up a finger, indicating she would only be a moment as she talked to someone on a vidcam, which was blurred out to protect the identity of the person on the other end, a routine practice for anyone actively in the field working intel, Hawke noted.  He also noted that the background told him that the person was on a ship.  Ending her conversation, the woman behind the desk took note of a bleary-eyed Hawke standing before her.  Oddly, it was the same woman he had seen the day before.  He idly wondered if she ever was
not
talking to someone.

“He’s expecting you, S
ir.  Go on in.” She said as she pressed a button on her console.  With an audible click, the magnetic locks to the Commander’s office disengaged, letting Hawke in.  The office was well appointed, with a dark navy blue carpet complimented by walnut-paneled walls.  The use of wood was a rarity in space, where most things were made of naked steel, or other more durable metals.  Spears sat behind a massive desk with the Gadari Republic flag standing in the right corner of the room, and a flag with the Gadari Navy emblem on it sitting in the left corner of the room.

The meeting began well enough.  Commander Spears was even cordial as he smiled and waved Hawke to a seat across the desk from him, but after a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries, Hawke finally fell silent as he suddenly realized what was going on.  This had an all too familiar feel to it, and he didn’t like where this meeting seemed to be heading.  There they stood, with Spears shoveling the verbal crap Hawk
e’s way, and Hawke waiting for Spears to drop his proverbial shovel and finally speak his mind.  They both knew it, but it was almost tradition by now.  Thankfully, the tradition was cut short when Commander Spears let his smile drop as he sat down heavily in his office chair with a defeated sigh.

“I need you to go to Farstar Sector.  Ships are being destroyed all through the systems there, and we don’t know why.” He said without preamble.

“I Can’t.  I’m out, remember?  I’m retiring.  You were at the party.” Hawke replied.  Spears held up a hand, warding off Hawke’s comments.

“I know, I know, and I wouldn’t ask if this weren’t important.  Vice Admiral Caldwell has asked me to make sure this gets done, and quite frankly, you’re the only one I trust with this.”  Spears said.  “I need you on this, Hawke.”