a new life - chapters 1 and 2

8/14/2019 A New Life - Chapters 1 and 2

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One

And then I woke up.The pain was unbearable, though at the time I didnt know

what it was, or pain itself for that matter, I had no recollection of anything. The unimaginable pressure at the back left of my skullwas overwhelming. It was the mother of all migraines, the hightempo rhythmic feeling so horrid yet natural I could only assumewas an annoyance of what was my first few moments in the newlife I wasnt aware I was living. My mind was filled with multipleevents on the records of mankinds greatest successes andfailures, multiple ways to keep myself alive, multiple ways to killmy killers, multiple ways to secure a battleground, multiple waysto become a soldier. I knew a hundred ways to kill a man beforehe knew what had happened but I did not know my name. My

head was pounding but my mind was thriving on the massamount of information that was circulating my brain. Blood was

pouring from my nose; I was having a brain haemorrhage.And then I died.

He signed his body off for the riches of the future; therisk of death or sustainment in his bleak life was outweighedby the potential wealth of a perfect life. Charlie Combes wasa lonely man, a sad being sitting on the back bench of anunfortunate substandard life, unloved with no one to love.The cartridge was in the chamber, finger on the trigger andthen he saw what must have been the first instance of propaganda in history to have saved a life, before leading to

the deaths of others. Join the UEA Humanity needs YOU.Why settle for the mundane?

Have you ever seen the Stars? Have you ever felt what its like to be important?


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Well now you can with the United Earth Alliance!The hassles of life have never seemed more trivial!

declared the blonde bombshell model in her tailor fitted UEAsmart dress.

Ive never had to worry once about whether Id paid thebills, why I had no food or when I was going to be evicted,with the UEA I can finally do something with my life, feelneeded and wanted It was perfectly spoken and oh soscripted but Charlie didnt care, in his desperate times asecond glance from a strange onlooker would have given hima reason to go on, even just for that while longer but now hehad a chance, a real chance to be a new person. CharlieCombes went to bed that night wishful for the first time in hislife.

And then I woke up.Can you tell me your name son? asked the blurry figure in

the white overcoatAre you aware of where you are, what you are doing here?

asked an equally blurry figure with a more feminine voice.No I replied rather bluntly, but when it feels like burning

rods are being stabbed through your forehead you dont exactlyfeel the need to converse. At least they were polite enough to skipto phatic talk.

You are recovering from the most serious change in your life, Combes said the manly blurry figure.

Your memories will recover in time continued the womenWhats happening? I questioned.

Rest now, we will speak tomorrow morning dismissed theman, for now, dont try too hard to remember anything youll

just give yourself a headache


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Charlie woke up, the hammer of rain lashing out inanger on the window failed to dampen his rare mood.Deciding not to conform to his daily routine, skipping work and choosing not to study that days trolling of the worldsshortcomings in the paper gave Charlie a fresh start to whatwould have been, again, the day he pulled that trigger.Charlie stood outside of a building he had walked bycountless times before but was so fixated on why the carsalways miss him when crossing to road that he never evengave it a first look. The sign read The United Earth AllianceCareers Office. The UEACO spelt Charlies new future, afuture based on an actresses false words, but what did itmatter, any future was better than his present. He steppedinside.

...hello he stuttered to the intercom on the inside

gallery, Im Charlie Combes, um, I called earlier...I'm hereto see Lieutenant Banks? Moments later the latch openedwith a crack and Charlie proceeded inside and followed theonly route ahead of him. The solid corridor of white led himto a large open landing filled with a large number of people,most sitting silently but some sat in the background with aface all too familiar. He knew why they were joining. Charliewent and sat down in an open seat next to a smartly dressedattractive young brunette silently reading a pamphlet on whyshe was the greatest asset the UEA had. She saw him looking.

Its bullshit but that doesnt stop me feeling flatteredshe said suddenly

Flattery can get you far Charlie replied

Yes, apparently on a ship heading off to God knowswhere she said

Im sure he does know he replied again, hes justhasnt told us yet


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Youre a religionist? she asked, now looking directly atCharlie, her head tilted left.

Oh, God no, excuse the pun...err, just making a joke...Im quite sane actually he said with a smile.

You think believers are insane? her tone of voicedropped judgmentally

Well, they...no, I mean yes, but...Im kidding! A bunch of loons the lot of them she said

stopping Charlie before he finished digging his hole, AliceKnight, its nice to meet you she ended placing out her hand

Charlie Combes he said shaking her hand

And then I woke up.Good morning, Mr Combes. If you can get dressed now

into these please said the mysterious man, then you can follow

me. I did as he said and followed as he instructed. He led me toa small room with two chairs and a desk; I sat on one while he saton the other.

Hello Mr Combes, Im Doctor Kauffman, do you remember anything new? he asked

Yes I replied, Im pretty much up to date with everythingnow

Good, now I apologise but I cant take your word, Imgoing to ask you questions and you have to answer clearly,understand?I understood.

Where were you born?London, England, USE

Why did you join the UEA?I had nothing better to doWere you fully aware of what would happen?Yes, weve all grown up with the UEA...What is happening right now?


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I have been selected for the Marines and am undergoingtraining

Why were you selected for Marine training?I dont know. My actions at basic? Why was I?Let me ask the questions please Mr Combes, where are you

now?In orbit, awaiting further informationThank you Mr Combes that will be allThats it?Thats itAfter realising there was nothing left for me in my old life I

decided to join the UEA for adventure and a purpose, the factthat they promise riches and benefits after youve served your time certainly helped, what I didnt account for was beingthought of as extra special. I had spoken to Lieutenant Banks at

the UEACO, he sent me off to do some aptitude tests andinterviews and three and a bit months later, here I am effectively

being tortured until I become one of the many super soldierstheyre creating. Today I finally get to be released from this

baby-sitting affair and leave the confines of the most tormentingclass room in existence and start a gloried lesson of physicaleducation, I thought I left school years ago, the military did notagree. School was a pretty dull time for me; so far it has beenquite interesting.

Lieutenant Banks sat there with a stale face; his pen inhand for another routine talk to someone who thought theywere UEA material.

Tell me Mr Combes, what do know of the UEA? AskedBanks

Well, not much actually answered Charlie, obviouslyI know what it was but I only decided to join up onlyyesterday


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their seats empty today. You may be somewhat confused as towhy you are suffering from a never ending hangover or why youseem to know endless amounts of information you never learned.The simple answer is we stuffed them with what we believe eachof you individually have an aptitude for. Some of you are nowgreater doctors then you could have possibly ever been, some of you are now humanities greatest engineers but all of you are inthe first stages of becoming the greatest task force of soldiers theUEA has to offer. This overload of information effectively blewyour brain into pieces and for all intents and purposes, you died.

There was confused silence in the room. We all knew wewere becoming soldiers; this was obvious before we even joined,we all managed to make it through basic training and we were allinformed of our selection for advanced training but none of ushad a clue of what this strange man was saying, we didnt know

we were to become marines.You will have all noticed the pressure in the back of your

head continued the burly man. This is the chip we have placedin everyone of you, there was an uneasy shift all of the seats, itis the most important part of your body from now on, it keepsyou alive, it retains the information needed to keep you from

becoming a vegetable. It will be the greatest asset to you on the battlefield. All of your bodys functions are still controlled by the brain though only at the command of the chip.

A side effect of the advanced training, persisted the man,dismissing his cold statements, was a collapse in your short termmemory, this is where the chip comes in and records everythingand slowly over time tricks the body into creating a permanent

copy. Everyone sat staring gormlessly; some were slyly feelingthe back of their skulls. It was understandable enough to take in;similar technology has been used for years to counter illnesseslike Alzheimers. It was quite a paranoid feeling thinking your

brain was working just fine, and then suddenly discovering your


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mental well being wasnt in natural hands anymore. Things stillfelt exactly the same, but they were now different.

Today you begin body augmentation followed by a visit toour resident shrink, dismissed

The man was gone as soon as he appeared, he gave us notime to ask questions but left us to simply appreciate what he wassaying and dwell on it enough for it to make sense. Bodyaugmentation didnt sound nice.

Well done Mr Combes, this is the information you willneed to hand over before you enter the shuttle. It departs atoh nine hundred, Thursday morning. It will be a three hourflight to Florida by which that time you will have a few hoursbefore all responsibility is handed over to the appropriateUEA forces in the area.

Handing over the details to Charlie, Lieutenant Banksextended his hand as to wish Charlie good luck. Charlieunderstood the Lieutenant wasnt the grumpy depressive heseemed the first time they had met, it was obvious there weremany people who wasted his time in those initial sessions.Charlie was now a UEA recruit, it only took 5 weeks and hislife changed more in that time than it did in 15 years. Charlieknew barely anything about what he was doing or where hewas going. This excited him.

It wasnt Charlie's naivety that led him to his ignorance,the majority of Earth and most of its Colonies did notunderstand the full power or motives of humanities biggestcontrolling government. The most widely agreed answer is

that, in times of need, long ago, nations banded togetheragainst the first other earthly species discovered, at an initialfirst contact meeting they concluded we were a future threatand thus wiped out the greeting party, that was 200 years agoand since nothing has been heard of them. The UEA rose


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from the ashes of trivial nothings that came from the worldsacknowledgment that there were greater threats thanthemselves and thus the most successful martial law enforceddictatorship came to be. Its not that people are too ignorantto want to know more about the UEA but the organisationthemselves filter what they deem unnecessary knowledge thepublic need not know. Everyone knew most of the roles aUEA soldier would take. They would be a peace keeping forcefor those who surfaced as a threat. About once a year or sosome colony, somewhere, would create an issue that neededresolving. What Charlie didnt know was that the UEAsoverall intentions were to amass an unbeatable force for whenin the presence of enemies unknown. No peacekeeping forceneeds the population of Europe.

Charlie was now going to be in-the-loop, someone he

thought would make a difference, what difference he didntknow but his life was young. They sent him off to the OrbitalDefence Command and Training Centre, the ODCTC, wherehe would begin 5 weeks of basic training before being sent off to wherever he was thought of as useful, it just so happensthat he was quite a bit better in this life than his last.

Name: Charlie Combes Age: 25 Sex: Male dictated theshrink, parents and sister died as collateral damage between thelocal police enforcement and the group of religious extremistsacting up around the area, is that correct?

... I was shocked, he was more to the point than any UEAOfficer Id ever spoken with and he was supposed to be a doctor!

One of the police shot your sister in the forehead mistakingher to have been in possession of an armed device while your mother and father were gunned down by the extremists. Quite atraumatic experience dont you think?I stared at this shrink was there a point to this I wondered.


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I wasnt there at the time, I decided to stay home, but yesthe news was shocking

Why did you decide to stay home? asked the shrink Because I had a fight with my parents that nightWhat about? he asked leaning forward, leading me into a

false sense of security, shrinks are sneaky bastards.They wouldnt let me take the day off school the next dayI see. Quite an inconsequential episode when you link it to

what happened later on that night, dont you think?Of course it was, I replied in a snapBut you did get the day off the next day? he said in a tone

of voice I did not approve of.Yes.What did you think of this?I didnt think anything at the time, my family was murdered

do you really think I gave a shit that I got my way?Youd be surprised answered the shrink.Is there a reason why youre bringing this up? I asked

hoping to deter the conversationYes, actually, that was 10 years ago, it may seem like a long

time ago, but youd be surprised how you harbour emotionsAnd? I was becoming more frustratedHow did you find todays body augmentation?What? Well, it wasnt a serious augment, why? the drastic

change of subject put me off guard, today they infused our muscles with some form of liquid that seeped into our pours, ittightens the muscles and makes them more resilient to shock,Doctor Cortez says well be fine for now, but tomorrow there will

be more than one muscle stiff in the morning. The shrink continued with his interrogation.

Quite a body shock, dont you think?Well, if theyre gonna make us stronger I dont see why

not...


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Why do you think theyre making you stronger?I dont know? Because they thought we did well at basic

and decide we can do better?True, but why you?Listen, cant you just ask some people higher in the chain

of command? Theyll know a lot more than me. I was gettingquite fed up, I never liked therapy.

Oh, I know Mr Combes Im just wondering if you do. Hiscryptic sentence wound me up even more.

Well I dont know, I snapped.You handled your parents deaths well; you kept your cool

and were not overwhelmed with emotion. It took you 11 years before it became too much, before survivors guilt kicked in andyou realised that that night had destroyed your life

What are you getting at? I questioned

Your suicidal tendencies Mr CombesWhat?! I dont have any!Dont patronise me Mr Combes, whatever matter, its not

an issue. Your history shows you have a mentality of keepingyour cool and your lack of self preservation gives us a goodinsight to how you would act when the heavy rain falls.

So I was chosen because I almost killed myself once?That and your actions at basic training, youre Marine

material son, feel honouredI thought the Marines were those who outdid themselves,

the best of the bedThats right, answered the shrink, always sounding

condescending, that was how things were done, but in this day

and age we can make you the best of the best.I just nodded and agreed, I was tired and I wanted sleep.

Enjoy tomorrow, said the shrink, dont have too muchfun. I thought did he really have to be so creepy, it didnt matter


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though, I was looking forward to the start of real advancedtraining.

Now approaching ODCTC, spoke to voice from theshuttles intercom, please prepare for a slight bump. It isnothing to worry about. This was Charlies first space flight,they werent rare, but they werent exactly common. At thestart of the era of Colonisation millions left to see the stars,most were never heard from again maybe because theyfound homes on other worlds but a lot of the time they failedto find them. It wasnt until the organisation that would laterbecome the UEA gave a helping hand and encouraged peopleto head out that successful attempts were created. Mostplanets werent suitable for human life be it an incompatibleatmosphere, gravity issues or, though it has never happened,

conflict from a native force. Those planets that werediscovered were never perfect and thus terraforming had tooccur and still, even then, it wasnt Earth. Nevertheless, theColonies would eventually become home to over a billionlives. The role of the UEA was to protect Earth its Coloniesfrom threats, the only possible threat known were the racenot seen in two centuries, there were high hopes of neverseeing them again.

Charlie was amazed by Zero Gravity, they werentallowed to leave their seats but it didnt mean he didnt feel it.The recruits were heavily chaperoned when leaving theshuttle to the ODCTC, they didnt want anyone hurtingthemselves floating about. As always, the recruits were

herded into a large room to go play with other recruits.Charlie gave a shy look out to see if his Earth friend, Alice,was there. She wasnt. Still floating about, a booming voicewas heard.


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Could you please all place yourselves as close to theground as possible, use the guide ropes to do so. Could youplease make sure you are in a comfortable seating positionwithin the next fifteen seconds.Charlie was curious but obeyed. Within 15 seconds Charliefelt more and more pressure on his body, within another15seconds he felt heavier than he did on Earth. Charlieturned tried to question to the nearest UEA member he couldfind but was told to keep quiet. The booming voice was heardagain.

Thank you for your patience; you are now experiencegravity at 1.2 times gravity of that relative to Earth.He turned again to the man, slower than usually adjustinghimself to a slightly heavier gravity.Artificial gravity? That doesnt exist?

In a snappy reply the man said it does for the UEA thenwent on his business.

Charlie was amazed at even this little snippet of technology the UEA had at its grasp. Artificial gravity didexist of course, but to have an entire station harness it? EvenCharlies unscientific brain found that hard to fathom.Charlie didnt think too much of it though, he was lookingforward to the start of basic training.

Two

It hurt to think let alone walk, but perversely, I felt strong.As it turns out the liquid used to strengthen the muscles was

nothing but millions of nanomachines, much smaller thananything Id ever read about on Earth. They latch themselvesonto the muscles and dampen shock by spreading it out over amicro-protective layer and increasing the amount of pressure amuscle could take before tearing. A bullet will still mess you up


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The biggest difference, though, between the centre section of Training Centre and where we were positioned was the amount of space in the main rec-room compared to basic. It was amazing. Ithad been massive in basic, with different options for terrain,weather and all that magic but Marines training demanded a needfor bigger and better . The main room we spent most of our exercises in was six hundred by four hundred metres; our

barracks were right next to it. It was strange to think Id beenliving in space for 2 months, with the exception of the basictraining final exercise on earth. Im not too sure how long Iactually will have to live in space come to think of it

When the DI, Sergeant Jackson, told us to run to the wall, healways referred to the one 600 metres apart from the other. Thisnot only meant our endless runs of 20 to 30 clicks weremonotonous and boring, usually running the same distance

backwards and forwards 50 times especially when he turned off terrain features. It also meant Jackson was able to leave us for aslong as he wanted. I swear sometimes he forgot about us, no onecan be that cruel.

It had been two days since Charlie arrived at theODCTC and in that short time they had increased the gravityto 1.25EG. It was the first day of basic training. The daybefore, Charlie had been split into a manageable section of 10people. That meant that there were only 350 other sectionstraining in this recruiting season. First on the agenda wasbasic (everything was basic for the next 5 weeks) contextualknowledge of the Universe, with the signing of secrecy acts

beforehand of course, though they werent likely to meetanyone in orbit that wasnt aware of they were about to findout.

Hello Section F, I am Corporal Middlewick. Over thenext two weeks you will come to grips with the UEAs actions


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over the last two centuries. Two weeks is all we have so listencarefully and dont piss about. She was strict butwonderfully beautiful. It was a safe bet that the men, andpossibly some women, would hang off her words. Whetherthey took anything in was a bonus, suffice to say she wouldhave their attention one way or another.

The modern UEA is first and foremost a defensiveorganisation stretching back three hundred and fifty years invarious different titles, but over time it has formed intohumanities greatest governmental force, specifically the lasttwo hundred after the United Earth Treaty. We control eightypercent of every human settlement with Earth as the mainHQ, the other twenty either failed to see the benefits of ourprotection or they are religious extremists believing they aredoing their gods will. These extremists have been the UEAs

greatest threat for over a century now. Contrary to popularbelief we do not cull them, we trade embargo them if theycause us hassle, its simple and effective but can make themangry, but they soon quiet done when they understand that itseffectively nine to one odds against them.She went on for 3 hours about the modern history of the UEAuntil she finally got to the subject that Charlie and the other 9Recruits were waiting for.

Now I know youre all interested in the events of FirstContact but Im sorry, its not as exciting as you may havethought growing up with the rumours. Ill put things straight:we made first contact with a race known to us as Juri, we senta diplomatic party to extend and offer of peace, they did not

return to favour, the convoy we sent was destroyed, 4000souls lost. Weve been in a technical state of war since. Lets

just hope the reason they havent returned is because theyrescared.The class let out a chuckle until the Corporal spoke again.


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Were not sure about their technology level, were notsure where they are, were not sure if we would be a match.Charlie understood the meaning of ignorance being bliss. Shecontinued with her history lesson while Charlies eyes becameheavier.

To me, you are geeks, huge puss ridden nerds with nothingmore than a glorified encyclopaedia in those swollen minds of yours thats only alive thanks to your precious technology.It was oh four hundred, thirty minutes before we were supposedto be assaulted by Sergeant Jacksons own personal

personification of his morning glory. It was pitch black but hewas there. Our eardrums burst in unison as we fell from our beds.Having the top bunk sometimes wasnt a good thing. He wasstanding there in the centre of the room while we scurried in utter

blackness to perfectly dress ourselves. He could have been rightin front of any of us. Intimidation at its finest, the theatrical

bastard. The lights came on suddenly, they were blinding. Whenmy vision returned I was the unlucky one who caught Jacksonsattention.

I generously gave you 45 seconds to get your shit together and you give me this? He was staring with his bloodshot eyesdirectly at second top button on my DPMs. I failed to do it up. I

paid the price.God damn Section F, you can thank your lucky stars. There

was I, in my calm and collective state of mind, thinking Illattempt to learn more about you. I wanted to know if, like me,you liked to watch the sun in the seas horizon as it sunk into the

beautiful abyss below, but no. Combes here must have thought itwas a lovely day for a run. Now go! I dont care if youre notdressed. If you are in my eye line in three seconds youll bescrubbing the shitters for the next three months. And remember you retarded fucks turn around when you get to the wall.


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Simmons didnt turn around; he collapsed before he could, the pressure must have got to him. The group punishment for thatwas far worse than mine. People forgot about my inability to

button up, I got lucky.

Today, said Charlie, the newly promoted section leader,we are merging into platoons. Sections F, F two and G willcreate 4 th platoon, I will be two IC while Section LeaderKnight will be the acting Corporal. Knights platoon beganthe day with a vigorous regime of fitness training but endedon a surprisingly low key affair. Instead of the eveningplanned, another hearty fitness session, it was a mild 15kmrun due to the death of one of 2 nd Platoons recruits in a livefire accident. Charlie felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to the idiot who failed to understand what contact

between ones face and speeding metal brought about. Hedidnt believe he could be so callous but then again hewondered if anyone would care if it were him.

Charlie has bumped into Alice Knight in the gymnasiuma week previously. When they werent participating intraining exercises the recruits had not much else available tothem, so they were encouraged to train some more.Charlie was deliberating moving up the bench press weightanother notch. He wasnt unfit back on Earth but in the sevenweeks between committing himself to join and that momentwhere he didnt want the weight machine to take his pride hehad made sure he wasnt the weakest of the weak for whenbasic started. The downside was the daily gravity increase

formed a need to lower the weights to be able to actually liftanything. Charlie was only 3 notches from his best Earthweight. He decided there was no harm in trying. He placedhis back on the cold, firm bench with his legs placed hard onthe ground, bracing himself. Charlie wrapped his hands


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around the rough metal bar, arms shoulder width apart andpushed. He struggled with his first rep, then his second andfinally realised he wasnt going to make it to the eight or tenhe set himself. Maybe next time, he thought to himself admitting defeat and returning the weight back to 55kg. Alicehad been watching from a distance and when Charlieembarrassingly noticed he blushed and walked over to greethis old friend.

Maybe next time she said in a friendly but patronisingtone.

Maybe he repeated before coming into a close enoughproximity to greet her. Hello Alice

Hello Charlie, there wasnt any uncertainty in hervoice. Charlie was pleasantly surprised she remembered him.

I wouldnt be embarrassed she continued, Youre still

lifting more than anyone in my section. My ? Charlie questioned, You got section leader?Yeah, they told me last night. I was surprised but

flatteredThey told me last night too, I told Sergeant Baker I was

honoured and he told me not to be, that he gave me the rolebecause shit roles downhill and instead of spreading his over10 people he can put it all on me. Id like to believe thats hisrough exterior saying good effortAlice giggled and gave Charlie a smile before looking at herwatch.

Twenty two hundred she stated, I think I better hitthe sack, its great to see you Charlie, I didnt think you made

it to training.you too Charlie quickly responded before watching her

walk off, he thought to himself why he couldnt find a girl likethat back on Earth.


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I just couldnt make the shot. I needed to fire my rifle 50meters into the two inch circle. It shouldnt be too hard, I haddone it many times before on basic, but yet I couldnt make ittoday, maybe it was Sergeant Jacksons breath on the back of myneck. I had one more attempt before Jackson realised I wasfalling behind. I took the shot and got it in with a few millimetresto spare.

All right roared Jackson, youve shown me all of you canmake at least one shot with your training rifles but that means

jack all. Here I present you with your new toy. It was black,looked similar to our G-7L rifles from basic but with a longer

barrel and a larger display at the back.The biggest difference between the G-7L and the GT-8L is

stupid fucks without Marines training can only fire the G-7L. Younot-so-stupid fucks can fire the GT-8L. His profanity and slurs

didnt really bother any of us anymore; in fact I dont think wenotice it really.

You all know you have a chip in your brain, well it wasnt just to keep you alive. He truly got our attention on that one.The GT-8L assault rifle is designed to work with your chip and

your chip only. It tells you when your rifle is damaged, whatneeds fixing, when you need to reload, what type of ammunition

you are using. Now I dont know how this all works because Imnot pathetic enough to need these cheats to be an effectivesoldier.

After practise with our geetees it became second nature tounderstand its processes. Our chips werent some type of super computer that spoke to us, when we were running low on rounds

we would get a feeling, a sixth sense that soon we would have toreload. When my weapon clogged I knew full well how to clear out the round from the chamber but it didnt stop the rifle telling me I had to. It was a strange sensation to have a whole new set of

feelings that you never grew up with but they soon became


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natural. Wed have to rely very much on our weaponry intuitionfor the final training exercise. Wed be going back to Earth.

There had been chuckles throughout the entirety of 4 th

platoon for 24 straight hours. Everyone was jumping,throwing what they could about to each other. The heavierthe better. When compared to 2EG, Earths gravity was aplayground. No one understood the effects the gravityincrease was having on their bodies, now they did and theyloved it.

Listen up shouted acting Corporal Alice Knight, thisis our final exercise and I want it done without any error. Theamount of shit Ive gotten because of your stupid mistakes isremarkable but it ends now. Am I clear?There was an echo of yes corporal from 4 th Platoon that

would make any leader proud.Combes insisted Alice.Thank you, said Charlie, Ok, the mission is clear.

Platoons one to three are holding the outpost, think of it asthe centre of the circle; we are at a point seven clicks from itwhile Platoons five and six are at an equal distance onanother point of the circumference. We have forty minutes toget there and given the gravity it shouldnt be too difficult.We will attack at approximately oh one forty, 5 th Platoon willinstigate then attack while us and 6 th Platoon will follow. Ourexact target will be the power grid and we must take it outbefore 5 th platoon break into the outpost. We will have tenminutes to scope out the ground when we get there,

understood? There was a definite agreement from theplatoon, 28 men and women ready to follow Alice andCharlies commands. Charlie would never stop thinking howwe went from pointing the gun at himself to having otherspoint theirs at his say.


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Remember, Alice began, we have equal numbers.Three platoons on three platoons. We are supposedly at adisadvantage if we acknowledge the three to one ratiobelieved to be needed to win over a defensive position. Well, Isay believe , but to me it is subjective word made up to coversomething that cant be proved, therefore we will choose not to believe this assertion but instead show military intelligence

just how intelligent they are! Charlie looked onward atKnight, he couldnt help but understand her bumping up toPlatoon leader. She was a natural. At 22 years old she finallymade the age she had been waiting for her entire life. TheUEA is what she wanted and the UEA is what she got.

20 minute fast march. 60 second break. 19 minute fastmarch and there they were, looking down over the cliff face towhat looked like an impenetrable fortress. Thick steel walls

surrounded by sentries on guard duty, turret defences andpresumably the remaining forces burrowed down inside.

I count 29 outside, started Carl, eight at the back, sixon the sides with nine at the front linked with main entrance

Two turrets, front and back began ScottThat leaves 61 inside ended AliceMust be cramped interrupted CharlieSplit into original sections ordered Alice, section F:

proceed in the direction of the power grid. The grid was atthe back of the outpost, it was shielded by its own structurebut with a section of 10 it shouldnt be too much of aproblem.

Section F two: cover section F from the hills, sniping

positions stay low and out of site. Section G: you will attack the front; you will cause a diversion, stay covered, cause afuss and get their attention.It had been 9 minutes spotting time, 5 th Platoon were boundto be in position. While we came from the west, 5 th came from


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the north. Leaked communication had let out information onan attack from the east, thus 6 th platoon would come from thesouth, from 3 hours previously it had been radio silence. Theattack began in 40 seconds.

The first shot was fired bang on time. Milliseconds after,Section F 2 began their lead shower, endless amounts of lowvelocity poison rounds heading for each of their friends. Theywouldnt kill them, but theyd certainly force them to hit theground and the feeling for the following hours was not goingto be pleasant for any of them.

Section F, move! bellowed AliceOn me Charlie shouted to his section

Charlie led his 9 men down the embankment. They sprintedto the side of building closest to them and needed to head tothe back. Section G were doing their job as planned, the

enemy forces had been cut down from 29 to 20 in the initialonslaught and all of them were focussed onto on the section,Charlie wondered how Alice was coping. Charlie, still actingas second in command of the platoon signalled for Section F 2to leave from their covering positions and flank the guardforces attacking section G. Charlie then set 6 of his section toform a position outside of the power grid and sent theremaining 3 inside to clear and perform their task. Therewere no forces inside the grid room, Charlie was starting toworry. He had a fair reason to be and thus contacted Alice,breaking radio silence.

It was too easy, Charlie said bluntly.Theyre not putting a lot of effort into their attack

agreed Alice.Charlie asked where 6 th Platoon was and in perfect dramatictiming two shots were heard and two of his men were floored,the fell to the ground limp, the only thing missing was an exitwound a possibly a blown off limb. In haste Charlie re-


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confusion led to them almost dismissing Charlies force,running and firing directly at them they scored many hitsuntil finally Alice took the final shot. 26 down, 8 lost. After aquick calculation Carl noted there were roughly 26 of themleft bunkered inside with 40 of them. They needed to besensible.

Alice chose to wait it out for a few hours. See if theywould come out. They didnt. They organised their plan. Theyacknowledged its risks but decided in context none of themwere going to die so in this instance they accepted it.

4 hours went by then without any noticeable warningthey stormed the front. They would have liked to have blowna hole in the side but unfortunately that may have causedcasualties. Throwing buzz grenade after buzz grenade theystormed through the doors in their moment of blindness.

Knowing that there was only one entrance the enemy forcesfired simply in that direction. Thats how 12 of Alices forceswere taken out, including Alice herself. Charlies head-chipgave him another feeling of this occurrence. Handy becausehe now knew he had command of the 28 forces stillremaining. During the buzz-time Charlies forces successfullycleared out all those in view. He thought it was a shame Carldied, he was good with numbers. Charlie wasnt. Hesupposed there were around 10 left in the back room. Withthe power down they were using night lenses. It ended a loteasier than Charlie thought. After one buzz grenade, 3enemies down and 1 friendly lost the remaining enemy forcesdeclared surrender. Obviously the person in command was

hoping to justify that saving 7 or 8 lives was better thannothing.

Things were different now, thought Charlie. 13 weeksago he would never have believed he would lead a winningforce in humanities historically biggest army. He felt proud of


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himself. He was a different person. He was a tough person,brave and willing to trust, to believe in those around him andtry his best to do whatever to aid them. For while he feltimportant, for a while he was happy with his new life.

You could call it graduation day, it was a strange feeling.When we came out of basic we all knew we were only going ontoanother training course. This time they were splitting us up. Tenor so from each platoon were to be stationed onboard adesignated ship; I was to be posted to the Samurai , a mixed classship, mainly infantry with a quarter crew being Marines.Throughout the Marines training they had increased my muscles

beyond belief.The nanomachines, now covering my entire body and

sunken into the muscle in multiple layers had hardened. I had

now spent three months with daily updates both to my neural pathways, constantly updating my head-chip, and my body. Themuscles were the main focus area with a few operations here andthere to update senses such as touch and sight. We were now wellequipped with the ability to tell most objects with our finger tips

just as easy as we could with our eyes, similarly, our eyes werenow much more prepared for low light environments. It madeeveryone of us feel like the strongest people in the universe. Ontop of all of this we had all spent 5 months, on the TrainingCentre, with ever increasing gravity. We were now on 4EG and Iwas able to lift almost double the weight I could before I started

basic, even with the gravity.After my reflection on just how much I had changed,

physically that is, I still had a lot of time to question my personality, it hit me hard just how tough Sergeant Jackson was.We had been augmented beyond belief, strong thanks to science.We were standing up in 4EG, it was fair enough that could take it,


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but Jackson was not augmented at all yet there he was, back straight. I dont think anyone else realised.

It was the morning of the end of training and the beginningof the rest of my life. The ships were all formed together, anarmada, forty five of them, each ready for ten of us. I caught myfirst glimpse of the Samurai from the portside window of theTraining Centre. It was mesmerising. Alice and I shared a glance

before I saw her board her shuttle to the Centurion . If Jacksonwasnt in the room I may have shed a tear. Jackson watched usall, in silence, as we boarded our separate shuttles to our selectedships. He didnt even crack a smile. I hoped he was joking aboutthe crying-like-a-baby threat.

Only eight weeks into basic training and things werecoming to an end. Given the recruits need to know basis they

were not told of results from their previous aptitude tests,they were not told what would happen once they hadgraduated from basic training and they were not told whatoptions they could choose from, or couldnt for that matter.Only eight weeks into basic and Charlie was told what heneeded to know.

Charlie was called to briefing room two, as were fivehundred other recruits.

Ok, listen up declared a burly man Charlie would seeagain after the following two weeks in which he would die forhis first time, Im going to make this quick. All of you here,through our reviews on each of you, have been chosen for TheMarines. Your training will begin tomorrow as you do not

have to leave the Training Centre. Report here tomorrow atoh eight hundred. Dismissed.

Charlie thought it was very sudden, he didnt know whatit meant to have been chosen for Marines training. He didntsee Alice in the room, thoughts went through his mind, the


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burly man mentioned the others had to leave the TrainingCentre, maybe they had left? Maybe hed never see heragain? Charlie didnt want to feel upset; in the grand schemeof things he had only known her through the various trainingfor 5 months. There had not been any time for rest andrelaxation to catch a drink. She probably didnt care forhim and nothing more needed to be said. The thought still ledon his mind...or more on his head-chip. He would see Alicethough; he would see her at the mess hall that evening and heprepared for his final moments with his platoon leader.

Heading over with his overflowing plate of food, Charliedid as he always did: he went and sat with his platoon. Eightweeks of training had led to an unofficial structure of thosewho were obvious leaders and those who didnt mind beingled. Much to Charlies surprise it turns out he was a leader,

an effective one at that, he wasnt made platoon 2IC for noreason. The men and women under his command thoughthis quiet manner evoked a serious outlook, someone youdidnt mess with, his clear and concise orders left no onewondering what he wanted and gave no time to question him.Alice on the other hand, as lovely as Charlie thought she was,had a fire in her. She was strict, to the point. She knew whatshe wanted and damn well made sure people did it. Togetherthey made a good team, no one raised an eyebrow about herdeath at the Earth exercise when it was revealed it wasthrough her actions in taking out 3 enemies before blockadingthe doorway allowing entrance for everyone. Charlie thoughtto himself that it was good while it lasted. Charlie was late at

the table; most people had finished and were already headingoff to the barracks for their first early night in two months.

Id just like to say, started Alice, youve been amazingover the last one and a half months; I dont know how


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a new life - chapters 1 and 2

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