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Chapter 1-3: LZ
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Location: Ardona, United States Space Expedition Force (USSEF)
Unit: HM-8403 Fleet Marine Reconnaissance Independent Duty Corpsman, HM4 Gary Ackermann (9003-228-13333) Charlie Company
Age 39
Weight: 240
Height: 6'2
Current Time: June 5th 2064, 32:22
Company Units: Alive/Injured/KIA/MIA: 90/0/0/0
Expedition Team: Alpha: 10 Units
Status: Green
Last Updated: *One Hour Ago*
The flag waved calmly in the Ardona breeze, the red, white, and blue revitalized by the fresh air, almost giving it life. The sun was rising in the distance from the South, specifically between the four mountain ranges. The unusual colored clouds turned into a crimson hue and the water rippled with the suns reflections. Heat waves obscured the distance, but I could make out the individual tops of the flat styled trees. Even despite the sensational view, I couldn't get my mind off what happened last night. Pierce would forever be looming in the shadows of my mind, forever there in the corner of my sleep.
The worst thing about inspections and decontamination is we have to check the entire body. Eventually, the nickname "Doc" came to "genital fondler". On top of that, the pod was humid and hot, resulting in a little thing called "sweat". It wasn't the worse thing that I've done in my service. The thing most engrained into my head was waving the prostate thermometer as a bluff for punishment, little did I know I actually had to carry the task out. However, it was a lesson learned at that. There isn't such thing as losing in my mind, only winning and learning. My major take away from this day was that Pierce was to never to be trusted to hold still. On the contrary, I did note a slight change in the personalities of the men after being exposed to the air of Ardona. I couldn't quite pick it out, but I knew something was wrong. I documented this in Landing Report #2 and stowed it away in a safe drive.
I stood up and turned around to face the sun again, holding one hand up to shield my eyes from its rays. Ardona was just as beautiful as I expected it to be, and it was more astonishing in person than on the screen. I guess the additional benefits like the smell, the feel, and the vibe made it seem so surreal that we were here. Maybe I was just getting a little too much adrenaline in my system about the fact that we were the Neil Armstrongs of the present
"Any of y'all wana grab a drink later?" I shout in the commotion, raising my right hand to cup my mouth. They all turned to me with confused expressions, giving me a look. You may think that I may be a weirdo for saying this all the time, but there's a reason for it. A cold one with the boys is very refreshing. The bitterness of the bear kicks you back, making you huff out that sigh. The bitterness makes us appreciate life and take our mind off the hardships we must endure as humanity rebuilds itself. Well, that is just how I perceive it.
"Doc, I think the retarded third gay of a gender has gotten to you. We must carry out Order 66." The voice came from behind me, and I felt a sunken dread feeling wash over me as I realized who it was.
Pierce of all people was the one to make that remark. I turn around to see him in a towel, his body shining in the Ardona sun, glimmering as he turned. He deliberately flexed his muscles, specifically his pecs and biceps. "Look at them babies Doc." Pierce says with a grin as he unties his towel. Almost immediately, a few head turn. However, the towel drops to reveal standard operational shorts, black and new. "That was a bit anti climatic ain't it?" He said shortly, waving a finger.
This is the half side I hate about Pierce. He declines every time I offer to hit up the bar with some folks, declines every offer for STD immunity, and declines who he is truly. However, he isn't really bad once you get on his good side. He's almost like a half brother, except a half brother who will whip out his flacid prick just to surprise your girlfriend. Well, it hasn't happened yet, but, worse comes to worse ya'know? "Eat a big one Pierce." I say with feigned annoyance, rolling my eyes while at it.
He simply replies by swaying his hips, "My dick swings both ways. Remember when we thought the earth was flat? Well it comes back!" He says with a cheeky grin.
"Fuck off." I say, flipping the bird before resuming my business. I had a task at hand. The O.N.I guys weren't having the fact that Pierce was our guinea pig, let alone having Lieutenant Li spear head the Alpha team. Let's just say he had a track record of riling men up in good and bad ways. Sadly for me, I had to be the border between them and ONI. Basically I was a unofficial diplomat in this matter, but the main purpose of why I was here was because I was the only medical professional of the group.
"Doc! Please tell me you know what a QOS is. The guys on Juneo are bickering and shouting about some acronyms and I could hardly understand them." Said Staff Sergeant Chase as I approached him. I simply gave a small reassuring smile before saying, "Quarantined Operational Sample. They mean if Pierce is still alive I presume".
"Ah. . . ." He says before tending back to the long range radio systems. As I walked away, I could hear the metal clanks as Chase let out a frustrated flurry of kicks, paired with profanity and anything you could think of to fix a modern radio system.
I sat down on what seemed to be a smoothed out rock, the texture grainy but solid. To my left was Senior Airman Teddy and Lieutenant Li gathered around a small table, a holographic device set in between them. To my right was the Office of Naval Intelligence guys, who were busy collecting earth samples and such. Whatever they were, they did things in a professional manner. They wasted no time and seemed to communicate telepathically. I will never understand those guys. . .I thought to myself, removing my gloves and rubbing my face out of sheer exhaustion. I had just woken up four hours ago yet I still feel like it was Monday morning, stayed up late and woke up at seven, going to be late to a nine to five job.
Suddenly, two marines run up behind me and sit down next to me. I vaguely knew who they were, let alone their nick names and first names. One of them was a bulky muscular Lance Corporal, and the other was a toned Corporal. They all wore their Atma power armor suits, their helmets removed and strapped to their belt. "Ey Doc, I'm Langley, pleased to meet you." The Lance Corporal says with impeccable confidence. He had old worn out eyes, seemingly in his late thirties. He must've been stuck at terminal lance. The term, terminal lance, refers to being stuck at the rank of Lance Corporal for your information.
"A bit unprecedented there hm?" I say with a chuckle, shaking the Lance Corporals hand. "Pleased to meet you." I then proceed to hug my rifle as a support to hold me up, leaning into it with my weight and Atma armor. "What brings you here?"
"Just trying to get to know some people on this deployment. Upper Brass said we'll be here for more than a year." Langley said, giving me a firm shake and releasing it, drawing his hand back to his inner pockets. "Ey, but before you get further, let me introduce the Corporal." He says gleefully, a prompting smile forming as he turns to face the Corporal, gesturing a hand to draw my attention.
I did as prompted and faced the Corporal. There was an awkward silence for a few moments before I decided to break the ice. I opened my mouth to speak, "Morning Corporal, I'm the guy who will sew your body parts back together." I said jokingly.
As soon as I turned, the Corporal averted his gaze, crossing his legs and looking away. When he finally had the courage to turn around and introduce himself, he wore a small smile with a pair of young eyes. His hair was dirty blonde and he had these stunning blue eyes that could catch the look of any man and woman. He was well shaved and his uniform was right up to the point. His teeth were pure white and his nose was small, a small curved slope so perfect that even I that I envisioned the Himalayan slopes. His eyebrows were light, and he had freckles that looked like Picasso splattered across with his blessed paint. The Corporal was young, I could tell that he was still boy. He had the aura of innocence and purity, almost like an angel that had descended into hell only to befriend the worst of the worst.
"I-I'm Corporal Burman, I know it might be a weird sight but uh. . . Promotion points were pretty fast for me." He said, scratching the back of his head with a humble grin.
It was then I knew, that he was not going to survive. Through his eyes and the way he spoke, he was pretty intelligent for his age. However, he just didn't have any experience in the field. "Nice to meet you both. My real names Gary, but feel free to call me genital fondler if you want." I then turned back to Burman, "I presume you were in the reserves?"
"Y-Yes. . . My father served in the Space Force and I followed suit in the Reserves.. . Its my fourth year."
"Four years. . . Reserves. . . Corporal." Langley said with a chuckle. "What were the upper brass thinking?" He nudged me and gestured at Burmans uniform, clean and unscuffed.
I stood up and walked away, leaving the two. "We'll get a drink later when we get back to Juneo." I said, although I didn't really mean it at the time. I hated to leave them like that, nice people deserve nice things, I just wasn't up to their standards. As soon as I saw Burman, I already knew he wasn't fit. He'd make rash decisions in the field, controlled by emotion. In the end, he was a human, not a soldier.
Ten years ago when I was just a Corpman Third Class, I visited the special region. Unlike Earths ungodly pollution and nuclear fall out, the Special Region felt like a second chance. However, nothing changed. The world was still ruled by money, still ruled by who had the most and ruled by the poorish bandwagon in which the common people whined about. It would the same cycle over again. I remember telling the other guys in my unit that I wish I had brought my son to the Special Region, sneak him in a transport and start a new life there. In my early life though, I would have actually done it, and done it I did. Upon being transported to a Forward Operating Base, I told the guys that we'd be sneaking people in, refugees that were disguised as special region farmers. However, everything was going well till we had to part. Little did I know, that would be the last time I saw him.
Insurgencies are immune to extinction. It's not the matter of physical killing, but the matter of destroying a belief. Destroying a belief was near impossible, and the closest thing to do it was to memory wipe a person, however, that led to controversy, and many riots. The village I had snuck my son into was shortly burned down by a group of rebels, unhappy that their families were killed in the recent take overs. They were also unhappy that the Japanese exploited the special region for resources, which in turn made them a global super power after the nuclear fall out. I guess the Universe gives and takes. . . that was my take away.
Burman reminded me of my son. He was only six when I last saw him. He had this cute smile that would glisten a drunken alcoholics life up, wait, that would be me. Sad to say, but Burman was the splitting image of him, and it was hard to look back at the Corporal as I kept seeing my son in my head. I thought I had made due with that eight years ago, but I guess it still haunts me to this day.
"Corpman, you okay there?"
I blinked to see Staff Sergeant Chase holding a small data pad, his expression told me that he was confused and wondering why I was wandering and pacing around in circles. "Staff Sergeant." I would say in acknowledgement, bowing my head slightly and tilting it to the right.
"Carry on. . ." He would say, his eyes suspicious of me. He had a bemused feigned smile as he turned his head back, and I knew already that he was thinking of something.
I sat down and activated my holo pad, the display flickering to life in mere seconds. Then, I proceeded to log in and stare blankly at the screen. I had reports to make, health reports on each member of Alpha team. I also had to collect the samples for safe keeping so that ONI could further hide it from us. I felt like I was betraying the Marines in a way, as the Doc, too much responsibility rested on my shoulders. Who knows when it will come time for the weight to be removed. . .
"IM JUST A FUCKING DOCTOR!"
