Urgh... I've just gotten done with a two-week project that was as bad as my entire term project last term combined. College isn't tough overall; it's just a few nasty classes that really get to you.
it's been over a year since I first started uploading this fic. Looking back on it, if I could change one thing, I'd pick much better nicknames for David's squadmates. Oh well; I have time to rectify that mistake now, I guess.
There I went, leaving this story 3 months without an update! Well, I'd better pick up the pace. We're almost at the main story now, and it's time for one of my favorite COs from the first game to make his appearance at last!
Field Training II: Maneuevers
Orange Star Cosmo Territory, Eugenia Province
December 11, 5:39 PM
"CO-Major Sami." The silver-haired assassin turned away from the muscle mountain on the floor, a drop of blood falling from his broken nose. "Apologies. If I'd known he would be that easy, I wouldn't have used the poison."
Sami leapt down from the helicopter, machine gun at her side, staring at Vladi the whole time. "You bastard."
"I'd love to stay and chat, but..." Vladi opened his arms wide. "Duty calls, and my men have a province to capture."
As Vladi turned to the side, he suddenly lowered his right arm and shot another stake into the large man's chest. Sami screamed, letting a hail of bullets fly from the weapon towards Vladi. The man dashed through the air, and was now on Max's other side, his gun lowered towards the fallen CO's head-
And suddenly, Sami's machine gun was in midair, falling to the ground, and Sami herself was there beside him. Before Vladi could move, his enhanced hearing picked up a sound much like a pick being stabbed into ice. A moment later, his right arm exploded with pain, and he dropped his Impaler, staggering backwards and holding the arm with his left hand.
The man gritted his teeth, emitting a harsh growl; he'd trained himself not to scream in these situations. A moment passed as he struggled to regain balance, like a heartbeat. What I've heard about her abilities is true. But to this level...?
After all, the girl was still moving towards him, her fist moving at an impossible speed towards his face, the world slowing down but his body not speeding up. As Vladi twisted his body to the side, aiming to avoid the strike, he was suddenly hit in the face by something metal and went tumbling to the ground.
She kicked my gun up into my face...!
And she was still moving, aiming to get above him. Vladi knew her CO ability: the manipulation of time. If she got on top of him, she could snap his neck long before he could release a shatterer vibration. He was breathing hard and his voice wouldn't come out; for the first time in a while, the OF-Captain actually felt afraid.
But there had to be a limit to her ability; Vladi wouldn't have survived so long if he didn't know that. As she came down on him, he kicked upwards, striking her in the stomach with a satisfying gasp and launching her over him. Perfect. So she can't use her power constantly, or she'd have been able to avoid that.
The man rolled backwards, then flipped to his feet, expecting a counterattack. It came in the form of several Break-charged, time-accelerated bullets, one striking Vladi in the side as he turned to face Sami. A cascade of pain overtook his mind as the bullet pierced straight through his body and out the other side. Worse yet, he hadn't heard the bullets being fired; they were traveling much faster than sound. It was clear that he couldn't win right now.
I have to get away. Vladi Breakdashed back into the forest, picking up Impaler as he ran. He didn't hear the sound of any pursuit, but that didn't change things. For all he knew, she had a satellite shadowing him and could stop time to catch up whenever she wanted.
Vladi felt bad about leaving behind his kill; even without Emeraldine, there was still a chance the enemy CO might survive those injuries. No matter, though; the lug wouldn't be any harder next time around. He was sure of it. Besides, mission accomplished: one of Orange Star's COs is crippled. That'll teach them to try and force us away from the capital.
As his fear subsided, the man grinned, sharp teeth not out of place in a forest of carnivores. He laughed hoarsely. "Even if I don't get that kill... at least I found another interesting target today. Sami, is it? Heh..."
Seconds after Vladi ran, Sami fell to the ground, panting heavily. Despite all her stamina training, using her powers was exhausting. But she had no time to think about that. She pulled out a pocket communicator:
"Support copter... one. This is Sami. Zone clear. Evac needed now."
"Roger, ma'am. We'll be done and back in the air in one."
One minute later, she was resting in the back of the helicopter. She was shaking with fatigue, and she wished she could be with the medics, checking on Max's condition. Vladi's poison, an expensive Blue Moon concoction called Transyl, blocked the effects of Emeraldine, meaning an antidote had to be administered before Max could be properly treated. Sami's rescue team had brought one along, but the process took three hours. Ridiculous... he could be dead by then.
Nell had sent Sami as soon as she'd heard about the gruesome displays Vladi had put up; she knew that Max would do something stupid, but she'd hoped Sami would arrive before Max would act. As it turned out, she may not have reached him in time.
When Sami delivered her report to Nell, the woman just sighed. "Max... you fool. I should have sent you an advisor sooner."
"Ma'am... this isn't a good situation. Do you want me to take control of this front?"
"Yes. The guerilla attacks can wait, since we'll be opening up a new front in the Alara Region shortly. I'm afraid it'll be a little longer before you meet the new CO."
"I see." Sami looked down. "Nell... that Vladi. I... I'm surprised I made it out against him. I had to stop time to even get close, and he was about to..."
"You did well, Sami. Surviving against an enemy like that... of course, I don't want you to do it again without backup." Nell glanced at her with warning.
For once, the girl didn't argue. "Sure thing, ma'am. I feel like I got lucky this time."
I just hope Max gets lucky, too.
Golden Fortress Command Center
Back in the present
December 12, 4:40 PM
According to Orange Star's database, there actually had been other Breakcoms with constructive powers, such as CO-Colonel Jess from Green Earth. Something else caught David's eye; all of Green Earth's COs had been hired since the Triple Rebellion. Did none of their senior COs support the rebellion or something?
Then, he heard footsteps coming. David logged out of the network as Sergeant Levins entered the room, looking like he'd just woken up with a hangover. "Advisor! Where the hell did Steele go?"
David looked around. "You mean, she left?"
The Sergeant let out a noise like a dying donkey. "Whatever. Go... er, whatever." He stormed out of the room, raising a curiosity in David's mind. He waited for a couple seconds, then quickly slipped out of the room, following Levins.
Captain Steele sat in her office, her mind as far away from the situation as she could take it. As the office's door opened, she listened to the footsteps for a moment to determine who it was, then went back to reading her book.
"Heh. What would the troops say if they saw their iceheart Captain Steele reading a fantasy novel?" The Sergeant tromped in, a smile on his face but a stressed look in his eye.
"All of us need a break now and then. I assume you received my orders?" Steele leaned back in her chair.
"Yeah. Thanks for giving me plenty of time to run the recruits' examination." Levins rolled his eyes.
"Nell's decision, not mine. Besides, you have all night and tomorrow afternoon. Don't you like to surprise your victims anyways?"
The Sergeant scoffed. "Not if it's a surprise for me too. Anyhow, I'm surprised you've snuck in enough time for that, considering..." He bit his lip and let the last word hang in the air.
"It's called time management, Frank. Not that you'd be familiar with the idea."
"Heh." Frank Levins sat down. "Time for a chat before your next 'time-managed' walkthrough of the base?"
"Sure. Unless it's about the kid."
"Aw, I'm not that petty." Frank put his feet on the desk. "Just wondering when you think we'll meet up again."
"Who knows. So try to stay alive 'til then. Anything else?"
Frank stared over at her, his eyes narrowed. "Not my choice of book."
Steele sighed. "I'm not avoiding you, Frank. I just need some time off."
"Sure you do. So much time off that even though we'll be separated for maybe half a year again, you somehow don't have time to make some plans with me."
"There would be no point."
"And that's what I don't get, Flora. Why the hell are you acting like I'm gonna die here? Don't jinx it for me, you know?"
"I know you're worried about me too, but this is just another day in both our lives, and tomorrow won't be any different. Stop thinking so hard about it."
Frank glared. "You don't normally read these days. And you haven't touched that coffee on your desk yet."
Steele looked back up from her book, a blank look in her eye. "Not thirsty."
Frank's face tightened. He opened his mouth as though to say something, then closed it again. "Whatever. I'll see you at the recruits' grad ceremony."
Sergeant Levins promptly turned his back on her and walked away, not even bothering to close the door behind him. Steele stared at the door as it slowly moved towards the frame, her eyes glued to the wooden slab for almost a minute. Then, she turned back to her book, her nerves no longer easy to ignore.
They're leaving tomorrow? What? David's mind was whirring; he was glad that Levins hadn't caught him outside the door, or else he was sure he'd be skinned alive. If she was leaving, then who was going to be training him? And what the hell were those two doing talking in such a manner?
David decided to go to the Officers' Lounge. He could bet that Levins wouldn't be there at such a time, and he was curious about why they were leaving so soon. There were some things that wouldn't be found in the database.
At the lounge, there was plenty of talk; rumors flying around among the support officers, rumors that caught David's ear when he entered the room.
"-that CO-Colonel Max is dead?"
"No, that's not possible. Besides, your leak's never been accurate."
"I'm not shitting ya, Jerry! They saw the body and everything! Besides, with what I've heard about that assassin Vladi-"
"Max wouldn't die like that."
"You never know. After all, they did say Sami was redeployed to Eugenia. If that's true-"
Vladi. At David's home province.
"What's that about Eugenia?" David asked.
The two officers jumped a little, took a look at his rank badge, and jumped a second time, snapping to attention. "Sir!"
David hissed, exasperated. "At ease, officers. I'm just here to catch up on things."
"You're here with Andy, right? Is it true that you're moving out tomorrow?"
"First I've heard of that," David looked at the man's badge, "Lieutenant Volke."
"Oh, okay. Well, that Vladi bastard was leading the attack on Eugenia, right? So CO-Major Sami's been sent over there. That must mean something's happened to CO-Colonel Max."
A chill ran up David's spine. "How much of Eugenia do we have?"
"Well, Max retook most of the western area." Volke shuffled his feet a little. "If he's out of business, though... Sami's with special forces, not the main army. Between you and me, the assault will lose momentum with her in command."
"Aw, you've never liked Sami," the other officer cut in. "She's just as capable as that gorilla, if not four times better. Sure, she's not the best with armor, but..."
"Armor's what we'll need to take back the province," Volke argued. "After all..."
That was all David needed to hear; they didn't know here either. He headed down towards Steele's office at full speed.
"Yes, you are heading out tomorrow. Why do you ask?" Steele sat in her chair, reading a large book that David didn't care to inspect.
"Before you ask," Steele cut him off, "I only heard about it today. I was planning to tell you this evening, when all the preparations have been made."
"Is it because... are you off to advise CO-Major Sami?" David asked. He saw in the next moment that the question had been a mistake; a look appeared in Steele's eyes letting him know she had connected the dots.
"As a matter of fact, yes." Steele leaned forwards and looked into his eyes. "And you know this because you've been keeping track of the man who killed your brother."
"I..." David started.
"I monitored your usage of the database, Advisor. Of course, at the time I didn't know what you planned to do, but I at least hoped you wouldn't get any foolish ideas. Besides, it seemed like a good motivation. However, if you plan to go after that man..."
"Not... not if it interferes with my duty," David responded.
"Believe me, it will. I've been acquainted with revenge before." David saw her body relax a little. "But on top of that, do you really think you can kill him, even with a CO's help? The man is elusive, and he plays dirty. For the sake of Orange Star, I'd prefer you not do anything stupid."
David almost retorted, but that look of warning was still in her eye; he could easily picture her snapping him in half. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be careful."
Steele sighed. "Soldiers these days..." She was about to continue, when her datapad made a beeping noise.
"Hm. Actually, this was good timing, Advisor. It looks like I'll be able to squeeze in one more lesson before I leave."
"What?" David looked confused.
"Satellites have picked up some enemy units moving towards the base. I don't know what they're up to, but now's a good time to teach you some terrain tactics."
Unknown Location
Unknown Time
A soldier walked forward through the foggy corridor, a dark concrete bunker with a low ceiling, iron doors on both sides for as far as the eye could see. He could hear voices coming from beyond the doors, snippets of speech coming from beyond...
"...reconstruction funds. The military doesn't need..."
"...don't know what he was thinking-"
"...all the same to you, isn't it?"
The man's purple flight jacket ruffled as a gust of wind came down the hall. He scowled, glaring at the doors. This had been a nightmare to him once, but now, it was just a hassle, a tiring rite of passage he had to take once in a while.
A face appeared in the fog in front of him; deathly pale skin, sunken eyes, dark sneer. "Come on, who's next? Tell us! Tell us, what's your next hunch?"
"Go back to hell." The soldier walked right through the face, dissolving it into mist. Another face appeared, this one with black hair and dark eyes, but before it could fully form, the soldier flipped out his sidearm and shot a hole in it, then stepped through.
The corridor stretched for what seemed like forever. The soldier tried one of the doors, and to his surprise, it opened. A flash of light blinded the man, sending him falling over backwards, cursing. As he stood up, he looked into the doorway-
"CO-Commander Eagle. We've reached the edge of Orange Star territory and are ready to begin deployment of search drones."
Eagle woke abruptly, like he always did from these dreams. "Lieutenant. Don't tell stories about it, just do it."
"Sir." The man walked away. Eagle scowled at his back as he left; then leaned back and sighed. At least he was off that damn cruiser.
The Green Earth forces had docked at a small island off Orange Star's coast. The island had been scouted long ago by Green Earth forces; it held a cave useful for hiding their smaller ships, and the jungle allowed them to hide a sizable base complex underground, out of satellite view. Orange Star might spot the cruisers, or they might detect his energy signature, but he'd deal with that when it happened. The important thing was that there was enough room for a port on the island, so the ships and drones could refuel.
As he came back to consciousness, Eagle put his mind back on the task ahead of him: to locate and kill a particular CO. He knew his target's Break signature, and his long-range scout drones would be able send him back the wavelengths so he could find the bastard. Of course, that's only half the battle. I still have to get him, but I can't move until the rest of the battalion arrives.
Eagle was only accompanied by a few cruisers and helicopters, as well as two companies of commandos. His main force was currently sneaking around the continent to meet up at this island for the attack, and that would take a couple weeks. Then, he'd have to wait for the target to move near the coast so that he could strike.
It was going to be a waiting game, and not a fun one either. Eagle walked out of the small bunker office; if he had to sit around, then it might as well be in the cockpit of a battle copter.
Golden Fortress Training Field
December 13, 12:00 PM
Sergeant Levins stared out at the field as the recruits lined up in formation. Their graduation was at hand... well, for most of them, anyways. Some would say that Orange Star needed every soldier they could get, but Levins knew that sending a bad soldier into the field was worse than being down a man. He stared at the other drill sergeants with contempt; none of those pansies had enough balls to fail someone. As a result, Levins' Platoon was a little smaller than the others.
But I'll be damned if they don't look the proudest of 'em.
Steele's speech was short and forced; of course, the other people there obviously didn't notice. Levins rolled his eyes. The Captain could do a sugar-charged song and dance routine in front of the entire goddamn base and they would still see a robot when they looked at her.
The other sergeants said just a few words each, as usual, the type of things that they always said. When it came time for Levins' speech, he walked over to the podium and nodded at the glaring recruits... no, privates now.
"Get out there and do us proud."
With those words, he stepped off the stage. Let them take from that what they would. I'd rather keep training these kids for the rest of my life, but it seems like that the all-knowing mother country has some other big-ass plan for me.
Levins didn't even wait to see the end of the ceremony. According to his datapad, the helicopter was here anyways, and he didn't want to see what kind of pansy would be replacing him, nor did he want to hear a single word from the cretin's mouth.
When Levins arrived at the helicopter, he saw that Steele had already arrived. Neither Max nor Sami was waiting inside, only a couple officers he didn't know or care to know.
The first stepped out of the helicopter and held out a hand. "I am Captain Marshall. I'm here to take command of the base."
"Hm." Steele looked the man up and down. "Not my first pick, but you'll do. Don't break anything while I'm gone."
"Hah." The man walked past, a disdainful look in his eye.
"Always had a way with men, huh?" Levins teased, a little maliciously. Steele didn't respond, nor did she say a word as the helicopter took off and left behind the place they had come to know as home.
Golden Fortress Command Room
December 13, 1:45 PM
David Carroll waited restlessly, alternatively checking the news and playing Minesweeper at his terminal. This time, he felt a little intimidated; Captain Steele was gone, not only from the room, but from the base in general, and she wasn't coming back. He was on his own. Technically, he was in charge, but... looking at the support officers around the room, it was obvious there wasn't a great deal of confidence in his abilities.
Then, a call came through on his terminal. All heads turned to the large screen at the front of the room as the face of CO-General Nell appeared on it, looking significantly more rested than the last time David had seen her.
"Special Advisor Carroll. Captain Steele has informed me she's already gone over the basics of terrain tactics with you. I assume you're prepared for command?"
"Y-yes." David found himself stuttering a little.
"Don't be nervous. I'll be talking you through part of the mission, but I won't be babysitting you. You understand your orders, right?"
That, David could answer. "The OF... I mean, Lieutenant Andy has taken back one of the HQ towers in Alara – the Central Plains base. His forces are moving north and south, and I'm to defend the headquarters in the meantime. Right?"
"Ah, so you haven't been in contact with Andy. I was hoping that the two of you would have a chance to talk."
"I... we..." David's mouth grew dry.
"I understand that he brings back... memories, but I'd really like you to become his partner in the near future. If you are not able to do that-"
"No, no. I can." If I refuse, you'll just find some way to make me do it.
"Excellent. Well, there's been a change in the mission description."
"...great. Explain."
Nell leaned back in her chair. "Blue Moon has assigned an OF to the defense of the Alara Region: Petrine. You probably won't have to deal with her directly, as Andy is keeping her forces busy; however, she has a subcommander in an HQ just east of here, at the Spire Hills. This officer has deployed his troops in a rather... awkward way, and I think we have an opportunity here to take control of the Spire Hills HQ as well."
"Uh... sure. So..." David fumbled around with the console a little, then brought up the screen. His jaw dropped slightly as he took in the overview. The Advisor flipped through several satellite feeds, wondering if this could possibly be accurate. "Uh..." He looked around the room, eyes landing on the support officer with the highest rank. "Lieutenant Browning. Can you recheck the overview's accuracy?"
"Yes, sir." The man started working at the terminal. David looked back at the terminal: Orange Star had two platoons of infantry available, one anti-armor infantry group, and a close-quarters special forces squad. However... "Uh, ma'am? We're moving through some lightly populated urban areas."
"If any of the industrial zones here are under Blue Moon control, you should focus some time towards clearing them out."
"Under Blue Moon control?"
"Yes. Industrial districts are highlighted on the overview. You can establish supply camps inside and commandeer the resources there, much as Blue Moon has done with – well, you can see the blue cities on the overview. They take time to build, but once the camps are in place, we can ship the resources back to HQ and send reinforcements or supplies over by convoy. Of course, it'll take time to secure enemy supply camps as well, but once that's done you can just take over where they left off; no need to build a new one. Thus, it's usually better to attack enemy-held cities instead of neutral ones, in order to deprive the enemy of funds." Nell paused. "Of course, it would be useless to take resources from these cities because we don't have any bases nearby."
"So it's a funding source and a safe point for resupply..." David paused. "What about the civilians?"
"There are designated safe zones for civilians to hide in, and it's against the Houston conventions to battle within residential areas."
"Sure. Let's go with that." The last few days had left David rather bitter.
"Breaches of the convention are less common than you might think, Advisor. Nobody wants a repeat of the Great World War."
David was about to question her, but the Lieutenant spoke up before he could. "No anomalies, sir. The tactical overview is accurate."
That sure didn't sound good. "Well, ma'am. Mind telling me what I'm supposed to do about an entire company of tanks?"
Nell only smiled. "Well, our goal here is to dislodge them from the area, right? We don't have to rout them in order to do that; no, we just need to cut off their command and control. To do that, we storm their HQ."
David looked at the overview again. "Huh. Those tanks can't reach the HQ."
"I doubt Blue Moon's subcommander expected an attack from this direction, and certainly not with infantry."
"So, we take advantage of his mistake. I can get behind that plan." David felt himself smile for the first time that day. It scared him a little.
Golden Fortress Recruit Barracks 4
December 13, 2:30 PM
"You're being transferred too?" Turd sat back. "Where?"
Far nodded. "Being moved west."
The largest man present continued his slow visual patrol of the others in the room, his eyes coming to rest on the other male there. "And... and you too, Sticks."
Sticks nodded, with a slight tremble. "Yeah... I've been ordered to Sami's task force."
"And that means..." Turd trailed off, looking down at his order.
Pvt. Gordon Tebowski
Report no later than: 13 Dec 887, 1700 hours CST
Location: "Golden Fortress" Motor Pool Five
Assignment: Special Task Force – "Andy"
"The hell, man. They can't do this to us. They can't break up the squad."
"We weren't supposed to have seen combat yet. They told us at the start these arrangements were temporary." Far continued packing her belongings.
"How can you just take all this?" Turd yelled. "They've been treating us like-"
"Tools? You knew that when you signed up, didn't you?" Far didn't even turn around. "Now I can't help but ask: why are you here?"
"I joined the army to fight Green Earth, not for this shit!" Turd threw his bag back onto his bunk. "Who the hell knew Blue Moon was going to pull this kind of... god damn it all."
"Hah." Far didn't say anything further. Turd glared at her.
"Green Earth?" Sticks looked at him.
"Don't get me wrong; I don't have any hate for 'em. But..." Turd's eyes glazed a little. "It's a fight I have to finish. You can't tell me you have any better of a reason, ice girl?"
"It's a job."
"Fine, I get it. You really are just a robot. A true coward." Turd stormed out the door, then turned around. "Never got to say goodbye to Pits, even. And Sticks... watch yourself out there, buddy."
"You too." Sticks still looked sick as Turd's back disappeared down the hallway.
Far hesitated, then spoke after a moment, just before the man was out of earshot:
"Turd. Kick some ass out there."
There was no response, but the pace of the footsteps moving down the hall slowed noticeably.
Blue Moon Forward HQ, South of Fort Halberd
Officers' Lounge
December 13, 7:47 PM
OF-Colonel Sasha had not yet received a signal from Olaf to take over for the night. Sasha felt that her commander was becoming less and less rational as of late, taking longer days and making larger mistakes. She couldn't blame him – after all, Orange Star was winning the war of attrition – but every time she suggested he rest, it only seemed to encourage him to push himself.
The door made a *ding* noise and opened, and Lieutenant – no, now Captain Baich – stepped into the lounge. Sasha turned and smiled a little. "How was the operation?"
"Well, I still miss my old hand, but this one ain't so bad." Baich flexed his new metallic fingers a little. "Can't imagine myself losing at thumb-wrestling anytime soon."
Sasha's datapad began to beep, and she picked it up, seeing that Olaf was finally calling. "CO-General Olaf. Your orders?"
"Sasha. I'm staying in command tonight. If that blasted Nell wants an endurance match, she's got one."
Sasha frowned; seemed that the bad feeling she'd had throughout the day was starting to bear fruit. "CO-General... shouldn't you rest?"
Olaf's tired eyes glared down, defiant. "The longer this stalemate persists, the more time Orange Star has. Therefore, we have to change tactics – keep them on their toes. You will take command all day tomorrow."
"CO-General..." Sasha started to speak, but the transceiver abruptly deactivated.
"Colonel..." Baich shrugged. "Your take?"
"Call me Sasha. ...and he's making a mistake. However, he does have a point."
"Hm. What do we do from here, ma'am?"
"I'll get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow. You are to meet with the subcommanders and devise a new approach for the battle. If I must command all day tomorrow, then I have ample time to change tactics." Sasha smiled wearily. "We cannot win if we don't dare. It is time for us to go all-in."