Osdal (Harmony War Series Book 3) (5 page)

When he’d gone in the research and development area once they’d killed everyone in it, he’d seen the controlled violence they were capable of. Their actions to get to friendly lines made him happy he had never pissed them off.

“We want to get as much information on that as possible and disrupt their work. If they’re so focused on getting people to mine, then it’s in our best interests to fuck with that. We need to have them stretched thin, pissed off and tired before the main force shows up. Now, we’re going to be inserting by inter-system freighter, and that’s up to our flight crew,” Moretti said, looking to the three Combat Shuttle pilots who nodded. “The rest of us are getting packed with implants, augments, and going through training to kill everything from powered armor to people. Nerva has requested your aid in teaching people on weapons systems and giving briefings on the enemy.”

“How long until we leave?” Tyler asked.

“How did I know the newly-wed was going to ask that?” Moretti said, giving Tyler a small smile. Tyler had been married for a while, even if you didn’t count the time in cryo.

But he’d been doing operations under Harmony’s nose and hadn’t been able to spend much time with his wife.

“We have four months to get prepped. Then we’ll get inserted, and the carriers will wait until we clear out the sensor grid before moving in. The idea is to hit both planets and the asteroid belt simultaneously,” Moretti said.

“Fat chance of that,” Dooks muttered.

“Pretty much what I was thinking,” Moretti agreed, “Now, questions?”

Hands shot up and Moretti sighed, but kept an affable smile on his face as he pointed to Holm.

***

Mark took a large pull from his beer glass; already there were unfamiliar faces filling their mess, and he didn’t know how to feel about it. Yet he knew he wouldn't have much time in the coming months to give a rat’s ass. He had other things to think on.

“Fucking camps! What is this, the goddamn Third Reich?” Jerome asked. He had taken Mark’s suggestions to look into military history seriously.

“We’ll make Harmony pay,” Mark promised.

They shouldn’t care about the colonists, but they’d been in Masoul, they’d lived with the resistance, and seen Harmony’s real face. Even then it hadn’t been as bad as Moretti had explained. They cared now, and they couldn’t think of colonists under Harmony’s thumb as anything but victims.

“They’re pulling out all the stops to get this thing pushed ahead, we’ve got less than a year to get trained, and get our asses over to Osdal Actual,” Holm said.

Mark had learned a while ago that these meetings usually bore rare fruit that might actually help their mission.

“Hopefully the flight crew can speed that up. I’m thinking that we can get our training done faster than that, and have something to do on the flight, like remember our cover stories. We don’t
need
to do that here as long as we have paper copies and we burn them, hell, we could just toss them out of an airlock,” Mark said.

“I don’t think we need to go over the weapon familiarization course,” Holm said.

“And we can do enough of kicking one another around the inside of the freighter, so cross off the hand-to-hand familiarization,” Jerome added.

They went through training objectives, seeing what they could condense, since they knew everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, it was almost intuitive by now.

It didn’t take long for them to slim the list right down, four rounds of beers had came and went as they plotted and planned. People still owed them beers after Masoul. The triple twos had a large credit in the mess.

New people looked to them with questioning eyes, those that knew them raised a glass in greeting or gave a wave, seeing that the three were working.

Mark heard the accusatory whispers and disbelief from the new people but he didn’t care; people could know what he did or not. Those that really knew what he’d done were alive today, and that was all the gratitude he needed.

Tyler and Alexis walked in and Alexis ordered two more beers from the Trooper who was picking up some extra pay working at the mess.

“Coming right up Alexis,” Claire said with a smile, her eyes darting to Mark, who chose to not pay attention as he sipped from his beer.

“Why don’t you ask her out?” Alexis asked Mark when Claire left.

Because if she dies I’ll lose another part of myself,
Mark thought, remembering Sylvia. They’d had some good times and hooked up, but she’d died on Masoul Actual.

Even though people tried to not get attached, it was easier said than done.

“I’m not that interested,” Mark shrugged.

“Come on, Claire’s a good looking girl, she’s funny, smart and she could kick most people’s ass,” Alexis said.

Mark smiled, liking how Alexis was looking out for him.

“Oh dayum looking good there, the
things
I would do to you,” someone said from behind Alexis. Mark knew that it was directed at her and he put the glass down carefully, precisely.

“Screw off,” Alexis said back, her face clouding over with annoyance but she didn’t turn to look at the talker. Trying to keep the conversation with Mark going.

“Oh, I’d love for you to help me,” he laughed and the new people laughed with him.

“Hey buddy, the lady doesn’t like that talk,” Tyler said, irritated.

Mark felt warm coals in his stomach heating his frame, his muscles tensing as he turned off his augments that wanted to pump a fighting cocktail through his veins.

He didn’t know how to deal with the loss of his friends and his flings, but someone trying to hit on his sister-in-law. He knew how to deal with that.

“What? I’m just talking to the pretty girl; damn thing shouldn’t be let out with those looks.” The talker wandered over, his rank slips showed that he was a Captain.

He was closer, and Mark saw the excitements on the other’s faces, looking forward to a fight. Mark only felt a calming chill run through his body.

Mark clenched his hand, newly reinforced with metal coverings over his bones.

“Come with me honey, I know how to treat you
real
good, you won’t be able to walk when I’m…” Mark got out of the booth intercepting the man’s hand that was making for Alexis’ ass.

“…done with, hey!” Mark ripped the man towards him and brought his forehead into the other man’s nose.

It crunched, the man’s hands going to his face as blood flowed and he fell to the decking.

Mark’s fist moved like a press, punching the man so hard that his head rang off of the decking.

“Don’t you ever talk to my sister-in-law like that,” Mark said to the unconscious man.

He grabbed the man’s collar and started dragging, then the load got easier, and Mark looked back to see that Tyler had the man’s legs.

“The fuck?” One of the new guys asked as people went back to talking and living their lives.

“Don’t fuck with the triple twos, and
never
fuck with the Victor brothers,” Mark heard someone else explain.

“You guys are fucked, you know that, fucking Reclaimer fucks,” another newbie said.

There was a loud noise and someone yelled out in pain.

Mark looked back to see the loud mouth was face first in the floor with a Relcaimer trooper holding their arm in a hold.

Mark felt nothing but pride, recognizing the hold he’d taught.

There was a spine tingling sucking and popping sound as the man’s shoulder came out. They screamed in agony, clutching their hand, the Reclaimer trooper stepping back to their table like nothing had happened.

“Better watch your back out there, boot,” Jerome said. “Cause if you ain’t one of us, you ain’t fucking nothing.”

The door to the mess opened, and Mark and Tyler dropped the man on the floor.

Tyler checked his pulse as Mark watched; he didn’t much care if the man was alive or not.

“Well shit,” Tyler said, looking at the rank on the man’s arm. “This fuck is a goddamn Captain.”

“Didn’t want you punching him out and getting in shit for it,” Mark said, the two of them going back into the mess.

“Thanks man.” Tyler said, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Don’t mention it bro,” Mark smiled. “Hey Claire, what time do you get off?” Mark asked as she handed out beers.

“About an hour, if you’re not totally drunk,” she said, dimpling cutely.

Nothing quite got Mark’s blood up like a fight, or reminded him that life was short and he’d best embrace it. Sylvia was gone, as much as he missed her he needed to move on.

“Oh, I think I can stay sober for you, though
you’re
going to need to get some drinks to get on my level,” Mark said with a smile.

“That won’t be a problem,” she said, taking the beer from his grasp and drinking half of it. “Though only if you’re buying.”

“Doable,” Mark said.

She smiled again and went back to the bar, Mark’s eyes following her the entire way.

***

Ortiz looked at the Captain standing in front of him; he looked woozy on his feet but the medics said that he was functional and they’d sorted his concussion out.

Ortiz took a breath, pinching his nose as he looked at the man. Captain Heok had just pissed off Mark, Tyler and Alexis Victor and, by extension, the entire company he commanded.

“Do you understand the policies that the EMF has about fraternization?” Ortiz asked, keeping his voice level, mostly through a power of will.

“Yes sir: don’t ask, don’t tell,” Heok said.

“Good, so you know the other one about, if it causes a problem then higher ups will come down like a sack of shit?”

“Yes sir!” Heok said, the man looked
pleased
.

“What do you think that will mean?” Ortiz asked, genuinely curious.

“That since the lady’s in a relationship with the man that punched me, they will be separated,” Heok said, barely restraining a smile.

Holy shit, Nerva was right when he told me they were scraping these people from the bottom of the barrel.

“Wipe that fucking smile off your face! First, the big man was her brother-in-law, second she’s married dipshit and third - I was talking about
you
!” Ortiz said, his famed anger rising to the surface.

“Sergeant Alexis Xin has been an exemplary Section Commander; she led her section across Masoul and has recommendations for upward movement. Hell, I’m looking to have her as a warrant by the end of this! Mark and Tyler Victor, as well as all of the people that were at the table drinking with them, are the reason that Fearless and Reclaimer even
have
Troopers on them right now. They went behind enemy lines and they secured our victory. The fucking Ministry gave them a recommendation and want to give them fucking medals and you, a brand fucking new Captain with two drops under his belt and less than three years of being awake, just
pissed them off
.” Ortiz sank back into his seat.

“I pulled the recordings from the mess; your people from back on Indomitable allowed you into the mess, but your actions are bordering on sexual misconduct. I can’t have an officer that’s hitting on my sergeants and pissing off the others. Your advances were unwarranted, but you continued without finding out further information on the system. You didn’t have alcohol in your blood but still you deemed it appropriate to treat one of your Sergeants as a
sexual fucking object,
” Ortiz slammed his fist into his desk, making the Captain wince. Heok’s face had drained of all color as Ortiz had been talking.

“I’ve talked to your former chain of command; they’re not willing to take you back, so you can sit this out in cryo.” Ortiz said.

“Major!” Heok started, but Ortiz cut him off.

“You just pissed off a section that currently has the gratitude of two veteran carriers. The Victors are fucking war heroes, as much as they would hate the title. Hell,
all
of the triple twos are. You undermined your command and position with that stunt. Agree to what I say and you’ll be shuffled off to some job not on the front lines. As it stands, the Troopers are more likely to shoot you than follow you.” Ortiz was tired and done with dealing with this jackass and his shit.

“Sir, I…”

“Think really carefully about what you’re going to say. You take my offer and you wake up after all of this and do something menial. You don’t, and you go through Osdal and can’t even trust the people you’re fighting alongside. I will also let the case of sexual harassment go through; do you know what will happen if you are found guilty of sexual harassment?”

The other man swallowed, and his face would have given an albino a run for their money.

Yeah, you go into an air lock and you don’t get a mask,
Ortiz thought looking at the man sweating in front of him.

“Yes, sir. I will take your offer.”

“Good man,” Ortiz sighed. “You’ll have the information about being put into cryo soon. Dismissed.”