Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame (7 page)

We continued walking, carefully scanning for movement. We
stopped just before the clearing and separated. Tek climbed a tree with a good
view of the opening while I moved behind another nearby tree. Tek’s plan was to
have me distract the general while Tek stuns him with his rifle. The general
stood at the center, guiding each of the commanders with his communicator.
There was only a single squad guarding him. I sat for a moment, trying to think
of a way to distract the squad long enough for Tek to fire. The general stopped
for a moment to say something to two of his soldiers. If I attacked now I could
catch two or three of them before they were ready. Suddenly the two soldiers
twisted around and fired.
One at me, the other at Tek.
I twisted behind the cover of the tree. A single sound came from Tek’s tree. He
may have been hit. I twisted around the side of the tree and fired blindly, I
missed the soldier who had fired at Tek, but miraculously struck another
soldier in the arm. The soldier threw away his rifle, only to draw his pistol
with his other hand. I twisted back behind the tree. This wasn’t going to work.
I thought hard, searching my mind for some sort of edge I was able to use. We
were technically allowed to use any weapon for the test, as long as it did only
minimal physical harm.
A looked at my rifle.
I was on
the last canister of ammunition. I desperately began trying to spark my energy
in my left. Hopefully I would not hit the soldier too hard. An orb of energy
filled my hand, and my forearm was covered in the strange purple light. I
slowed my breathing, aimed the rifle to the left, the orb to the right, and
froze.

“Ok, let’s go.” I listened for movement. Slight footsteps
came from both directions. It was likely the two soldiers. I waited until they
came close. The footsteps stopped just behind me. I waited for what seemed to
be an eternity. The grass twitched, and I fired both the rifle and the orb. A
small explosion came from my immediate right, while an unconscious soldier fell
to my left. I looked over at the other soldier. He had flown two meters, struck
a tree, and fallen unconscious. I turned to the opening and fired the rifle
again, striking a soldier in the hip. The soldier fired, just before falling
over. The last soldier fired as well, and I twisted around, holding a
shield-like wall of energy between me and the shot. The shield collapsed around
the bullet, which spun wildly, before readjusting itself, then returning to its
sender, striking him in the left cheek. The shield reformed itself, and I
forced it to twist to the side to mimic an actual shield. I then faced the
general, waiting patiently with his sword drawn. I dropped my rifle and drew my
own sword.

“You two, keep watch for reinforcements. I’ll fight this
one.” He then turned to me. “You know you can’t win on your own.”

“But I can at least try.”

“Very well.”
He instantly closed
the gap between us and swung, knocking my shield away. He swung again, knocking
my other arm away and opening my guard. A third strike flew downwards. I
twisted counter clockwise, just barely escaping his attack, and swung my own
sword. The general stepped back, causing me to miss entirely. He swung again,
striking my shield, I braced with both arms, only to be thrown backwards into
the dirt. I twisted away to avoid being struck again, then raised my shield to
deflect yet another blow. The fight continued for another minute. I quickly
became more and more exhausted, while the general continued what seemed like a
relentless attack.

“General!” Instantly a kick found its way into my stomach,
sending me backwards. I curled up and controlled by breathing in order to avoid
vomiting in my own helmet.

“Spit it out soldier!” An entire squad had appeared,
exhausted from running.

“There’s an enemy squad-” Shots rang out from where I had
entered the clearing. An ally squad had broken through.

“You two, join squad three! Keep them busy while I finish
this one!” The general walked over to me and kicked my sword away. He then bent
over to pick me up. In panic, I turned my shield into an orb and fired it at
the general. He stumbled backwards, allowing me to stand back up. I brushed my
legs with the energy, causing it to spread.

“Ok, no more playing!” Furious, the general swung viciously.
Each time I sidestepped the blow, moving just faster than he could swing. With
each passing second, the General grew more and more frustrated, swinging harder
and harder, as if to kill. After another minute, one of his kicks finally made
contact and sent me backwards again. He reached for his pistol and aimed it at
me. A shot rang out. It was different from the others. Separate. Was I hit? The
sound didn’t seem close enough. I wasn’t unconscious. The shot sounded like a
watcher’s rifle. The general fell over and crashed into the ground. He had been
hit. After a few seconds, the stun wore off, allowing him to stand back up. A
few moments later the firing stopped. Tek climbed down the tree and walked over
to me.

“Told you I’d hit him.”

“I thought you got hit.”

“
Nah,
just wanted to wait until he
was open enough to take a shot. I heard somewhere that if a general thinks
there’s a watcher nearby, he’ll be able to dodge the shot, even if it’s from
behind.”

“Technically that isn’t true. Good work soldiers. You’re the
only recruits to have ever
beat
me in a fight.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Sorry I shot you, sir”

“Don’t ever be sorry for being a good soldier. I have to go
meet with the others now.” The general walked off, disheartened maroon soldiers
in tow. One of the soldiers from the reinforcement squad walked over to us.

“Glad we could make it in time for the end of the party.” A
soldier said.

“Would’ve ended differently if you guys
hadn’t shown up.”
I replied.

“I’m Zen by the way.
Zenteklakin
:
Watcher for the 2nd lookout squad.”

“Tek: Watcher for squad E.”

“Jacob: Rifleman for squad E.”

“Yeah, we saw you guys going up the ridge, so we asked the general
what to do. He told us to come after you guys. Our whole team had to give a lot
of suppressive fire to get us through, but it looks like it was worth it.”

“We should probably make our way back to the complex.” I
insisted. Tek had already left. It took roughly half an hour to get everyone
back, make sure no one was hurt, and recollect all of the lost training
weapons. We were given the rest of the day to rest, while the instructors
prepared for tomorrow. Half of the recruits left in misery, forced to wait
another year for their next test. The small remainder of what was once 127
recruits returned to the cafeteria, cheering and screaming victory. As I walked
I wondered if I truly deserved to pass, when so many others did not. The only
real reason I passed at all was because of my power, a power that I could not
even fully control. I sighed and left the group so that I could sleep for the
last time in the barracks.

Graduation was a long and arduous process. Those of us who
passed the final test gathered in the main theatre, and each soldier’s
specialization was read aloud by the commander. They walked up, shook the hands
of a few generals,
then
walked back off the stage. We
were each assigned to a squad, then the squads to ships. My squad leader’s name
was Tolenva. We were to board a light frigate named the RSF 2027 “Strategy.”
Our armor and possessions were already being sent to our ships. We were called
to attention then dismissed.
A swarm of graduates rushed by me.
The flood took me with it, bringing me outside to where a line of drop ships
waited. I scanned the area for the Strategy’s drop ship. It was at the far end.
I began to run to catch up with my fellow soldiers.

The Strategy was a light frigate, a class of capital ship
designed to escort command ships and flank enemy fleets. The typical frigate
design involved a long, thin rectangular body, with a narrow, thicker extension
off of the bow. The bridge rose over both the bow and the flat body on a narrow
platform that ran the center of the ship. The Frigate sported one main engine
and two secondary engines. The main engine, the jump engine, was hidden under a
large canopy that served as an elevated platform for the ship’s main gun. The
secondary engines were located on the short wings towards the rear of the ship.
A long dorsal fin towered behind the bridge of the ship.

I stopped running just short of my assigned squad and I
noticed that the commander had finished briefing the other soldiers. I quickly
asked what we were doing in the most polite way I could manage.

“Oh! You are that human half-blood that was assigned to my
squad?” He replied in an irritated tone. His Gaia was slow and forced, giving
the obvious notion that Gaia was a third or fourth language.

“Well I may as well answer your questions now since you will
probably have another seven-hundred later. According to priest-based
intel
there is some sort of important target in the A81 star
system that we need to collect. A supposedly simple task that even fresh
recruits like you can’t screw up.”

I paused for a moment to let the words sink in.

“‘Priest based intel?’” I asked.

He sighed. “Here we go with the questions. Priests are
Rovanekrens who can commune with angels. And before you ask, angels are very
powerful and cryptic beings that live on a plane of existence just above ours.”

He pointed upwards before continuing.

“There are at least three realms of existence.
The angel’s domain, our own, and the abyss, where the Shadows and
Demons tread.
Typically, angels take pleasure in guiding us through our
lives, depending on their own needs and desires. That’s where you get what you
humans call a ‘guardian angel’.”

“I already know what angels are.” I protested.

Our conversation was interrupted by an irritated pilot
urging us to board the ship. After we had done so, he started a launch check
that drew out for what seemed like an hour. To everybody’s frustration, the
pilot was instructing another pilot who was still in training, and the flight check
took twice as long. Once we were in the air the familiar sickness of the last
flight returned, though thankfully not as potent. We flew for about five or so
minutes before we reached the frigate tasked with getting us to our distant
target. The intercom announced something unintelligible. I was too nauseous to
decipher what it had said. The commander shouted something else to the rest of
the squad and then addressed me.

“We are making a long distance jump, so you have ten minutes
to float your butt to the crew’s quarters.” He turned and left in a strange
manner of jumps, like that of someone walking on the moon. I attempted to do
the same, though low gravity proved a challenge for me. By the time I made my
way to the nearest crew’s quarters, I estimated I had about thirty seconds
left. The
crews
quarters I was in was actually a
short, narrow hallway of twenty or so rooms called cabins. Each cabin acted as
a small living area, filled with set furniture and containers. The cabin walls
were then lined with six pod-like sections. These sections held harnesses
similar to safety gear on 21st century roller coasters. I picked an unoccupied
section and strapped myself down. The surge that started the ship jump caused
everything not strapped down to bounce all about the cabin, and everything else
to vibrate violently. I saw vomit float around some of the other sections in
the cabin, and felt joy at not having as weak a stomach as my first time. The
final sign of the jump appeared through the window of the cabin, as the entire
ship was engulfed in a bright blue-greenish light. The brilliant light quickly
disappeared behind a closing metal curtain, and the ship settled into a smooth
movement as it entered mid jump.

I freed myself from my harness, exited my section and began
to explore the ship. Since I was floating around the belly of an alien space
ship I naturally became curious of everything, inspecting every panel and light
I saw. The ship had no “artificial gravity” like in those old sci-fi movies I
used to watch, so I struggled to direct myself in the direction I wanted. Many
hallways and rooms of the ship had no definite top and bottom, as all four
walls had spots of inlaid floor paneling, a plethora of grab rails that could
be used to direct one’s self through the
hallway,
and
a variety of rather delicate looking mechanical systems covered by protective
cages. Most areas were a dull yet spotless white color which seemed to hurt the
eyes at first. The ship soon came alive with color however as the other crew members
exited their sections and began to float around the ship. Some of the veteran
soldiers had already donned their full armor sets and were walking around the
ship with magnetized shoes of some sort. I envied them. I was already getting
queasy from the constant zero gravity. After I floated half way down the hall I
realized I had no idea where I was going. I found the crew’s quarters earlier
by following the others, but now everyone was going in literally every
direction imaginable. I was lost in a ship completely alien to the world I once
knew.

“Jacob!” I felt a hand gently push me towards the wall. I
twisted around. Zen greeted me, along with a large Rovanekren I had never seen
before. “Which squad are you in?”

“Squad 4… I think.”

“Looks like you’re with us then. Come on. We were just
exploring the ship before Tolenva calls us back to the crew’s quarters.”

“Tolenva?”

“Right, I forgot that you missed the squad meeting.
Tolenva’s our commander. Then there’s Tek, our head scout. Our medic’s name is
Seb, and then you have me, our reserve scout. Oh, and this is Rockwall, our
support.”

I was surprised that Tek was on my squad, but remembered
Tolenva as the commander I talked to back at New Rov. The memory of being assigned
to his squad resurfaced. I felt disappointed in myself. Not a day into the
mission and I had already forgotten the name of my commander. Rockwall floated
silently, ignoring me as he fiddled with a launcher.

“Why’s he called ‘Rockwall’?”

“Good question.” We started floating towards the hangar.
“The guy’s a monster of a soldier. He won’t tell us his real name, so we
nicknamed him Rockwall. Rumor has it that he took three watchman rounds to the
body without falling,
then
broke a man’s arm with a single
punch.”

“It isn’t true.” Rockwall jumped in unexpectedly. “I didn’t
punch him. It was a joint lock.”

“But you still broke his arm?” Zen replied.

“...Yeah.” They both began to laugh. We passed through the
hangar and into another hallway. The rest of our squad relaxed in the left rear
crew’s quarters. Tolenva, Tek, and Seb sat around a table, drinks in hand.

“Guys!
I found our rifleman. We got
the human recruit!”

Tek waved with disinterest, and Tolenva looked at me with
frustration. “You went to the wrong crew’s quarters. We had to let another
soldier borrow your section.”

“Sorry,” I muttered awkwardly. “I didn’t know that there was
more than one.” He ignored my explanation and turned to Seb.

“Do you have any training for human first aid?”

“No… but I’m sure it isn’t much different from Rovanekrens.”
Seb turned to me. “Just don’t get hit with anything bad, ok?” He laughed. I
wondered if Zen was the only normal one in my group. Who was I kidding? I was
talking to a bunch of aliens. Normal didn’t exist for me anymore. Rockwall
floated past us to a large section in the corner, where he started equipping
his armor plating. Zen and I did the same. I found my armor stuffed in the back
of a storage container in the cabin, along with a few sets of clothing and my
other personal belongings.

“Zen.”
Tolenva spoke.

“Sir?”

“Give the human a tour before he tries to use the jump
engine as a toilet.”

“Yes, sir.”
He laughed.

I wore all but my helmet, and switched the armor’s battery
on, then brought my foot to my hand so that I could switch on the magnets. A
moment later I was walking awkwardly on the floor. The magnets kept me on the
ground, but it seemed as if I was walking through thick mud as I moved.

We first walked to the stern of the ship. On each side were
rooms filled with lifeboats, in case the ship was compromised. Further down
were ladders to the port and starboard life support systems. Their location
made them difficult to hit for anything larger than a bomber. We turned back
and moved towards the bow, were the hangars were located, followed by the upper
port and starboard crew’s quarters. Between them were two more evacuation
rooms, much smaller than the ones in the rear. A small hole in the wall was
being repaired. A small piece of debris had crashed through the ship earlier,
puncturing several layers of metal and wiring. Thankfully no one was injured,
and the outer hull was patched before we jumped. Zen explained that if we had
jumped without patching it, the entire ship could have been split in two, or
crushed like an empty can. A repair crew was patching the inner wall. Inside
the hole was a layer of hundreds of small hexagonal plates. I asked what they
were.

“They’re magnetic strips of thick metal that close up tears
and openings in the hull. We call them: ‘patches’. In theory, you could replace
the entire hull with them, except no ship is ever given enough patches to do
such a thing.” We continued upwards to the second level. This level was
separated into two distinct sections. The bow held two small cargo rooms and
more lifeboats. This section extended from the ship itself, and a small
evacuation transport hung off the end of the bow. The ship is designed to carry
off wounded, and is equipped with
it’s
own jump engine. The second section, located at the center of the ship, was
accessible from the hangars. This was the cargo hall, where most of our
supplies were stored. From here we had access to maintenance hatches, and the
Jump Engine room, or the JE room. Located just above the bow were the medical
bay and two training rooms. The third level held the officers’ quarters, and
their own set of lifeboats. This level then reached up to the bridge, where the
communication rooms were located.

“Why are there so many lifeboats?” We walked back to our
cabin in the crew’s quarters. I was growing accustomed to walking around the
ship without gravity.

“It’s a safety precaution.”

“I know that, but why so many?”

“If we reach a point where we need to use the lifeboats,
it’ll likely mean that most of them are either inoperable or inaccessible.”

“Oh.” It still seemed a waste of space, but I didn’t bother
to inquire further. We continued to the cabin. Most of our squad was napping.
All except Tolenva.
I asked why the jump was taking so long.

“Well, jumps are complicated things. To put it simply, a
stream of data is shot thousands of times the speed of light through a wormhole
to our destination. When it lands, the stream rips a visible hole in the fabric
of space, which allows the whole ship to travel as if it were completely
weightless. So when we jump, we travel faster than light through subspace. The
jump isn’t instant, though, so it’ll be another hour before we reach the A81
system.”

“Huh?”

“Captain on deck!”
Tolenva shouted.
My whole squad woke and stood at attention. The captain and his quartermaster
stood behind us.

“At ease.”
The captain seemed to be
a calm, social man, but the quartermaster gave off an uncomfortable air of a
strict attitude. “I’m just giving the new quartermaster a tour of the ship.” He
turned to him. “This is squad four: the rookie squad.”

“Rookie squad?”

Tolenva stood at attention in front of the quartermaster.
“Sir, don’t let the name fool you, we will work equally as efficient as any
other squad.”

“Kiss-up” Zen whispered. Tolenva turned his eyes and glared
at us.

“Well, I honestly doubt that… but it’s good to know you’re
up to the task.”

“So you’re the human on my crew list. Cartlidge, was it? How
has working with ‘a bunch of aliens’ been treating you?
”
I turned to the captain.

“Um, yes sir. It has been rather unusual, sir.” I started to
feel uncomfortable.

“Ah. Don’t worry. I’ve known a few humans in my service.
Good people. If you have any problems with anyone come to me.”

“Yes, sir.
Thank
you sir.”
They walked past us, towards the end of the ship.

“Get your soldiers ready, commander. We’ll be exiting the
jump soon.

“Sir, yes sir.” We cleaned our cabin, readied our equipment,
and retreated to our individual sections. By the time the announcement was
made, we were already ready for the jump exit.

Just like the jump startup, the ship began to shake
violently. The shaking soon changed, however, to a strong, vibrating sensation.
It seemed as if every atom of the ship, including those within myself, was
visibly shuffling back and forth. The movement gradually settled, until the
ship ran smoothly again. I moved to free myself from my restraints.

“Hold, soldiers. It isn’t over yet.” A buzzing, electrical
sound slowly began to play, until it reached a near deafening sound. Instantly
the ship jerked forward, causing the free parts of my body to thrash forward.
My hand instinctively went to my neck as if simply feeling it would determine if
it was broken. It felt like a car crash. I massaged the back of my neck,
then
released myself from my restraint.

“And that, team, is what a jump is like.” Tek, who had
already freed himself from his restraints, proceeded to curse Tolenva, and the
rest of the squad laughed in reply.

Tolenva began to speak while we prepared our equipment.

“As I told you earlier, we are looking for an unknown item
somewhere in this star system. This moon is our first target. We will spend a
week here,
then
move on to the next celestial body.
Best case scenario, we find it today. Worst case, we spend the next ten weeks
here.” I looked out the window. We were orbiting a small, green moon over a
blue gas giant.

“How will we know when we’ve found it?” I asked. The squad
only laughed in reply.

“If it’s shiny and covered in strange runes, just come find
us, ok?” Zen replied.

Tolenva pulled out a map. “Squad one will be stationed here.
Squad two and three will be here and here. Squad five is furthest to the south.
Six, seven, eight, and nine will be deployed on the other side of the moon. We
will be here: in the center of this forest. Our first objective will be to
secure the area and set up camp. Then we will each take shifts maintaining the
camp, resting, and scouting for the target. Each shift will be in groups of
two. Nobody wanders off. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” Three of us replied. I put on my helmet.

We finished preparing and gathered with the other squads in
the hangars. Four squads would be deployed first, followed by the other five.
Ours was one of the four. A small beeping sound echoed through the hangar,
counting down the launch. Immediately they were drowned out by the roar of the
drop ship’s engines. The ship’s lights came on, the door was sealed tight, the hanger
was depressurized, and its airlock opened wide. A final noise signaled the
launch, and the ship raced off the rack it once hung upon. The ship dived
towards the moon, shaking as it contended with the heat of re-entry. We all
watched nervously as dancing flames covered the forward viewing screen. The
flames gradually turned to clouds, until a beautiful view of the moon was
revealed to us. A horizon of evergreen trees covered the ground, and several
birdlike creatures flew through the blue sky in the distance. It seemed as if
we were visiting a boreal forest in Canada. The only stark contrast was the
great sphere that covered a quarter of the sky.

We touched down on a clearing at the top of a hill, the
first squad to be dropped off. We unloaded our supplies for a few minutes
before the ship took off again. A week’s worth of food was packed into a large
crate, along with tents, medical supplies, and extra magazines for our weapons.
Our camp was ready in minutes. I took a moment to look around. One side of the
hill was a drawn-out slope, while the other was a steep ridge. The top itself
was flat. Trees surrounded the base of the hill on all sides. Tek and Zen were
checking the outer patrol to the south for anything hazardous. Tolenva and I
checked the north. Seb and Rockwall remained at camp to finish setting things
up.

“Each shift will be two hours each, on the dot.” He reminded
me as we walked. “We’ll have to make sure to budget our time so that we get
back to the camp on time.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Go ahead.”

“You kind of have an obsession with doing everything by the
book.” I immediately figured I would regret saying that. He only sighed.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot.”

“Is… that why you joined the military?”

“Not exactly.
My father was a
general. He raised me to do everything this way.” He began to laugh. “I hated
him for it, you know, but look at me now.”

“I never really knew my dad.” The words tumbled out of my
mouth. There was an awkward silence.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He finally responded.

“It’s alright. He’s
sorta
the
reason I’m here too.” A slight smile spread across my face.

“Well,” he opened his canteen, “to the mission and to our
fathers. May it be successful and may they be proud.”

“Commander!”
A voice came over the
communicator. Tolenva put away his canteen and opened his communicator.

“Recon two, this is recon one.
Out.”

“We’re back at the camp. You’re going to want to get back
here, too.”

“Understood.
End
comms
.” He closed his communicator. We both began to run
back.

Our path back took us up the northern side of the hill.
Gunshots could be heard from the top. I looked over the steep side of the hill
once we reached the camp. Several quadrupedal figures darted into the woods on
the far side of the clearing.

“A pack of… something… was stalking us during our scouting
run.” Zen explained. “They followed us all the way back here until we scared
them off.”

Frustrated, Tolenva swore. “Why would you lead them to our
camp?”

“Where were we supposed to go?”

“Relax guys.” Seb interrupted. “We scared them off with our
rifles. They don’t have a reason to come back.”

“Oh, I think they do have a reason.” Rockwall walked over,
carrying an object. The object was an egg. We followed him to where he found
the egg. Over the edge of the
cliffside
was a small
cavern, home to dozens of large pale-green eggs. This hill was their breeding
ground.