I don't own anything.
Infantry
-Chapter Four:
Shinji jerked awake and looked around his surroundings wildly. "Relax." Shinji turned and saw Chris staring down at him. "Just breathe Blue."
"Are we back on the ship?"
"Yeah," Chris replied. Shinji frowned as he noted his friend's expression. He was trying to be calm, but there was no hiding the sadness in his eyes. Shinji turned away and stared at the empty sleeve pinned to his chest.
"How bad did we get hit?"
"Real bad," Chris stated. "Our chain of command is shot. Sergeant Ford is the CO and Sergeant Rotuno is the platoon sergeant."
"How many did we loose?"
"Twenty men," Chris stated. "There's talk that the platoon is being disbanded and distributed amongst the rest of the Regiment." Shinji's eyes widened. He hadn't been with these men long, but they were his family damn it! "Sarge wanted to talk to you when you woke up. Do you feel up to it?"
"Yeah." Shinji sat up slowly, feeling surprisingly decent. "It doesn't bother me."
"What?"
"My arm," Shinji replied.
"You're so full of drugs that I doubt you'd notice the loss of everything below the waist." Chris slung Shinji's remaining arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet. Shinji managed a step and frowned at how off-balanced he felt. Chris led the way out of the infirmary and down the hall towards the armory. "Sergeant said that he was happier in the armory."
"Doesn't surprise me," Shinji commented. Chris rasped loudly on the hatch.
"Come in!" Chris opened the door and they both stepped in. Ford looked up from the armor he was repairing and his eyes widened. "Blue!"
"Sarge," Shinji returned. The older man's face lit up in a broad grin as he took a long draw on his cigar.
"Well God damned," Ford grunted. He turned back to the armor. "How much has Aquil told you?"
"He told me that we might be disbanded," Shinji stated.
"We aren't being disbanded," Ford stated. "Word came down that only units with more than half their respective numbers gone are being disbanded. We're close, but we're safe." Shinji felt a massive weight lift off his shoulders and saw Chris stand up a little straighter.
"What exactly happened?"
"The Y-Pres and Valley Forge collided," Ford stated. "We hit dirt with about half the numbers we were supposed to have. From there everything just got worse." He puffed on his cigar for a while. "Me and Rotuno are shuffling our remaining members so we won't have to bring aboard NCOs and leaders from outside of the unit." He hesitated. "Blue. You're an orphan. Your entire squad was wiped out, that's why I ordered you onboard myself."
"I see." Shinji felt like he had been punched in the gut. Vigianno, Klack, Crowley, and the rest. He hadn't gotten to know them well, but they were all decent men and fellow troopers.
"I'm bringing fourth squad's assistant squad leader over as your squad leader and I'm promoting a trooper from second to be the assistant. You're going to be the senior private. Oh, you're both PFCs now, comprende?"
"Comprendo," Chris replied. Shinji nodded. Ford leaned back and blew smoke at the ceiling.
"I won't shit you two. This isn't going to be easy," he stated. "We're in a mess that none of us have ever been through." He glanced at Shinji. "I need to speak with you Blue." He eyed Chris warily. "Alone." Shinji glanced at Chris and the man walked out. "Blue, you know, loosing an arm is a respectable way to end up flying a desk."
"I don't want to be a desk jockey!" Shinji protested. "I'm M.I."
"Those grunts are still M.I." Ford growled. "They're just doing their part in a different way."
"I want to fight," Shinji stated. Ford stared at him and puffed his cigar a few more times.
"Good," he stated finally. "I didn't want to loose you." He grinned brightly. "Don't worry about a thing Blue! Your next arm will have a Federation guarantee!" He paused for a moment. "You are right handed, right?"
"Yes Sergeant."
"Great!" Ford replied. He made a few obscene hand movements. "I'd be worried about accidents with my toy." Shinji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"All due respect Sarge, don't be a dick." Ford nearly fell out of his chair laughing and Shinji smirked as he dropped his lit cigar in his lap. The platoon's new commanding officer leapt to his feet and sent his cigar flying into the armor he had been working on. Ford stared at it and shrugged.
"Oh well."
"Oh well?" Shinji repeated.
"Take a closer look." Shinji walked around the suit of armor and stared at torn metal at its arm.
"This is mine?"
"Yeah," Ford grunted as he pulled his cigar out. "I'm chocking it up as beyond my capability. We'll drop it off at Sanctuary and they'll fix it."
"Why can't we just replace the arm?" Shinji asked.
"Too many connections for the pressure sensors," Ford stated. "The R&D guys decided that us apes are too stupid to fix it and I could not be happier. You busy?"
"No."
"Good," Ford replied. "Give me a hand here. We've got a lot to get done."
"Joy."
"Great, ain't it?" Ford asked. "You just cost the tax payers a couple million."
"Yeah."
"Who's the dick now, Blue?"
(:ii:)
Ford watched as his men formed up. He and Rotuno had agreed to just have them fall into a single formation. It would be too painful for everyone involved. "Alright, listen up!" All eyes turned on him. "I just got word, consider yourself officially on leave for the next week." The cheer almost sounded like there was a full platoon in place. "Technically, this isn't really leave though. We're just here to pick up a few suits and recuperate enough for when we get two more weeks of leave on Earth." The cheer almost doubled.
"That's right," Rotuno stated, "everybody party, that's an order."
"There's only one thing," Ford continued. "Me and Sergeant Rotuno don't post bail. If you get yourself thrown in the slammer, you're there until we leave. I don't care if you get arrested the moment we hit dirt, it's your own damned fault!" There were a few chuckles. The War Dogs were known to party with as much enthusiasm as they fought. "Give them the schedule."
"Alright! Pay attention!" Rotuno snapped. "We will hit dirt at ten! Get all your medical needs and whatnot out of the way. At fourteen hundred meet at the Great Hall for promotions and awards. Wear full dress, be on time, and be sober. I will drag every single one of you that fucks that up behind the hall and beat the shit out of you! The regimental commander will be there. God help you if you make a fool of yourself."
"Your sergeants have spoken!" Ford announced. "Get your sorry asses on the shuttles." The men fell out and Ford moseyed over to his assistant. "Like I was saying, good thing it was your right hand."
"Don't want to hear it Sarge," Blue stated.
"I remember a kid I went to boot camp with," Ford stated. "Guy was a rock, dumb as can be. The first time he tried to salute with a fake hand. . ."
"You wanna Waltz Matilda?"
"Took his head clean off," Ford stated with relish. He sat back and tried to figure out if he could take his assistant in a fight. It wasn't fare. Those damned Siberian boots were huge!
(:ii:)
"There we go son," Shinji stared down at his arm with the same blank acceptance that he had stared at his stump. It was an ugly mass of fluted steel exoskeleton, hydraulic hoses, and pistons. The fingers clenched into a fist and his wrist rotated. "Your first time in combat?"
"Yes sir," Shinji replied.
"A shame," the doctor stated mostly to himself. "Check the connection, Naru."
"Yes, Doctor." The young nurse moved around Shinji and inspected the cuff attaching the arm to what was left of his humerus.
"Aren't there less noticeable prosthetics?" Shinji asked. He felt so distant from what was happening that he wondered what would happen when he came back to himself.
"There are," the doctor stated. "Those are too fragile though. This one is combat ready. Sadly, the Federation health plan doesn't include biological prosthetics on a price basis."
"I see."
"I don't know why you'd request to keep fighting," the Doctor commented as he manipulated Shinji's arm and checked its limited sensitivity.
"It's an MI thing," Shinji replied. That was true enough; he'd never expect a Navy man to understand.
"It all checks out," Naru reported.
"Good," the Doctor stated. "Now, this arm is pretty simple. Your O&A sergeant should be able to fix it if anything breaks." Shinji frowned as he thought back to Ford's preferred method of hitting things until they worked.
"It's sturdy, right?"
"Of course," the Doctor replied. "Like I'm going to give an ape something he break over his own head." Shinji's eye twitched and he considered the ribbons pinned to the man's lab coat. There were quite a few and not a single combat award among them. "Relax son, I'm just kidding."
"Yes sir."
"Any questions?" Shinji glanced around, already feeling ridiculous for what he was about to ask.
"Well, sir, have you ever heard of an MI scalping himself with a robot arm while trying to salute?" The doctor grinned.
(:ii:)
"That's it?" Ford asked as he lit his cigar.
"This is it," Shinji replied. "The doctor said that you should be able to fix it." Ford stared at it for a long moment.
"You kept the warranty, right?"
"Are you kidding Sarge?" Shinji asked. "With the way you normally fix things, I tried to get six more."
"Dick." Shinji smirked and pushed the sleeve of his jacket down over his new arm. "Hey, Blue, a bunch of us are going drinking after this. Do you want to come?" Shinji frowned. He had never been one for drinking, or parties for that matter, a fact that had driven Misato insane. Apparently, she had never heard of a minor turning down alcohol.
"Sounds good to me Sarge."
"Excellent!"
(:ii:)
Shinji leaned against the bar and closed his eyes as everything swam a little. "You alright Blue?"
"I'm good Sarge, I mean, sir." Shinji looked down at the medals on his chest. "You put me in for the Terran Valor medal." The medal itself was the second highest medal for courage in combat, just under the Terran Medal of Honor.
"I suggested it," Ford stated. "The regimental commander approved it."
"I didn't do anything special," Shinji protested.
"You stood in the doorway and provided cover fire with one arm ripped off," Ford stated. "Obviously, the General thought that was good enough."
"I didn't even know my arm was gone," Shinji stated as he sipped his beer again. "I didn't do anything. What about the guys who did something, the guys like Klack? I probably would be dead if it weren't for Klack and he didn't get the TVM."
"Look Blue," Ford began, "I'm about to tell you the most important acronym in all the military, okay?"
"Yes Sarge. . .sir."
"FIDO," Ford stated simply. "Fuck it, drive on. No matter what happens, just keep going."
"You're telling me that I shouldn't care?" Shinji asked.
"Of course you should care," Ford replied, "you wouldn't be human if you didn't care and these guys are family. They're grunts, just like you. There's no way you can't care, but if you dwell on it, it'll just drive you crazy."
"Alright." Shinji finished his beer and stared down at the medals pinned to his chest. He had gotten four and Klack had only gotten one. It just didn't seem fair.
"Private Ikari?" Shinji turned and stared at the somewhat bleary woman before him. He recognized her as the nurse from the hospital.
"Miss Naru, right?"
"That's right," the nurse replied with a smile. "Celebrating something?"
"Being alive," Shinji replied. "Still having a few of my friends left."
"I see," Naru replied. Shinji gestured for another beer and reached into his pocket for his wallet.
"My treat," Naru stated, resting her hand on his arm.
"Thanks."
-End
(:ii:)
-Author's notes. New chapters from now on! Mwahahahahahahaha! cough hack I really gotta cut back on the smokes.