Wounded Soldiers

CNV Sovereign 15 A.E.

First day at sea, the sky was clear and the water was calm. James White could almost feel like nothing had ever happened. They had never lost radio contact with the COG, the pirate gangs had never come to Vectes, the Gears had not been forced to come later and the Island had never been overrun by explosive glowing creatures.

It was a dream of course, but one that the soft sea breeze in James’ face made unnaturally easy to believe.

“Hey kid! Bring your head back from the clouds and pay attention!” A voice said next to him.

Suddenly James was back in his reality. He was on board of Sovereign, the giant ship that brought the COG to Vectes about a year ago. Now they were on the move again, only this time James was with them.

“What is it?” James asked.

“Nothing really, just the Sergeant coming right this way.” It was Kirk Emmet, one of the Gears that had witnessed the war since the days it was fought exclusively between humans. His current mission was to turn James, the twenty years old boy born and raised in Vectes into a capable soldier.

“The Sergeant has arrived.” Said the man in question, another seasoned Gears.

“Roberts.” Emmet greeted with a nod.

“Emmet,” the Sergeant answered. “White.”

“Good morning Sir.” James said, less confident than intended.

“No need to be jumpy soldier.” Roberts said.

“That’s usually the cue to start a panic,” Emmet replied. “What’s the word from our brand new command?”

“Simply the squad designation. Just because we are no longer a coalition doesn’t mean we’ll cease to be ordered,” the Sergeant said, and after a pause continued. “I’ll be in charge of Echo-One which includes you two along with Anagnostakos Michelakis and Cassidy Larson.”

“You’re kidding me.” Emmet said immediately.

“What’s the problem soldier?” Roberts asked, he seemed to be expecting such reaction.

“You know exactly what it is.” Emmet said, now visibly angry.

“Wasn’t my first choice either, but we’ll have to do,” the Sergeant stated firmly. “Now inform them and meet me at the armory, there’s plenty work for everyone.” He ordered and walked away.

“Shit.” Emmet muttered and began walking in the opposite direction, seemingly forgetting James.

The young soldier quickly caught up with his mentor, Sovereign was huge and intricate, if he lost sight of him, James could spend the next hour looking.

“So… what is the problem with these guys?” James asked as they went downstairs towards the mess deck.

“It’s this Michelakis guy,” Emmet said. “He’s got a bad reputation.”

“Why?” James was deeply intrigued.

The Gear seemed to hesitate.

“Let’s just say he’s not the kind of soldier you want watching your back.” Emmet’s tone told James that was as far as he’d go about it.

“Well,” James was unsure what to think of that. “What about Cassidy? What is she like?”

“Private Larson is a guy.”

Luckily for James, at that moment they reached the mess deck. It was brimming with Gears and Emmet told him to check the gym while he looked in the mess hall.

Only when he stepped in, now alone, James came to realize he had no idea how any of the men he was looking for actually looked like.

A Gear wearing the standard issue helmet was heading out of the gym and James stopped him.

“Hey, I’m looking for this…” The first name avoided him, so James tried the other “Larson, Cassidy Larson. Do you know where he is?”

“Sure, you see that guy over there firmly determined to tear to shreds the only punching bag on board? That’s Larson.” The Gear said while pointing towards the back of the gym. As he raised his massive arm, James caught a glimpse of a tattoo of two more helmets and a blade of some sort.

James walked towards Larson. His skin was light brown and his hair black. He was a rather lean man compared to other Gears, yet the bag was taking a serious beating.

“Cassidy Larson?” James asked.

Larson stopped and took a deep breath. His arms were naked and James could see a big burn scar spanning from the left wrist to just above the elbow.

“That’s the name.” The Gear said.

“I’m James White, we…” Before James could go on, Larson grasped his hand. It didn’t hurt, but James knew that if Larson had wanted, he could have easily crushed it.

“Good to meet you kid, you can call me Lars,” he said, far more friendly than James expected. “What can I do for you today?”

“We are to be squad mates now, in Echo-One with sergeant Roberts.” James added.

“Great, who else is in?” Lars asked.

“Kirk Emmet, he is a sort of a mentor for me and… hmm…” Once again, the other name scaped James’ grasp.

“Michelakis.” Lars helped him.

“Yeah, that’s him,” James recalled Emmet’s reaction and wondered what would be Lars’ “Do you know where he is?” He added cautiously.

“’Course, let’s go find him,” Lars answered and James followed him outside the gym. “You’re new to army aren’t you?” He asked as they walked.

“Yes, I’m from Vectes.”  James answered.

“Is your family around?”

“Not anymore, mom died when I was five,” James made a pause. “And dad was killed by Massy and his gang.” He was still coming to terms with it.

“Sorry about that kid.” Lars said, actually meaning it.

“Thanks, I’m all-right now.” James tried to sound strong.

“You are an awful liar kid,” Lars replied. “But it gets better, you’ll see. If there’s anything like a silver lining in our fucked up world, is that everyone here has lost something. You don’t have to face it all alone.”

“Wow, thanks.” James was truly surprised to hear that.

Shortly after they reached the weather deck. Close to the edge was a man on one knee, his skin and hair darker than Lars’. On his hand was a weapon unknown to James and was apparently aiming at a wooden plank ten meters in front of him, to the left of James.

“There he is,” Lars announced. “Jo, Tak! Vacation time’s over man, we’ve got a new squad!”

“Good, I was getting bored.” The man said with a calm voice, his eyes fixed in his target.

“Hey, James White. We’ll be together in Echo-One.” James greeted.

“Tak is just fine for me.” Was Tak’s sole response.

James heard steps behind him.

“There you are White,” it was Emmet’s familiar voice. “Oh, you’ve found them.”

“That’s right, we’re the brand new Echo-One. I’m Lars.” But Emmet ignored the cheerful introduction. His eyes were fixed in the weapon wielded by Tak.

“Is that… a Torque Bow?” Emmet asked. “Is that the Torque Bow?” He was visibly upset.

“It is.” Tak answered still aiming. He then pulled the trigger and the weapon spread a pair of arms above and below the muzzle.

“You’re out of your mind! You’re going to shoot that thing here!?” Emmet asked immediately.

“Relax man, Tak’s just target practicing. The bolt is deactivated, it won’t explode.” Lars quickly explained.

Tak released the weapon’s trigger and its arms closed instantly. The bolt flew through the air and hit the target right in the middle.

“You’re getting better at this.” Lars praised Tak.

“Thanks.” He answered in the same plain tone.

“You should have gotten rid of that thing long ago,” Emmet complained, still uneasy. “Not only is dangerous, it’s…”

“It’s a powerful and useful weapon which I earned the hard way.” Tak cut in, his voice was calm yet firm.

“This is insane, I’m out of here.” Emmet said as he turned around and left.

James felt he should follow him, but he was too intrigued now to just let go.

“So, this Bow…” James started.

“From the dead hands of a grub during operation Hollow Storm.” Tak answered before being asked and stood up to retrieve the bolt.

“That was a pretty shitty day overall.” Lars declared.

James had heard stories from that mission, was the reason the COG left Jacinto and came to Vectes. Yet Tak did not seem to give it any major significance, he spoke about it like nothing.

Tak picked up the projectile and walked back to his shooting position. Now facing him, James could see his whole face, or at least what was left of it. The right cheek had been badly burned not too long ago along with part of the neck.

“And no, that’s not why I have such a reputation,” Tak added. “It’s because of what happened later that same day.”

“Tak, you don’t have to go through this right now.” Lars said, he seemed sincerely concerned.

“We were wounded, Lars and I, barely made it out of the Hollow,” Tak continued anyway. “Then we have to evacuate the city, so we are set on a Raven with a bunch of other wounded soldiers. The next Raven is full of civilians, women and children alike,” James’ pulse accelerated, but Tak kept his pace. “Both birds are ready to take off when a pair of Reavers come out of nowhere and none of us has enough fire power to take them down. So I take the Bow and shoot the one that’s closest to me. It goes down, but the other shoots the Raven full of civilians. We only made it out because a third Raven shot the remaining Reaver not two seconds later. And now everyone knows I’m the guy that saved himself rather than the civilians.”

James was speechless, not only had just heard a horrible story, but Tak kept his composure though all the time.

“C’mon, we have work to do.” Lars told him calmly.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Tak added and shot once more.

…

Three weeks later.

Punches, there were only punches.

There were no dead people all around him, no deafening explosions.

There was only a bag in front of him.

No grubs, no glowies, no gangs.

He could punch anything that came his way.

His arm didn’t hurt like hell, just his knuckles.

There was no burning Raven full of people, no hand slipping out of his reach and into the abyss.

Or so thought Lars every night he could not sleep, when he got up and headed to the gym to punch the bag until his fists bleed. It was his way of coping with the pain, every man has his own.

After two hours punching the bag, Lars went back to the sleeping cabins to try and maybe get some sleep.

But something was wrong, something was missing.

Not something, someone. Tak was not in his hammock.

Although Tak never lost his temper, he experienced some really bad nights. It was a rare occurrence, and he always managed to keep a low profile, but Lars knew he had to find him and fast.

On such nights Tak craved for only one thing, to be alone. And Lars knew that was a dangerous, people could do very bad things to themselves when they really wanted to leave everyone everything else behind.

Lars raced through the ship to the weather deck. After spending so many years with Tak, he learned that the simplest solutions are usually the best.

After a couple long minutes inspecting the edge of the deck, he found Tak leaning against the steel barriers supposed to make the place safe, his hands covering his face.

“Hey man.” Was all that came to Lars’ mind as he approached his friend.

There was no answer. Lars got closer and noticed that Tak had been crying for a long while.

“Just come from the gym, guess I wasn’t the only one having a bad night.” Lars said.

“I hear them,” Tak said, almost to himself. “I heard the screaming for their lives, screaming for help. We are supposed to protect them and I left them to die.”

“Don’t beat yourself over it man…”

“No you don’t get it!” Tak was raising his voice for the first time in years. “I could have saved them, I could have shot the other Reaver but chose to take down the one aiming to us.”

“I know.” Lars said.

Tak turned to see him, the tears and grief on his face did not hide his disbelief.

“C’mon man,” Lars continued. “I’ve known you for years, we’ve fought together, mourned together. I even helped you with that name shit of yours. I know how you think, you always consider every possibility before making a choice, even when you have a split second to make it.”

Tak hid his face in his hands once more.

“We were eight wounded soldiers, some badly but none fatal,” Tak said while sobbing. “Add two medical trained guys and the Raven crew.”

“You pondered it didn’t you? Against the other Raven.”

“There were around twelve civilians,” Tak made a pause. “Not all of them grown-ups.”

“And you chose to save our Raven.”

“I did.” Tak said.

“And here’s where everyone’s got the thing wrong, even you,” Lars added, as he pointed his finger to Tak. “You chose to save the Raven full of Gears not because you are a selfish asshole but because it was the best choice. It gave humanity a better chance of survival.”

“Doesn’t make it any less wrong.” Tak replied, no longer sobbing.

“No it doesn’t, and you are still cold-ass bastard. But you’re still here, so you better make it count.”

“You are right, there’s still much to do,” Tak was taking over himself again, he even stood up from the barrier. “It won’t help my reputation though, nor yours.”

“No, but so what? Besides, you’re not totally unpopular, remember Rivera?” Lars asked.

“That guy used to follow me everywhere, good thing he ran away with the chairman.”

“I bet he had a crush on you.” Lars replied, and for an instant Tak actually laughed.

“Either that or Prescott had his eye on me,” he added. “Somehow I’d prefer the former, way less disturbing.”

“Guess we’ll never know.” Lars said as they headed back to the cabins.

“These days, I wouldn’t be so sure.”