William Hagebak: Simpler Times

Story by unity9

Lieutenant Commander William Hagebak stood in his office. He looked around his surroundings and takes a deep sigh as he picks up his coffee. Then he opens the drawer in his desk and picks up his silver flask. He pours a slug of scotch into his coffee and sets it back down in his desk. Then the young officer looked at the decorations on his wall. It was littered with pictures, degrees, and awards. Not that he cared for the awards and the degrees, Hagebak felt that showing those off was a form of forced vanity. A kind of peer pressure from his fellow officers to show-off what you earned to become an officer. He would much rather not have them up.

The pictures; however, he loved having up on his wall. It was pictures of his family and his friends, all were of him dressed in his uniform. Then he looks at the first picture of himself. The first picture of him wearing the uniform for the first time. It was a younger version of him, wearing a sharp dressed blue uniform with a decorative cap. He was standing at attention with an Alliance flag draped behind him.

Hagebak takes a sip of his coffee and says to himself. "Those were the days back then." Then he looks at himself in the mirror next to the photo. The image has changed since that picture was taken. The youthful looking recruit in the picture looked nothing like the hardened officer standing before him in the mirror. There were more scars on his face since the day he took that recruit photograph. He takes a deep breath and said. "Simpler times."

He opens up his Omni-tool and looks at early journal entries. He found the one he was looking for. It was a voice journal from when he went through basic training.

XXX

October 18, 2178

Two months since I just graduated from the Averros University on the colony planet of Gibson, an industrialized planet that specializes in business and scientific research. Mom is a district administrator for the ExoGeni branch on Gibson and dad is a Captain for the Alliance. After graduation, both my parents sat me down and asked what I wanted to do with my life. From my point of view I only had two choices. Become a desk jockey and work for a soulless company like my mother or join the Alliance and get dirt thrown at me on a daily basis. I choose the latter.

It was expected of me to do something with my life since I was the oldest of four brothers and I just happen to be the first generation born on Gibson since my parents immigrated to this colony from Jacksonville, Florida on Earth… no pressure, right? I decided to follow in my father's footsteps and maybe become a career soldier just like him.

Dad gave me the rundown of my job options in the military and he suggested that now that I have a four year degree in my pocket, I qualify to be an officer. However, no matter what choice I make I have to go through boot camp. There's no way around it, dammit! Boot camp. I still remember those old Earth vids, especially that one called Full Metal Jacket. I just had the image of being lined up and having some well-dressed guy yelling and screaming at you, making you piss your pants, and if you do something wrong you get smacked around a bit.

Today is the day. After endless trials of paperwork and being personally violated by various doctors and their long & bony fingers, I was cleared for leave and for the first time in my life I was visiting Earth by myself. No family visitations, no trips to major theme parks, no touring the major cities, just me against the elements. I was told that I will be going to a place on Earth in the United North American States called Great Lakes. It was a base that specialized in basic training and all humans from all over Alliance space come here to become fully fledged Alliance servicemen and marines. My transport ship will be landing on Earth's moon Luna and from there I will be taken on a transport directly to Great Lakes. Before I got here, they told me that I must be issued a new Omni-tool. This Omni-tool doesn't have all the bells & whistles my old one has, but this model is specifically made for Alliance personnel and as a part of stress relief on recruits, I am "encouraged" to make a journal entry at least once in a while. So this is my first entry. Now I have to stop, because my transport is here.

October 21, 2178

Here's the lowdown so far. I forgot to mention earlier that I was traveling with other recruits from my colony of Gibson. We were traveling in groups and when we got to ticket information counter, the man behind the counter pointed us in the right direction. We didn't even ask for directions and he already knew where we were supposed to go. The joys of repetition.

When we got to our gate, we were met with blue uniformed men and women all herding a bunch of young people around. The dark skinned woman looked at us and said. "Alright, recruits. Now line up and remember. When you see someone in uniform and they are wearing solid blue pants, you refer to them as 'serviceman'. When you see a uniform wearing a gold stripe running down their pants, you refer to them as 'chief'. Do you understand?"

"Yes, serviceman." We replied as she downloaded each of our information from our Omni-tool.

"Now I want all of you to go sit over there on the floor, crossed-leg." The woman ordered and I complied.

I sat down on the cold floor and waited for a plain white transport ship to pick us up and take us to Earth. While we waited, there were other servicemen in full uniform verbally bantering us. A little precursor before the two months of yelling and screaming.

The transport came and in less than twenty minutes, we landed in the Recruit Training Command Great Lakes. When the transport doors opened, an intimidating gentleman wearing an old fashioned Marine Drill Sergeant uniform and yelled. "You have ten seconds to get off this bus and you already wasted four! Move it! Move it!"

We were lined up and whatever we did, we did it in groups. We were given physical training gear, running shoes, and blue sweater shirt & pants with an Alliance logo on the front. We were told that we will be 'going asari' for a day which means we will be wearing the blue sweater PT uniform until we are each measured to fit into our Alliance uniforms, which we got yesterday.

After we got our clothes and hygiene products, we were taken to our barracks. I was assigned to 609 Division and it was when me and my fellow recruits met our drill instructors. A short and stout man we had to refer to as Chief Price. The next was a middle aged woman with curly brown hair and a permanent scowl on her face. We had to refer to her as Serviceman First Class Provost. Then there was the one we had to call Serviceman Second Class Anderson. He was very intimidating of all the three. He was tall, he sported a traditional buzz-cut, piercing blue eyes that could stare into your soul, and he could yell the paint off a wall. Anderson would make a krogan cry.

After we got our uniforms, we were officially on what is called Preparation Days which consisted of a full week regiment of medical & dental inspection, getting my head shaved, and then we finally got to meet the man in charge of the base. His name is Captain Czarapata if memory serves correctly. All the newest recruits were required to meet him in the Graduation Hall. I managed to get a video feed of him making his speech and this was the best part:

A man decorated in a blue uniform and gold trim approached the podium and stood before an audience of roughly ten-thousand recruits from all over the Human Systems Alliance. He takes in the sight of the numerous people before him and nods in approval. He takes his decorative cover off his head to reveal his well-groomed hair with the color of salt and pepper. He clears his throat. "Recruits! Welcome to RTC Great Lakes and most importantly, welcome to the Alliance military. My name is Captain Donald Czarapata I am the Captain of this base and I stand before more than ten-thousand recruits from all corners of Alliance space. You have volunteered to do a deed greater than yourselves for your family, your friends, your community, and most importantly the human race. This very base you are going to undergo your training holds was originally built in the early twentieth century by the old United States to serve as a training facility for its newest Navy recruits. Today we uphold that tradition of honor, courage, and commitment which all of you will take to the stars and beyond. You will all undergo a rigorous twelve week training period. The many things you will learn how to function inside a standard Alliance starship; such as stowing gear, properly addressing authority, firefighting, hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, and shipboard operations."

"You have volunteered to do these things and I stress the word, 'volunteer'. Now you all have heard of the Turian Hierarchy, correct?" A few recruits made the noise of boos and hisses, but they were suppressed by the roving Drill Instructors. "Of course you all know of the events of the First Contact War twenty-one years ago, but did you know about how the turians take in their recruits? It is mandatory in their society to draft their young at fifteen years of age. Imagine being fifteen years old and you were told that you must serve in the military for fifteen years minimum? You were barely starting high school at that age and imagine being conscripted into military service? I know you have all had at least one friend back home who doesn't want to join the military, because they don't have the right mindset for duty. Now imagine if they were forced to join, do you think they would last basic training?" A collective shout of 'No' was ringing all over the hall. "No is the correct answer. Even if they do survive basic training, do you think they would last out there during their tour of service?" Another shout of 'No' came ringing across the hall. "That's right. You are volunteers. And volunteers are highly motivated individuals that will commit to causes that are bigger than themselves. You are all entering this base as volunteers and twelve weeks from now, you will leave here as a serviceman or a marine depending on your choice of duty."

I'll stop right there. The rest of his speech was just talking about what we will learn, what we will be doing, blah, blah, blah. Well, it's lights out. See you next entry.

October 25, 2178

It has been a week since I arrived at Great Lakes and today we had just moved out of our Preparation Barracks and into what they called Proper Barracks. One of these barracks was going to be our home for the next eleven weeks. We packed everything we were issued in our large duffel bags and marched in formation clear across the other side of the base. We came to a building named after a decommissioned ship. The whole concept is that we treat the inside of the building as if we were onboard a ship. The name of the 'ship' was Ship #7 and it was called the SSV Phoenix. Someone asked if it was named after the city, but it was actually named after the mythical Greek bird and it was also the first Alliance ship that ventured through the Charon relay in 2149. The mission was led by Colonel Grissom, Lieutenant Colonel Sandhurst, and yes Doctor Averroes. I'm all too familiar about the professor who discovered element zero and discovered the mass relays all over the galaxy, since I spent four years in a college named after him.

The next big surprise was the size of the Compartments and we found out that our all-male division was going to be shared with an all-female division. It turns out that our compartment was to be shared with both men and women, even when we shower. Yes the showers are co-ed to accumulate the limited space on a ship. To most of the males in the compartment, it sounds like a lot of fun. That was until we were drop our gear at our chosen bunks and marched back to the medical building. We are to receive a series of shots.

They called us up individually and out of a hundred male and female recruits, they only had five medical staff members to service us. The staff was made up of civilians, but it a relief because it meant taking a break from being at full military attention.

When they called my name, I reported to room three. I was met with an asari. Yes, it was an asari nurse. I met asari back on Gibson, but never seen one working a job on Earth before. I took a recording of that scene back there and I will repeat the conversation for this journal. Here's how it went.

The asari nurse pointed to a stool next to a series of syringes. "Please have a seat, Mr. Hagebak and roll up your sleeves."

"Yes, ma'am." I sit down and do what she tells me to do. "My I ask a question?"

"Yes." She said as she was applying her latex gloves.

"I have visited Earth many times in the past and the only asari I have seen were the tourists. Do you live here?" I asked, because knowing a little history about someone isn't wrong to ask, especially if that someone was about to stick needles into my body.

"Oh, well yes I do live here. I work here because my bondmate is a Gunnery Chief in the Alliance and stationed here. Not to mention that we have two children." She smiles as she readies the first syringe.

"Oh, then he must be a lucky man." I said.

"Actually, the correct term would be 'she's a lucky woman'." She told me and I was a little bit embarrassed. "Yes, she's a human female."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make the wrong insinuations." I said while at the same time trying to wrap around the thought that a human female could be a father of a child when it involved bonding with an asari.

"Don't worry. I'm not, because I love her and the kids we have together. But I am sorry about this." She rubs alcohol on my shoulder and prepares to inject the syringe. "Do you know what this is?"

"No, what is it?" I asked.

"It's called finasteride type 25." She said. "It requires two shots to each arm."

"What does it do?" I nervously asked.

"It will suppress your sexual desires without harming your hormonal balance and performance during your training and the effects will only last for thirteen weeks, since you will be sharing a compartment and showering with other females of your species. It is simply called the Salt Peter Shot. Here we go."

I took the shots, but it didn't hurt. "That wasn't so bad."

"Now I have to ask you to drop your pants and skivvies." She casually said.

"Excuse me?" I almost yelped.

"For the Salt Peter Shot requires two shots on the left shoulder, two on the right, and one in specifically in the genitals." She said while making the last syringe ready.

I drop my pants and I try to make a light absurdity of the situation. "I know that you are an asari and married to a human female, but we males have something down there that's supposed to be there. I hope you know that."

"I'm quite familiar with human anatomy, Mr. Hagebak." She reassured me. "You have nothing to worry about. I only castrated one male this week."

"What?" I asked while my eyes went wide.

"I'm just kidding." She giggled. "The last shot must be administered in the genitals. For a female I would inject this into the ovaries. For males, the testicles. Here we go." She injects the needle and I feel a slight pinch. It almost felt like getting lightly tapped in the groin area. When she pulled the needle out she asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." I said. "I'll live."

"Alright, we're done here." She pulls off her gloves. "You can return to the waiting room."

I limp slightly out of the room and I get smirks from the other recruits after they got their shots, but I wonder if the shots really worked. I was able to test it out later that evening when we were told to 'go hygiene' which meant go shower with many of our fellow female recruits. Let's just say the Salt Peter Shot works.

December 25, 2178

Merry Christmas. We were allowed to have an in house free time which meant getting our responsibilities out of the way at a more casual pace and it was a time when we could write to our families or call them on the extranet terminals, under supervision of course. This was the last training week before Hell Week. So far we have learned to operate firearms, put out a fire on a ship; we have gone through rigorous physical training in simulated training scenarios. Everything we have done has now let us up to this moment which is fast approaching. I'm a bit excited, but nervous. I don't know what to expect, but rumors around here love to get out of control. I heard it simulates a ship you are on getting attacked by pirates above the orbit of some planet and then you must work with a ground team to land on the surface and eradicate the pirate forces on the surface.

I just hope marching isn't required during Hell Week. Marching is my weakest area, but it could be worse. I could be the flag bearer. They go through so much crap from the Drill Instructors. I swear Anderson was enraged with one of them because he had trouble with 'Guide by right' when handling the stick that was supposed to be the flag. Anderson was so pissed he grabbed the stick and broke it in half right in front of the poor bastard.

My bunkmates are a nice bunch to hang around. Some of them are from colonies like me, but mostly farming communities. A couple of them are from Shanxi and talk about their parents and grandparents fighting off turians, but everyone thinks that the colony has become the 'Alabama of the Alliance.' I think I know what it means, but you have to be from Earth to understand that joke. Speaking of Earth the other recruits I don't hang out with are a few of the Earth born kids. They tend to be a bit cockier and tend to have more trouble with authority figures. Why would they be in the Alliance military? I ask. Perhaps some just join to get away from the slums of Earth and I think a couple was court ordered. Join the military or go to jail. I can't help think that they only join because they can't hold down a job in the civilian world. I'm not saying that all Earth born humans are bad, but these guys are making hard to like them. I'm beginning to suspect that some of them were in gangs before joining the Alliance when I think I heard one of them saying the name Reds.

January 5, 2179

Well, tomorrow's the big day. Hell week. Let's see what's going to happen and I'll write after it's all over. Here goes nothing.

January 12, 2179

Jesus Christ and all that is holy. My body is in tremendous pain. I just went through an intense week of pain. Nothing to eat but nutrient paste tubes and water and I sweated away at least twenty pounds of body weight. Let me tell you about it.

We packed everything in our duffle bags and carried it onboard a fictional Alliance ship surrounded by a massive holographic simulator. When we entered on board, we were assigned bunks. The simulation was amazing and felt so real. We were pretending to be travel through space and we are supposed to undertake the duties and responsibilities of working on a ship. Then it happens, we get a distress call from a generic human colony and we are the only ship in the area. They are attacked by pirates… now I know it would be politically incorrect to say which species [*cough*] batarians [*cough*]. Then we have to work together to destroy their pirate ship. We managed to destroy the ship, but our ship took damage. We had to rescue the injured servicemen & marines and save our ship. After that was over, we landed on the planet's surface and we had to liquidate the pirates that had landed on the surface. We landed on the surface of the fake planet and I must admit it also looked very real.

The whole process lasted an entire week. We kept guard, did patrols, and when we did encounter a pirate it came in the form of a holographic image of a batarian and once in a while a holographic krogan. The whole process pushed my body to the limit and then some.

When it was finally over, we were given a special ceremony that turns us over from recruits to full-fledged servicemen and marines. We were barely awake to celebrate, but now our Drill Instructors told us to get some sleep for the next eight hours. Tomorrow we all graduate and our family and friends were going to see us in our finest dress uniforms. Until then. Nite nite.

January 13, 2179

Graduation went great. The stands were full of friends and family of the graduating military personnel. I never felt so happy to see members of my family. My dad, my mom, and two of my youngest brothers came to see me. I was only allowed to invite four members of my family, but I hoped my other two brothers were waiting for me somewhere.

Mom gave me a big hug; she has never hugged me like this before. My brothers do the same thing, but when I saw my dad I just saluted him, because he was wearing his Captain's uniform and my training would only allow me to give him the proper respect to a superior officer. But off the record, when we got back to their hotel room he gave me a huge hug. Then to my shock, my other two brothers were waiting for me at the hotel. They tackled me to the floor and we called each other the dirty names we gave each other since childhood.

We got to see the sights of Chicago and we got something to eat. We ate some deep dish pizza the city was famous for and for an entire day I felt bliss. However, the fun didn't last. Dad had to report back to his ship while my brothers had to go back to school. Mom also had to go as well, because she was coordinating ExoGeni's next colony on some planet in the Terminus called Feros. I knew they couldn't stay for long, but I couldn't help but feel the water turn to ice around my eye as I walked back to my ship on that snow covered base.

January 16, 2179

Today is my last day. We were given our next assignments. Some members are sent to trade school and must remain on the base which in terms is called 'move across the street' since they will no longer be in the basic training side of the base. The recruits who had chosen to be a marine are going to Rio de Janeiro in the United South American States and train. The recruits who became servicemen are going to Vancouver, British Columbia. The rest of my division are being divided up and scattered all over the Earth to train for the jobs they applied for. As for me, I was the only one who was going to officer training school and guess what? It is located in Rio. I guess me and the marines are going together and when we are all done, my former division crew will have to salute me. Looking forward to it. Maybe in the future, I can apply to join the N7 program. Well here's to a new life.

XXX

Lieutenant Commander Hagebak read through his past journals and shakes his head. "Those were the days. Those were the days when all I had to worry about was trying to get out of basic and all my worldly possessions could fit in a large duffel bag." He sighs and takes a drink from his scotch flavored coffee and looks at himself in the mirror. "In four years, I went from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander. Seems just like yesterday."

There was a knock on his door and an somber young officer saluting him. "Sir. We just received an emergency transmission."

"What is it Ensign?" Hagebak replied.

"We got a message from Admiral Hackett." The Ensign said with a tone of sadness. "Shepard's ship, the Normandy. Since it has been attacked by a vessel of unknown origin about a week ago, the new human Councilor and Admiral Hackett is organizing a memorial service for Shepard."

"Where is the service going to take place?" Hagebak asked.

The Ensign replied. "It will be held at the Presidium Wards near C-Sec academy. The Admiral wants all hands on this one."

Hagebak shakes his head and put his coffee down. "When do we leave?"

"The service begins next Saturday at twelve noon Earth time." The Ensign told him.

"Let the Admiral know that our division is ready and able. Inform the crew to get their dress blues ready next Saturday. That is all, Ensign." Hagebak dismissed the young officer. He looks back at the pictures on the wall and frowns at a picture of himself receiving an N7 graduation certificate and it was being handed to him by Shepard. "Simpler times."