RSTC: A Reason to Go On
(Note: set after the bug war continued )
As soldiers in war, we have spent thousands of hours facing the enemy out in the field whether we are up to it or not. It wasn't just part of the job description. It is the job description. If there was a bug problem, there were troopers there to exterminate them and hopefully, live long enough to tell the tale.
But sometimes, the problem isn't the bugs. Sometimes, it wasn't the bugs at all.
--Robert Higgins:: The Roughnecks
Max Brutto fired shot after shot of plasma fire to the spiders threatening to drop from above him. Whoever said clean up duty after the war was a piece of cake was wrong. In fact, it felt exactly like the war hasn't ended. They were still fighting bugs which aren't giving up without a fight even if their Queen is dead. Sure the brains in colonies like Hydora and Tesca Nemorosa weren't able to organize anymore but it didn't mean that they would just let themselves be exterminated. The troopers are still finding themselves fighting for their lives as they secured sector after sector of each colony. SICON wanted everything cleaned. The only thing Max Brutto was thankful for was the fact that Intel was more accurate now. That was to be expected. Miriam Redwing was now Sky Marshal.
He took a quick look around him and for the nth time in three months, it hit him how the Roughnecks were suddenly two men short. When they returned back to the military after a month long leave, T'Phai and Zim gave them their respective news. The colonel returned to Tophet to help SICON create a human- Tophetti alliance. Sgt. Zim returned to boot camp where, in Brutto's opinion, he could put the fear of Zim into new troopers. After all, Zim was scarier than the bugs. They sent messages often updating them with their own lives. Brutto would never admit it out loud but there were times he wished they were still around.
Today was one of those days. The last sector they were assigned in the Tesca moon that day wasn't crawling when they got there. Rico decided to make the troopers vote if they should play divide and conquer-- one team cleans up the underground water and tunnels, one team cleans up above. The vote was unanimous. Two groups would sanitize the place faster which meant they would theoretically have more rest when they returned to Zegema Beach. And then it happened.
After a few hours of bugless jungle trekking with Rico, Gossard and Anderson, the spiders suddenly came out from nowhere. Nothing the four of them couldn't handle if they were 100. But from the start of the battle, it was obvious they weren't in their top game. He watched as a small spider jumped off a tree branch for the marauder just to be shot away by Rico who had to move a few steps forward from where he was just to take the shot. Rico knocked on one of the marauder's metal panels. "Hello, anybody in there?" He teased before shooting the on coming wave.
"Right. Sorry." Gossard answered. The marauder swatted a bug away as it jumped for Rico.
Brutto caught Andy's confused gaze when he glanced back. "No comeback? That's not normal." He heard her say to no one in particular a few feet behind him.
He gave the girl a smirk. "Gossard's capable of being normal?"
He heard her chuckle. "Are we?" She answered. He gave his concentration back to the bugs. He grimaced at the thought that she was right. Actually, it's been bothering him. For the past three weeks, Gossard's been,at the very least, distracted. Nobody knew why. Gossard himself had said nothing. They've asked Carl just in case he picked anything up "accidentally" but Jenkins just shook his head with the absolute guilt trip answer-- "How would you like it if I went through your heads?"
Dizzy Flores had given an interesting reply. "Johnny wouldn't mind. There's nothing in his."
Brutto shot down another spider going at the marauder. "Hey tech! Get with the program." He yelled. There was no reply which bothered him even more. It was frustrating. Normally, something witty was automatically shot back at him. If there was nothing else, there was always sarcasm and wit spewing out of that Roughneck. These days there was nothing from the corporal on or off the field. He shook his head. Frustrating might be the wrong word. It was downright annoying.
"Gossard, there's a rock behind you." He heard Rico warned a few meters beside him.
Brutto glanced back to the marauder just in time to see it trip backwards. Suddenly, he saw a trooper run past him and Rico. "Anderson, what the hell are you doing?" He yelled out. The marauder just stayed still on the ground.
"Two up top! No angle. Cage front." She answered incoherently as she scampered to climb on top of the marauder's cage exterior. Two giant spiders were at mid- air simultaneously going for the marauder as she angled her shot. His eyes widened realizing what she just said. The spiders could easily stab Gossard if they landed on top of him. The grills were wide enough for their legs to go through.
"Brutto! Cover!" Rico ordered as they both raised their moritas and lowered their visors to the dropping spiders.
Brutto felt like he was watching everything in slow motion. Anderson was able to shoot one away safely. The force of a plasma shot at close range made sure that the spider fell somewhere else. The smart sensors on his visor haven't centered on the second spider yet when he saw the girl fire another plasma. The shot was good. Unfortunately the spider was too near when the shot was fired. He saw the girl blown back by the backfire rolling as her body landed on the ground. The second spider laid dead a few inches away from the first. He saw Rico moving forward past the fallen girl to shoot at the retreating spiders while he followed right behind shooting as he went along.
He lowered his visor one more time to look around. "We're clear." He said told the lieutenant flipping the visor up.
"Remind me to stop blowing myself up." The girl groaned behind them.
He saw Rico sigh in relief as Anderson slowly raised herself to a sitting position immediately wincing and holding her left arm. "Brutto..." Rico cocked his head to her direction.
"I'm on it." Brutto answered with a sigh of relief of his own before Rico could finish his sentence. Anything to get away from the marauder beside him. Anything to get away from the specialist still motionless inside it. "Does little Andy have a boo boo?" He exclaimed putting on a patronizing grin just to tease the trooper.
Andy gave him a smug grin of her own. "Great. Baby talk from a Brutto." She said wryly. "Spiders! Get me now." She looked around while Brutto just stared at her with disbelief. The girl sighed and shrugged. "Where are those bugs when you need them?"
--
The door to Zegema Beach Medical bay slid open. The troopers weren't too happy to see Doc frowning which was fine with Doc. He was far from amused. They had secured the sector but there was also a trooper heading to tank. The bug had drawn a deep gash on Andy's left arm and her landing landed her a dislocated shoulder. By the time they reached the base, the bandages he had placed were soaked. Dr. Sharaabi refused to take any chances of any infection setting in or the laceration healing wrongly and ordered the trooper to swim in green liquid.
"And?" Higgins asked when Doc came out. He was as usual filming the whole thing.
Doc crossed his arms. "Tank for two days and off duty for at least a few days after that." The troopers groaned in reply. That would mean that the Roughnecks were reduced to 7 troopers for the next few duties.
"When will she be clear?" Rico inquired. He ran a hand through his hair worriedly. Andy had been injured on his watch. He felt a little responsible for what happened. He wasn't liking the odds of just seven troopers against whatever SICON might throw at them. Hopefully, they would just be ordered perimeter duty until Andy got back. But knowing the higher ups in charge of Tesca Nemerosa, they would order the veteran squad out to the field.
Doc shrugged. "Earliest guess is next week. She didn't just hit her shoulder, Rico. She landed on it like a fumbled football." He replied meeting the young lieutenant's gaze.
"So. What happened out there?" Dizzy Flores faced Lt. Johnny Rico who sighed in response trying to think of how to best explain a situation he didn't fully understand himself. The only thing he did know was that there was something wrong with the older trooper who was saved by the girl in the tank.
Much to everyone's surprise, Brutto answered before Rico could say a word. "Oh I don't know." He said dryly. "Why don't we ask, Gossard?" He eyed the older trooper sitting down on the bench with his head bowed against one hand. The other four troopers looked at Gossard obviously confused.
"Gossard?" Carl Jenkins raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the one usually causing trouble?" He motioned at Brutto. The troopers smiled at what could've been the start of another interesting verbal spar.
But Brutto wouldn't have any of it. He didn't have the patience to play Jenkins' game nor did could he stand the technician's silence. "Well, Goss. Care to enlighten us anytime today? Or does anybody else need to be tanked." He sneered.
"It's an off day and I'm sorry." Gossard looked up meeting the young trooper's steely gaze.
Brutto's jaw dropped. "Off day? Try off week." He pointed out leaning in towards the mechanic in a threatening fashion. "You've been like Paperboy the whole week." The boy commented. "No. Worse than Higgins even. Because at least the greenie hasn't dropped his morita at all this week." He corrected his assessment. "But you! More times than I can count. And if you could have just gotten your head straight today, then Anderson won't be in that tank." He continued ranting. "This coming from me and I don't even like Anderson." Brutto finished with his brow furrowed and jaw clenched in anger. To everyone's surprise, the other didn't say a word back.
Doc eyed the two troopers warily. This wasn't their typical argument about nothing in particular. This sounded like it was more than assigning blame for the predicament they were in. For the first time since Brutto's first day as a Roughneck, the private actually meant what he was saying. The boy looked like he was sincerely angry at Gossard.
"Brutto!" Dizzy Flores exclaimed shocked at the boy's rude conduct. "What in the world is wrong with you?" She demanded before trying to smoothen things between the two. More dysfunction was exactly what their smaller squad didn't need especially when Zim and T'Phai were not with them. She knew Rico was not the type to order them to apologize and make up. "Don't listen to him, Goss. He's a Brutto. Sensitivity isn't in gene code." She shot back at the second generation of Brutto crossing her arms against her chest.
Brutto just raised both hands. "Whatever." He rolled his eyes heading towards the door. "You guys can baby him all you want. Just be ready to get greased." The door slid open allowing him to storm out of the room.
Higgins lowered his camera. "Whoah. What just happened here?" He asked nervously.
Rico shook his head looking at the door to Gossard and back to the door again. "I have no idea." He admitted looking just as confused as the rest of them mentally noting not to put Gossard and Brutto in the same team on their next run.
--
Note: a little bit of angst doesn't hurt right? on the side: i've been trying to figure out how to 'justify' text in I'm starting to think it's impossible.