I don't own anything.
Infantry
-Chapter Five:
Shinji jerked awake and looked around his surroundings. It was too dark for him to make out much. "Quit squirming Blue." Shinji froze and turned to stare at the woman lying next to him.
"Oh." Shinji slipped out of the bed and snatched up his clothes. He pulled on his trousers and button down shirt, but kept his jacket bundled to keep his medals from making noise. He grabbed his shoes and began creeping towards the door.
"You're up." Shinji froze and turned to see Naru sitting up in her bed, knuckling the sleep out of her eyes.
"Uh, yeah."
"Okay," Naru replied. "What are you doing?" Shinji frowned. What was he going to say? "The dorm mother will catch you if you leave that way. You have to go out the window. I thought you knew."
"Nope."
"Oh." Naru stretched and lay back down. "I just figured you knew because you got up on time."
"On time?"
"You have to get out before four or the dorm mother will catch you," Naru replied.
"Oh." Shinji pulled on his shoes and pushed the window open.
"And Blue?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna have dinner tonight?"
"Sure." Shinji climbed out and dropped to the ground from the second floor as quietly as he could. A second later a man dropped down a few feet away.
"Morning," the man offered.
"Morning," Shinji returned. Another man landed with a thud and a curse.
"Damn it trooper, didn't anybody ever tell you not to date a girl on the third floor?"
"She was worth it," the man groaned.
"Corporal Kurosaki?" Shinji asked, recognizing the voice of one of his few fellow Japanese troopers and now his squad leader.
"Hey Blue," the man grunted. "I think I fractured my ankle."
"She really better have been worth it," the other man commented as he moved to check Kurosaki's ankle. The silver bars on his collar caught the light and glittered brightly.
"Hey you three!" a voice called as a flight flickered on them.
"Bolt!" the captain cried. Shinji slung Kurosaki over his shoulder and followed his superior officer as they ran like hell.
(:ii:)
Shinji staggered into the cafeteria and dropped his jacket and garrison cover onto one of the chairs before moving into the buffet line. "Well look what the cat dragged in." Shinji turned and saw his former section leader and current platoon commander dressed in PT gear already holding a plate.
"Corporal Kurosaki is in the hospital."
"How'd that happened?" Ford asked.
"Third floor," Shinji stated.
"Never date a girl on the third floor," Ford grumbled in exasperation.
"He said she was worth it," Shinji stated as he began shoveling everything he could fit onto his plate and than began piling more on top. The rigors of Siberia had taught him the beauty of a high-calorie western breakfast.
"So, which floor did you end up on with that cute little brunette?"
"Second." Ford grinned and followed Shinji to his seat before sitting across from him.
"We're taking you and Aquil out for tattoos," the former NCO stated.
"Me and Chris?" Shinji asked. Ford's grin slipped a little.
"You're the only new guys left," he stated. He pulled up the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal a snarling dog on his upper left arm. "We're all getting ours updated."
"Updated?" Shinji asked. Ford reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a slip of paper. On it was a similar dog, but the worlds 'First On' and 'Last Off' had been written in a circle around it. "What's up with that?"
"You didn't hear?" Ford asked. "We were first down on Klendathu, just like the plan said, but we ended up being the last off. The brass lost track of us and left us there. That's why we were surrounded at the end."
"Oh." Shinji looked down at his plate and began eating. "What happens when we're done here?"
"After leave?" Ford asked. "We're heading to Terra to pick up our new guys. After that, stand by."
"Copy that sir." Shinji picked up his tray and made his way back to the buffet line. He was so intent on food that his normally razor sharp senses missed the man walking towards him.
"Shinji?" Shinji nearly dropped his plate to attack the other man who had surprised him. Instead he managed to turn, just slowly enough not to send his food flying, to see a short bespectacled man in front of him. "Holy shit, it is you."
"Kensuke?" Shinji asked.
"I like the hair," Kensuke Aida replied.
"Don't be a dick," Shinji stated automatically. His eyes took in the ranks pinned to his friend's collar. "Sir," he added.
(:ii:)
Kensuke watched as Shinji shoveled his food down his throat. He had enough experience with MI to know that it was useless to talk to them while they ate. Instead, Kensuke took in the changes in his friend. Shinji had gained a couple of inches of height in high school, but no extra weight. He had definitely been scrawny, but the MI had added about a hundred pounds of muscle. Then, there was the hair. Shinji finished his food quickly and lit a thin, brown cigar. "Lieutenant JG, eh?"
"I'm in line for a promotion pretty soon," Kensuke replied. "What about you?" Shinji grabbed a bundled jacket and opened it. Kensuke's eyes read the medals instead of the rank sewn on the sleeves. "Holy shit."
"Huh?" Shinji glanced at his uniform himself. "Oh." Kensuke counted four medals and recognized them all. They were the Terran Valor medal, the Combat Action medal for serving in combat, a freebie for MI really, the Terran Defense Service medal for serving during a war, another freedie, and the Operation Bughouse campaign medal. All under the silver winged skull of the MI's drop qualification badge.
"You were on Klendathu?"
"Yup," Shinji replied, holding up his left hand. Kensuke stared at the metallic prosthetic poking out from his sleeve.
"How much?"
"Mid-humerus," Shinji replied. "So, you're here working R&D?"
"Kind of," Kensuke replied. "I work for ONI."
"Spook," Shinji growled. "You know, you guys made a couple of mistakes back on Klendathu." Kensuke sighed.
"We went on the best information we had," he stated. "We wanted to collect more, but we ran out of time."
"Come again?"
"We explained that we didn't have enough information to reliably predict the arachnid's response to an attack," Kensuke stated, "but we were told that we had to go. The civilians wanted an attack and they got one. No one could have predicted the outcome."
"Try asking a grunt," Shinji returned. Kensuke nodded his understand. Boots on the ground tended to know things that satellites would never find out.
"You know, everyone is looking for you."
"Looking?" Shinji repeated, "an in, still looking? It's been more than a year."
"You should know better than anyone that a disappearance is the worst kind of break up," Kensuke countered. "They want to know what happened to you." Shinji shrugged and puffed away on his cigar. "When did you start smoking?"
"High stress occupation," Shinji replied with a shrug. "How do you know about everyone looking for me?"
"Misato contacted me as soon as you hung up on her," Kensuke replied.
"An ONI officer could probably have found me if they wanted," Shinji commented, "even a new one."
"I figured, you'd talk when you were ready," Kensuke stated. "I did look into where you were. I nearly had a heart attack when I found out you picked infantry. Touji tried for the MI too, but was rejected because of his prosthetics. He's in the Navy now."
"No kidding?" Shinji asked.
"Nope. He's a gunner. Asuka is a pilot candidate too."
"Oh."
"I really can't believe you went Infantry."
"That was kind of the point," Shinji returned. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention finding me to anyone."
"It's your business," Kensuke replied. "I'm just here looking for a couple of Recon grunts."
"What does ONI want with our Recon?"
"They work with us," Kensuke explained. "It's an Intel-gathering deal." Shinji nodded and puffed away for a few minutes in silence.
"I gotta go."
"That's fine," Kensuke replied. "I'll drop you a line some time."
"That'd be great." Shinji lurched to his feet and pulled his jacket on before buttoning it closed. "See you around."
"Yeah," Kensuke agreed. "And Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"You should get in touch with everyone," Kensuke stated. "They want to know that you're okay."
"In time," Shinji replied. "I'll do it when I'm ready." Kensuke nodded his understanding.
"Good luck."
(:ii:)
"Who's the squid?" Shinji glanced to his left as he exited the chow hall and saw Ford waiting for him.
"An old friend," he returned. The older man nodded. "You need something sir?"
"Your squad needs a scout," Ford replied. "I'd bring in someone with more experience to do it, but you have the highest armor aptitude scores in the platoon." Shinji frowned and took a drag on his cigar. Being a scout was a shit job, no two ways about it. They were usually way out in front of the unit in the most lightly armored Marauder suits yet produced.
Despite that, Shinji felt something twisting deep in his gut. That sounded exciting.
"I'll do it."
"You know about the fatality rates among scouts, right?"
"I know, sir," Shinji returned.
"Alright," Ford stated. "It's normally a lance coolie's job, but I can't promote you so soon. Tell you what, do five drops as a scout and the rate is yours."
"Deal."
"Good!" Ford cheered. "Now go change. We have work to do."
"I'm on leave!" Shinji protested.
"Did I say work?" Ford asked. "I meant to say that we have a dozen new chain guns and assorted other toys that need to be zeroed. Sound better?"
"Much sir."
-End
(:ii:)
-Author's notes. Oh my God! It's a sign of the apocalypse! Infantry has been updated. Holy shit! You guys just kept riding me. Please note, the rest of the chapters have been rewritten.
Now I know this isn't much to show for a few years hiatus, but I can at least promise the next chapter won't take as long. Actually, I wasn't even going to post this till I leave, but I didn't have anything else.