The pilots of the prime squad lined up and waited for their commander to address them. Ryoko Jeagan walked up and down the row and looked them all over. Janessa Kepshawn, Junitha Findragon, Raddy Volcane, Samal Hectorese and Zemwell Tickbird stood in their space flight suits holding their helmets.
“Okay listen up maggots,” said Ryoko with vehemence. Then she smiled and chuckled to herself and said, “sorry I just wanted to try that. In all seriousness I have seen no evidence that negative reinforcement makes for better soldiers. But that does not mean that we are going to be friends. We are not friends. I am your commander. It is your job to do what I tell you to do. If I tell you to do something, you do it. If I do not tell you to do anything, then do not do anything. The only time you should be acting on your own out there is when I tell you to act on your own. You had best all get that through your heads right now so there is no confusion in the near future. Now you are all going to pay very close attention as the ships master of arms explains the new weapons systems we will be using. And after that you are going to start getting familiar with your fighters. Mr. Sinclair they are ready for you.”
Roweth Sinclair was the master of arms for the Daedlus. He was not very handsome for a gene mod soldier. His features were largely average but he was in as good of shape as any other soldier on the ship and there were some who found his British accent quite charming.
He explained that the kites, as the fighters were called, did not use any ballistic weapons. Projectiles were unreliable in space. They were equipped with smart rockets and something called laser claws as well as a pulse cannon. The smart rockets only needed to be locked onto a target and they would follow it until they were close enough to detonate. The laser claws were some sort of buddy weapon he called it. They fired lasers that could cut through a horde fighter in theory. The pulse cannon was meant to be fired only once by each fighter in a given battle. It was meant to be fired at close range to a horde cruiser thus employing the same sort of hit and run battle tactic used by the horde pod fighters themselves. He went on to explain that in the event their fighter was damaged and had to be abandoned there was a jet pack built into their suits. There was a weapon in two parts in their leg compartments that was easy to snap together and could be used to continue fighting even if your fighter was destroyed. Furthermore if you were close enough you could activate a vibrating blade and use it as a melee weapon against enemy fighters. Roweth finished by wishing them all good luck.
The kite fighters were silver diamond shaped machines. The cockpit was strangely spacious. It was not like any fighter Janessa was used to. The steering system was not like anything she had seen before. There was no steering stick or wheel. Her arms rested on arm rests so she could grasp a bar on each side of the cockpit. The fighter was steered essentially with the whole torso. When you moved your body one way the whole fighter moved with you. Instead of being an object to be controlled it was like an extension of ones self. It took time to get used to the reaction time. There was no delay between what you wanted the fighter to do and when it happened. If you steered it in any given direction is moved instantly to reorient itself to your view. They spent most of the day in the fighters learning to use the weapons. Ryoko drilled them for hours favoring a pyramid formation for attack runs. They took a break for lunch then they were right back out in the fighters again. By the time they landed back in the hangar it was ‘nighttime’ on the ship. The ships clock was set to central European time and the lights on most of the ship dimmed at the same time it would be night in Switzerland which happened to be the location of the Solar Fleets home office on Earth.
Janessa felt stiff from sitting in the same position for most of the day. She felt the need to loosen up. And she knew the perfect way to do it.
Although time was relative in space most of the crew did their sleeping when the lights dimmed. The ships workout area was abandoned at this time of night. Janessa had the gymnastics room to herself.
The training and work out rooms of the Daedlus were more than just large. The gymnastics area was almost Olympic sized. There appeared to be two chambers one for female events and one for male events. Janessa put on her pink leotard and went straight for the uneven parallel bars. She did her stretches then mounted the bars and did her usual routine, with occasional variations. Her landings were not always perfect but it had been years since she had done this for competition so she did not worry about it. She remembered ten years ago. It felt like so much longer a time ago. Some people claimed her imperfect landing had cost her the gold medal. Janessa did not see it that way. She had won the silver. The other girls, the ones who had won gold and bronze, she wondered where they were now. Because of her background Janessa had been the one who got the most media attention at the time. The natural born daughter of Hipper leaders competing with enhanciles in the summer Olympic games. When she did win a medal there was no shortage of people who wanted her DNA tested to prove her genetic origins. Gene mods were a tricky thing in the Olympics. If you were born with gene mods it was okay. But if you had any form of gene mod later in life you were disqualified. Even after the tests proved Janessa had never had gene mods and that she was not taking any enhacile drugs there were still a few people who claimed there was a conspiracy or her win was a fluke.
Janessa was about to leave when she heard something in the adjacent chamber. She peeked around the corner and saw Duron Ardiniero doing flails on the pommel horse. He moved his hands quick and swung his legs. He had not lost any of his skill. And he was still in great shape. Janessa pulled herself away and left the gymnastics chambers. There was no way she was going near Duron. Was it wrong that she still found herself drawn to him? It is not like she was going to take him back or anything like that. But she could not ignore the fact that he was still hot. As if she would even consider it, even if he did come to her begging for another chance. He had more than enough chances. Damn it. It had been three years. That was plenty of time to get over someone, right?
There were more sounds coming from the combat training room. Janessa saw Samal Hectorese using a bow staff against target dummies with spinning arms. He was wearing a black martial art gi. The target dummy’s arms sometimes extended and tried to hit him. He dodged and scored another strike every time. Janessa watched just long enough to seen him finish. The target dummies folded in their arms and wheeled themselves back against the wall. Samal took a drink of water then looked directly at Janessa.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said a little startled.
Janessa was not sure what else to say to Samal. He was not known for being sociable. Everyone knew he was a super soldier and that he came from the Republic of Afghanistan
Janessa had grown up on a hipper commune and while they liked to think of themselves as a worldly people, that was not always the case. Most of the hippers Janessa had grown up with were either some form of Christian or Buddhists. Her parents had both been raised catholic but they now called themselves ‘Christians of the world’, to this day Janessa was not sure what they meant by that. Janessa believed in God and prayed to God, but she was not sure she really considered herself a Christian. Jesus seemed like a great guy and all but she never really felt like praying directly to him. Janessa knew about the Islamic religion and had been raised to be open to all faiths. She knew there was the old conservative Islam and there was the Neo Islamic Church. But she had never had much direct contact with any Muslims.
“So you train at night?” said Janessa trying to be conversational.
“I like it better this way,” said Samal, “there is less noise at this hour. I prefer a certain amount of privacy when I practice.”
“Do you want me to go? Cause… um… “
Samal sighed and said, “Let us get this out of the way now. I belong to the Neo Islamic Church, so no I am not offended or find it wrong to serve with women. I am a soldier before all other things. I fight for God, for Earth, for humanity.”
“Okay,” said Janessa, “it’s just that no one really knows much about you. You never talk to people.”
“I am not here to make friends,” said Samal, “I am here to fight and defeat the Spectral Horde. If there are bonds to be made with the members of my squad then they will happen. If they strengthen our ability to fight, then good. If not, then I do not see the point.”
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