章 71: Vol.3 Ch.66-Epilogue
Year 2516 aboard the Super Carrier COAR Remembrance in an undisclosed portion of deep space.
"Why do you think they painted our armor yellow?" mused Hephaestus while looking down at his massive frame. "Doesn't it stand out too much? And it doesn't look as… uh… how do I put it… dangerous?"
True, our new suits lacked the menacing aura that the black and red emanated. In addition, the edges and the armor altogether were a lot softer in design, giving it a more "form" over function appearance. But that was just on the outside. Inside these suits are even better than our old ones.
"That's exactly the point. We are no longer soldiers first, my friend. We are peacekeepers, and despite our distinct advantages, we would lose an outright war against the Federation. Sure we could take a handful of worlds with our numbers. Maybe even disrupt or outright eliminate a few Armadas. But that's all we would achieve," Apollo said bluntly.
Heph raised his eyebrows and gently bobbed his head in passive agreement. "Yeah but… yellow? Surely there was a better choice… blue… maybe even green?"
"It's a nod to the ancient Yellow Turban Rebellion that happened on Earth," I said nonchalantly.
"Ah… yeah… what happened again? Did they win?" Heph asked.
"Nope."
"Then why are we— never mind. I already know the answer to that question. We really are full of ourselves," Heph chuckled.
Very true. Humanity managed to wiggle its own hubris into the fold even in a coalition of allied races. Just the way we are. Then again, we have been supplying almost everything from manpower to ships for the last two years.
But that's just because we left everyone with nothing.
From the other side of a door, we could hear the muffled sounds of an argument going on. Judging by the voice complaining loudly, the poor Xeno boy on the other side was getting an earful. His English was abysmal but the lad was trying his best.
She could at least cut him some slack.
The door to the small conference room slid open and a disgruntled woman wearing a yellow suit of Commando armor strode in with a snort. We were now supposed to drop the whole "Death" part. Doesn't translate well to other species it turns out.
"You know? I am just a fan of the color yellow on a woman in uniform," I said smoothly.
Artemis stopped short of her chair and glared daggers at me. "You know one of these days you are going to disappear, Old Man."
Beaming my best smile, I returned her gaze. "As long as it's by your hands, I can die a happy death."
Artemis snorted and tossed herself into her seat. "Old pervert."
Despite her rude comment to her superior officer, the faint smile on her face told me everything I needed to know. The Commander had his way and I had mine. Were they completely different? Yeah. Was one better than the other? Heh, maybe.
"Here I was thinking I was late too. Do we even know why the Doc wants us? In armor but with no weapons, no less?" Artemis asked no one in particular.
"Indeed, this summons was both unexpected and rather vague," Apollo added.
Then all eyes turned to me.
"Don't look at me. We all got the same notice," I said with a shrug.
I really didn't know why we were here either. Suárez was typically forthcoming and transparent with everything, so this seemed a little odd. The armor part wasn't all that surprising. It was essentially our uniforms at this point but the whole no weapons part was what was hanging me up. What's the point of the suit without the jacket?
Speak of the devil… more like an angel I should say.
Doctor Suárez strode in with confident steps, but her face didn't match. The poor doc was being run ragged as she jumped from system to system, trying to gain allies. Convincing a lot of the old gen 2s and 3s along with a portion of the Navy and Marines, wasn't all that hard for her. Many people looked up to her. Some even got put back together by her. It was the Xenos that needed convincing.
I mean… allies… But if I were in their shoes, I sure wouldn't join COAR.
"Good evening, everyone. Thank you for answering my unexpected summons. Now then—"
"Uh, Doc? It's technically eight in the morning…" Heph interrupted.
"Is it?" Suárez mumbled to herself.
She wiped her face with the edge of her sleeve and checked her watch. Her eyes were dead, and she looked years older than she should have been. And was that some gray hair I was seeing? Unacceptable.
"It appears that it is, Hephaestus. In that case, good morning, everyone. I've brought you here today under these awkward circumstances for… well, a meeting…. I just ask one thing from all of you."
Suárez scanned all of us with a wry smile and dark brown eyes until all of us started giving her some type of confirmation. It felt more like she was the teacher and we were the students instead of being genetically modified murder machines. Eh, this is why I like her, though.
"All that I ask is that all of you fight against your heavily indoctrinated minds for about… ten seconds or so? Alright, sounds good? Okay! Come in, please!" Dr. Suárez said hastily.
Wait, wait, hold the phone? What do you mean by—
The door to the room opened once more, and before I could even think, I was out of my seat. I clenched my jaw as my right hand went straight for my holster, only for my implant to tell me that it was empty, while my left hand reached for my knife.
"Stop!" Suárez yelled.
I halted just short of where my knife should have been, only looking around at the others. All of them had already run through the same exact motions that I did, but their hands were further along than mine. And they were all watching the figure that walked into the room. It seems I can't keep up with them anymore. Guess I really am getting old.
"And this is why I didn't let you bring your weapons. You might have shot faster than I could yell…" Suárez grumbled to herself. "These are our new allies… try not to kill each other, please…"
Standing in the doorway with a blank expression, wearing a shiny suit of yellow armor that wasn't Commando issued, was something I had not been expecting to see. His facial features were so sharp that it looked more like he had been carved from marble. His skin was so white it was nearly translucent. You didn't even have to look closely to see the blue veins underneath. His pink eyes seemed to be looking straight through us as he moved his white hair off the side of his head just to show off the long dagger-like ears producing from the side of his head.
An Elunari Albino… I thought they were all protecting the last members of their council…
Dr. Suárez cleared her throat, which seemingly snapped us out of our spell. Then, without saying a word to each other, we sank back into our seats.
"Everyone, this is Va'cot. Va'cot meet your new squadmates," Suárez said with a strained smile.
What?
My ears started ringing from the complete silence. It was so quiet I was sure everybody stopped breathing upon hearing the Doc's words. Va'cot's gaze drifted from each of us to eventually his hands, landing solely on me.
"It is dead then?" Va'cot asked out loud in a calm voice.
His voice was… much higher pitched than I had expected. Was he not a he? I honestly can't tell… he has quite a bit of muscle and his armor doesn't actually help any, but maybe?
"Uh… what is dead?" Suárez asked.
Va'cot spoke, but the words just sounded like a garble of unpronounceable sounds. I had heard the Elunari language many times in my life. Of course, they were cursing me with their final breaths, but that was neither here nor there.
Ah, I guess I should close my jaw and say something?
I cleared my throat more or less just to clear my surprise away and steady my voice. "It's nice to meet you Vaaa… Vacant, was it? I am the leader of this squad, Heimdall. And what was it that you just said? We don't have our helmets so—"
"I know who you are, Whisperer. You nearly took my life once before," Va'cot said in a neutral tone. Their English was surprisingly decent. They must have been practicing quite a bit.
Whisperer?
"I'm afraid you are going to have to be more specific…" I chuckled nervously.
Of course, I almost killed them…
How did they manage to identify me when I most likely shot them from a distance? I don't look all that different from other second generations wearing my helmet. Not to mention we wear nothing denoting our squad or any affiliation.
"It is in the past, so it does not matter anymore. And I was referring to him. I believe in your language it would have been called Titan."
"I'm still not following…" Heph said awkwardly.
Va'cot stood on her tippy-toes and brought her arms wide in a weird gesture. "It stood much taller and was far bigger than any of you. And—"
"She is referring to Kronos… he has become something of an urban legend to the Elunari," Suárez interjected. Then she clapped her hands together loudly. "Now then, you can talk amongst each other later. I'm afraid I have another meeting soon, so I'll need to be quick about these things."
"Hey… wait! What is going on here? Who said you had the right—"
Suárez beamed a tired smile that didn't reach her eyes right at Artemis. "You must understand this squad is the only squad that has not integrated a single member of another race from the Coalition. At first, I was more than happy to let you do things on your own but it's been two years. I don't need to remind you of your goals, Artemis?"
"Uh… no, ma'am," Artemis said sheepishly.
"Va'cot, sweetie, would you mind taking a seat?" Va'cot nodded to the Doc and took a seat at the front of the table.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this was as low as it got on my list of expectations. First, I never imagined the Elunari would join COAR, let alone an Albino. Second, I didn't think Suárez would ever force us to take on a new member. So spicy, that woman…
But she was right. I wish she had asked me about it first, though… then again, would I have really agreed? Probably not.
"For the last two years, we have been fighting "rogue elements" of the Federation. These elements are not under the protection of the Federation but were… in most cases, indirectly supported. This allowed us to fight with impunity."
Suárez stopped to make sure we were all paying attention. Then, with a few taps on her wrist, the room's lights darkened, and a video started playing behind Suárez.
"This video reached us via an emergency distress signal from one of our medical research stations."
All of us were silent as we took in what we were watching. People of all different species were frantically running around in burning light blue hallways. The sound of bolters thundered off as those same people were being turned into a pink mist or the plastic-like substance on the walls exploded. The video seemed to be a helmet cam from a security guard and its final seconds showed them frantically tapping away at buttons with long pink fingers.
A single shot from a bolter rings out, and an explosion consumes the video feed. Once the smoke cleared, the broken camera caught a single glimpse of the blue and red armored figures walking away.
"As you can all see, this is the first time the Federation has sent in troops to disrupt us. And let me dispel any doubt when I say those are definitely third-generation Death Commandos."
"So, It's finally time for war?" Apollo asked.
"Currently, this is all classified. The Federation isn't claiming responsibility and saying it's another rogue element. We find that to be highly unlikely," Suárez answered.
"And the current situation is… what exactly?" Artemis asked.
"Ah, yes… sorry. Currently, that station is being occupied. However, a COAR strike force happened to be close by and managed to jump in time to halt any attempts at escape. Currently, the intruders are cornered on the station, unable to leave it. For how long remains to be seen."
"And the importance of this facility? What's stopping the strike force from blowing the station up?" I asked.
Suárez's eyes glided to Va'cot. The Elunari Albino stood up and pointed a slim armored finger to the video. "It is a research facility dedicated to military-grade bionics. The research on that station is invaluable as it holds the key to new advancements. You could say it was sort of a gift to the Coalition for us joining them," Va'cot said.
"Correct. The Elunari are the newest members of the Coalition. Their joining hasn't even been publicly announced yet. Currently, your mission is to take back the station through diplomatic means," Suárez said.
"And when that invariably doesn't work? I just want to be sure I understand the goal," I asked.
"Letting them escape with the technology is unacceptable."
"Got it. We can handle it. However, is bringing a new member along for a sensitive mission like this really a good idea?" I questioned.
"I assure you I won't be a hindrance. That station was what you Humans would call my 'home away from home'. I am deeply familiar with its layout," Va'cot answered.
A medical station was her second home? That doesn't— you know what… never mind.
"It's not up for debate, Heimdall," Suárez said while beaming me with her tired eyes.
I shrugged. I didn't doubt Va'cot's abilities. I've never gone against an Alibnio that I considered weak, and I highly doubt she was the exception. But suddenly tossing a new member in without prior knowledge can be a bit jarring… It is what it is….
It's most likely a way to cover our backs just in case things do turn out poorly. If need be the Coalition can see this as a joint mission with the Elunari to stop some pirates, but you can't spin the story that way if there is no Elunari in the assault squad. Clever.
I stood up from my seat and walked over to Va'cot who was standing idly by. I extended my hand and put on my warmest smile, only for her to just stare at me listlessly.
Suárez cleared her throat. "This is the part where you grab his hand, shake it then say some words of encouragement, sweetie," she mumbled.
The Elunari seemingly understood and immediately snatched my hand into a bone-crushing handshake. If I were an average person and not in my armor, my hand would have turned into bone meal.
"Yes, let us work together now and in the future, sir," Va'cot said dryly.
Huh, reminds me of a certain somebody.
"Yeah, let's… can you uh… let go, by chance?"I squeaked.
Va'cot let go of my hand and gave me a small nod. "I apologize."
I just shook my head and gave a reassuring shoulder pat. I couldn't help but start laughing internally.
Imagine what the Commander would think if he saw us now?
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