Chapter 2: The Morning After

“Where is that damn shuttle?” Zalika asked in annoyance.

Zalika sat in her truck as the driver as Bekra sat comfortably in the passenger seat. The electric vehicle was powered down and parked not far from the makeshift port. The two had a pleasant view of “Jen,” the colony lander ship, as they looked at the other shuttles.

“It’s amazing the T’rintar never damaged her,” Zalika remarked. “She was a big fat target.”

“Our target was the planetary defenses ... nothing else,” Bekra replied. She shifted her tail a little bit to make herself more comfortable.

“Sorry about the seats. They weren’t thinking about Itrean tails when they built them.”

“It is alright,” Bekra said with a series of clicks in her voice. “My tail is unhurt.”

It was just past 0800 in the colony. All was seemingly quiet as the port was still a few minutes away from the town itself. Zalika had a pleasant view of the center of the colony from a distance. She was on the verge of tapping her augmented arm.

“Good ol UHN,” Zalika remarked. “The classic hurry up and stand by routine.”

“It will arrive,” Bekra said. “Be patient.”

“The shuttle was supposed to be here about thirty minutes ago.”

Bekra had pulled out what Zalika knew were called tilons. She pulled them out of her pocket and unrolled them. The twin tubes opened up to reveal a computer display screen. She placed it on her lap as her clawed finger began to tap a series of buttons. Information began to be displayed that her reptilian eyes carefully read.

“It looks like the shuttle from the Hawthorne was delayed for thirty-five minutes,” Bekra explained. “The freighter was reporting problems with the hangar facility. They fixed it though and continuing with the launch.”

“Good...” Zalika said as she shook her head. “Civies ... they never update those JX-15s. I already know the problem the moment that I saw what type of freighter it was coming in from.”

“What do you mean?”

“The shuttles and attachment mechanisms are always exposed to space. It always gets riddled with space debris. By the time they launch their shuttles, there is always a delay.”

“We do that with some of our shuttles,” Bekra commented. “We never had that problem.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have bioengineering to help regenerate your ships when it gets the occasional pen prick in the hull.”

“Why do you design your ships that way?”

“Oh, the JX-15s? Yeah, before I transferred to the marines, I was a civilian engineer. Those JX-15s could be built pretty fast at the time. Deimos shipyards were spitting them out as fast as the economy could build them ... but they just suck. We did replace them eventually, even if they are still used today.”

Bekra did her quick nods as she closed her tilon, causing the projection display to fade. The two strip-like devices closed up as she stuck it back into her pocket. The two mountains in the distance were the most significant landmarks of the island continent. She observed the environment noting the open beauty of the colony and its location. The truck itself was parked in healthy, thick grass. Euteran grass was not like the ancient grass of former Earth. It formed stalks that split in two as it rose up from the ground. This caused the field of grass to be very thin but ultimately thicker when other grass was growing. The grass stalks grew to heights that approached the doors of the vehicle. She could see the separated trees as they grew out of the ground. A single surface boat was out in the large lake by the colony. All in all, it was a peaceful day.

The truck itself was sleek in design. It was large and black, having six large wheels (two on the forward axle and a four rear wheel axle) for traversing the rougher terrains of planets. It didn’t appear to be military in design but perhaps something close to it. It was large enough to have three additional passengers in a backseat.

“Good thing you pulled me away from the alcohol,” Zalika commented to breaking Bekra’s attention away. “I would have had the most shittiest of hangovers.”

Bekra looked up to the sky as she pointed at the gray-like object that was coming down. Zalika looked up and could see it as well.

“There it is,” Zalika said. “About damn time.”

They could see a shuttlecraft that had flown in from the atmosphere from high above orbit. The sunlight reflected off its surface, making it look like a falling silver bullet. There was a glove compartment where Zalika went and grabbed a pair of high powered binoculars. She turned it on and began to look through them.

“Yep...” Zalika said as she adjusted the settings to display in infrared. She could get a better view now as she could see a red object coming through the atmosphere. She could even see the vectoring thrusters’ fire to keep it steady in its descent. “Looks like one of those Mark 11 decommissioned military shuttles that they sell to the civilian market.”

The shuttle itself looked like a long silver cylindrical object. It had a series of thrusters that adorned the entire hull. Unlike the military shuttles, this one had more windows for passengers to see out from. The forward section of the hull had a pair of retractable arms for moving cargo in space. All of its guns were stripped from it.

It began to slow down its descent as the two women watched the shuttle get closer and closer to the landing strip of shuttles. The dirt construction was all there was of what would be called a landing area. The shuttle’s multiple thrusters were firing to ensure the vessel wouldn’t crash to the ground.

Zalika went and put the binoculars away as she sighed and took a deep breath. Bekra went and tapped her clawed hand on her leg.

“Are you going to be alright?” Bekra asked.

“Yeah ... I will be fine,” Zalika replied. “Just going to be annoying for the day.”

“I am looking forward to it.”

“Everything has to happen at once, doesn’t it? Poor recruit here is going to feel some of it.”

“There isn’t much for him to worry about.”

“Yeah, but he is assigned to a planet that was attacked not long ago. This planet may get attacked again pretty soon for all we know.”

“The Aksren and Shal’rein clans will have to defeat our combined fleets in orbit if they ever wish to hurt us,” Bekra tried to assure her. “He will be fine.”

“Yeah, and I keep telling myself that. Why do I feel that it won’t?”

Zalika remained relaxed as she continued to watch the shuttle come to land. It was nearing the port as they could hear the loud engines working overtime. The ship had slowed down to the point it was hovering. The landing pad’s hard dirt was being pushed as the dust was being kicked in the air.

The shuttle had extended a pair of landing struts from the hull’s bottom belly as the heat was still being emitted from its thrusters. As each second went by, the engine’s sounds and the dust being thrown about were starting to die down. Eventually, the shuttle shut off its engines as it fully landed comfortably on the ground.

The two women watched as the side right hatch opened up and lowered down as a ramp to the dirt below. The hatches alone were large to accommodate the vast parts that spaceships utilized. It opened up to reveal a single individual that was struggling to step out of the shuttle.

Zalika could see that it was man’s facial features that matched that of a person that came from Japan or China of former Earth. He had short black hair and was cleanly shaven. He had a pale complexion and was wearing the typical UHN marine camouflage uniform that she was wearing. The mixed colors of blue, light blue, and red were apparent all over his blouse, pants, and backpack. He also had a seabag with him as he was practically limping out of the hatchway ramp.

“He looks like he needs help,” Bekra said as she was about to open the door of the truck.

Zalika’s hand went to Bekra’s chest to halt her from leaving. “No. He doesn’t need help. He is doing the same thing I had to do when I got out of Marine boot camp. The main facility trains its people on Mars, where gravity is far less than most planets. The gravity is twice as strong here than Mars, so he is feeling the effects of it. Let him adjust. Trust me. I still remember getting out of Mars to go back to Oshun, which has the gravity of former Earth. If I can get used to it, so can he.”

Bekra relaxed as he saw the man straighten his back out and resume his walking toward the shuttle. Each step he took was hard, but each one got better and better. The Itrean woman turned to look at Zalika.

“See?” Zalika said, pointing at him. “It will take a little bit, but he will be fine. I actually really fault the concept of the boot camp and its original location. They are planning on expanding new facilities on Aphadus and Palora to help recruits get used to the different environments that we may face. They can’t get it done soon enough, honestly. Watch this...”

Zalika pressed a button as the window lowered down. She poked her head out and smacked the side of the truck. “Hey! Move your ass here, marine! Move it!”

Bekra could see that Zalika was smiling at the new marine that heard her voice. He turned towards the truck and began to run toward it. The hatch of the shuttle began to close up as its engines were starting to power up again. The man was gaining ground with the truck as Bekra was watching the shuttle start its take-off prep.

The man ran across the dirt and into the grass. He reached the truck as Zalika pointed her thumb at the passenger seat door of the vehicle.

“Hop in, marine.”

“Private First Class Chuang, reporting in, Corporal!” the marine said with a salute. His voice had a more Chinese accent to it, but it was hushed out as the shuttle’s engines began to activate.

Zalika once again pointed to the truck’s interior as she raised the windows. The rear passenger doors lifted up, and Chuang threw his seabag and backpack inside. He then jumped in, and the doors closed behind him. He was breathing a little heavy.

The shuttle began to lift off as more dust was kicked up in the air. As quickly as it landed, the shuttle had completed its job. It altogether left the port as it rose in the air. It turned a little bit and angled itself upward before its rear drives activated. It slowly left a trail of smoke behind it as lifted up and away into the sky again.

The sound began to die down as the noise of the shuttle began to quiet down. Zalika and Bekra turned to look at Chuang that was busy fastening his seatbelt. He turned to look up at them.

“Dah...” Chuang replied, seeing Bekra’s face. “You ... you’re an Aksren!”

“Hey! Don’t worry about it,” Zalika called out. “She is an Aksren from the T’rintar clan. She is harmless ... mostly.”

Bekra smiled a little bit. “Private First Class ... are you alright?”

Chuang seemed to calm down a little bit. Seeing an Aksren up close startled him, but he started to regain his composure rather quickly. “Ye ... Yes, I am alright.”

“Chuang, my name is Corporal Zalika. Welcome to Eutera. This is my good friend Centurion Bekra ... ehh...” Zalika seemed to pause and hesitate. “Just in case for you. The Centurion rank in the Itrean clans is basically a Corporal or Sergeant in UHN rank.”

“Yes, of course,” Chuang replied nervously. “We had a few Itreans that were training us at boot camp ... first time getting a chance to see an Aksren up close. Sorry about that, Centurion Bekra.”

“Actually, you can just call me Bekra. I was assigned by the T’rintar clan to assist the UHN Marine Corps stationed on Eutera.”

Zalika knew that Chaung would quickly adapt to the events. It made sense that the T’rintar clan was getting more and more involved with UHN affairs in its aid to stand against the other Itrean clans. With most of the Itreans being Yutilian, to see an Aksren or Shal’rein serving under the T’rintar clan was an impressive or startling sight to be used to, something that she was already well adjusted to as it was.

“Chuang, you can also just call me Zalika,” she explained to him. “I know boot camp beats the whole rank addressing thing into your heads. Just make sure that you respect the higher rank. Me? I am just your boring marine that comes from Oshun. Get used to seeing people like her here on Eutera. I suppose you already know the recent history of this planet?”

“I know a little bit,” Chuang replied. He seemed like he was somewhat composed. “I know that it got attacked and conquered by the T’rintar clan about like a year ago. The T’rintar returned it back to us half a year ago ... I think.”

“Yep,” Zalika replied. “All the people taken prisoner with the exception of the few that wanted to stay with the T’rintar clan, returned back to here ... well most of them. There are about a thousand humans and a thousand Itreans that call this place their home. It is basically a little outpost in the system. The T’rintar clan feels bad with the events that took place and have been offering any available aid to this place, including all the nice warships that are up in orbit above us as we build up the infrastructure around here.”

“How big is the military base here?”

“About thirty strong. We don’t have a naval installation for the UHN yet, but we have the marine corp base that serves as the new base of operations after the attack. More or less, it is the UHN base for the colony until more is brought in.”

“How is the weather here?” Chuang asked Zalika. He watched as Zalika went and turned on the truck’s engine as it revved up.

“About as good as you think. Be used to blue sky and white cloud cover every day. Temperatures are pretty much the same all year round since we have no seasons. Might be a little cooler than the artificial weather on Batrice or Mars, but the uniforms do a good job with the weather. You ... you’re from Batrice, right?”

Chuang nodded his head. “Yes. Have you been there?”

“I was at the shipyard of Gillan once on a freighter awhile back, but I never saw Batrice itself. Nope ... never had a chance to see that floating pill in space.”

“Everyone always talks about Fort Batrice,” Chuang said with a smile. “We have other things than just that.”

“Yeah ... whiners and complainers...” Zalika said under her breath.

“What?”

Bekra smacked Zalika in the arm that Chuang noticed.

“Eh ... sorry,” Zalika apologized. “One thing that you will have here, Chuang, is plenty of opportunities to watch the news and politics. Don’t get too buried in them. I am guilty of it too.”

Bekra once again smacked Zalika in the arm, but this time it was harder.

“Fine! I am sorry ... Fuck! If it is one thing about this place is that you won’t have too much to do. Make sure to follow the protocols that the marines establish. We are the tip of the spear. Treat everyone fairly and equally here. Our goal to protect this place.” Zalika turned her head to look at Bekra. “If you hit me one more time...”

Bekra held back but kept a smile that Chuang could carefully see.

“Eh ... enough of this shit,” Zalika said as she pressed a button on the steering wheel as the gears shifted in the truck. “I will explain more to you as you are going to get a nice tour of the colony.”

The engine of the truck roared as the heavy vehicle powered up and began to move. As soon as it started to reach faster and faster speeds, Zalika did a rapid u-turn of the vehicle as Chuang and Bekra were pushed hard to the left. Dirt and grass were kicked up into the air as the four rear tires were spinning hard.

“Yeah!” Zalika called out as she was focused forward. “Feel that shit?” She kept the wheel steady as the truck was directed towards the outer edge of the colony. She stomped her boot to the floor pedal as the truck’s wheel spun hard. “If it is one thing I love doing on this planet is having some fun.”

Chuang and Bekra both watched as Zalika was behind the wheel driving. The truck flew forward as the shocks and wheels were bracing for the rough, uneven terrain. Even if it was a plain grassy field, it was not a concrete paved road. The vehicle was capable of doing heavy off-road driving, though.

Immediately, the truck’s speed increased more and more as Zalika went and put on a pair of sunglasses. The vehicle was roaring as the bumps became hard. The shocks alone were doing their jobs though as Chuang and Bekra didn’t feel much from the hard-driving. The truck was producing a hushed hum to it. The heavy-duty electric motor barely made any noise except for the spinning tires and underbrush that hit the underside.

Chuang turned his head to the left to look at the colony. He was busy noting all the buildings and landmarks. He could see all the individuals as a few looked at the speeding truck’s direction in the distance.

“What do you do here exactly?” Chuang asked.

“Are you asking about our schedule or me?” Zalika replied.

“Just what the marines do here? What is our schedule?”

“Today, we get you to the marine base. You are stationed at Fort Caprise like the rest of us. I believe your orders identified you as an engineer, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well with the exception of helping out the weapons installation here, you will be drilling most of the time. Work is typical schedule for the UHN and UWA schedules. You will be working for five days of seven days a week. Weekends are off. Eutera has 23 hours in a daily revolution, but we still follow UHN timetable protocols like anywhere else. With Eutera, we have an extra day here and there that we declare holidays to make up the time.”

“Nice,” Chuang replied with a smile.

“It is awesome. We still have our watches like any other base. You will be in duty section seven, I believe, unless our Staff Sergeant has anything to respond to that. You will be on watch at least once every six days. Better than boot camp, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Heh ... I still remember my drill sergeant. We had port and starboard watches. Damn, it sucked.”

“Shit. We had four duty sections with our recruit division.”

“Hold on!” Zalika called out. It was little time given as the truck was nearing a slight bump. Bekra could see that the vehicle was approaching speeds of about 120 kilometers an hour as it went airborne over the bump.

“Whoa,” Chuang called out.

The truck slammed down on the grass with a hard thump. The shocks and wheels handled it perfectly as it produced a small bounce in the interior.

“Perhaps we should slow down a little bit?” Bekra cautioned her.

“Haha, fuck no,” Zalika said. “You know how much I love doing this.”

Chuang could see better detail of the colony. He could see the tallest building as another vehicle was carrying around parts and supplies. A crane was busy moving a chunk of another building’s wall up and aligning it with the infrastructure under construction.

“One thing about Eutera is enjoy your time here,” Zalika explained. “It is a large open town in all directions. We got a nice large lake to go swimming in if you enjoy the daily temperature of about 50 degrees Celsius, that is. Honestly, I never wanted to swim in it, but we have it regardless. We have the mountains that you can go and explore. We also, of course, have the forests too. We even have a sports arena that holds tournaments for football and baseball.”

“What is that?” Chuang noted in the distance. He could see what looked like a massive crawler near the clearing in the forests.

Zalika looked at what he was gesturing at. “Wow, how do you not know that? That is the heavy-duty CR-150 Crawler that comes with the colony ship. They help out in the construction of colonies. We use a military crawler based on that design on our Phalanx Assault Carriers. Did they teach you anything in boot camp, or did the instructors get lazy?”

“Oh, those are the crawlers! Sorry, I thought they would be a lot smaller than that. I didn’t know it was that big.”

“Yeah, they are damn huge. The one they use here at Eutera is barely needed, and it is being stripped for parts, which they designed them for anyway. The crane from it has been taken off and used to help put the buildings up.”

As Chuang got a better view, he could see the multi-ton vehicle past the buildings. Most of it had been indeed stripped and taken apart. It was a shell of its former self, but he could still see at least three treads on one side that remained. It was mostly a boxy-looking tank that could haul massive amounts of goods and supplies. It had a variety of tools and equipment to begin overhauling the landscape for a colony. With Eutera being the way it was, there was no need for over-elaborate buildings or domed overlays for cities. Regardless, the UWA and UHN insured that things could be recycled and reused very quickly if they wanted.

They reached the colony’s past edge as they drove past the viewpoint of the center of the settlement. There was a slight bump as the truck hit something hard and went over it.

Bekra was still looking at Zalika that seemed to be enjoying her driving. Chuang noted the center of the colony. He could see more individuals, both humans, and Itreans, that were walking around.

“What is that black thing sticking up?” Chuang asked.

“That is the monument for everything that has happened here?” Bekra explained. “It was erected to remember the people that were killed when my people attacked this colony.”

“Yeah, it is basically her people saying ‘we are sorry, we won’t let it happen again.’” Zalika chided in.

“It must have been hard on the people here,” Chuang commented.

“Yes, it was,” Bekra continued. “The T’rintar clan has given the colony back to you humans. We make sure for our alliance that the people are treated well. We provide the best equipment for your hospital here. We funded the monument and its placement. We protect you from the Aksren and the Shal’rein in orbit.”

Zalika began to slow down the truck as they drove past the edge of the colony. She was nearing a large outcropping of a forest of trees. There was a dirt road that was cleared out that the vehicle began to steer into.

“Yeah, I can’t speak for the colonists since I wasn’t taken prisoner, but we had a marine survivor that was taken and returned to the planet awhile back. He reported that he was treated well. It sucked, but the T’rintar attacked the world because they needed human subjects.”

“Now everything is all better...” Chaung replied with some hesitation. There was even some question as to how he worded it.

“Again, I can’t speak for the entirety of the group, but for the most part, yes.”

“My home planet would disagree if they had it their way.”

Bekra turned her head around as he looked at him. It even caused Zalika to turn her head to him slightly as she kept her focus on the road.

“There isn’t going to be a problem, is there?” Zalika asked him.

“What? No, no...” Chuang said. “I don’t agree with a lot of the feelings that Batrice has ... I just know that it isn’t going to be a simple fix.”

Zalika sighed a little bit. “Always remember that we fight with the T’rintar clan to defend our homes, Chuang. The UHN and the T’rintar swore their loyalties together. Let the politicians do the jobs. Let us serve as the soldiers we are meant to be.”

“I swear that,” Chaung said as he put his hand to his heart. “Bekra, I assure you that I hold no ill feelings towards your people.”

Bekra smiled. “I am happy then. I swear to give my life for the cause and to defend your homes.”

“Speaking of which,” Zalika jumped in. “Hey, do you have a tattoo?”

“No ... not yet,” Chuang answered.

“We got a person at the base that can fix that. UHN Marine Corp: Redder than blood!” she shouted.

“Redder than blood! Blood for life!” Chuang finished the motto. He pounded his fist to his heart and said it with great enthusiasm.

“Daaammmnnn,” Zalika commented with a nod. “I always loved that motto. I don’t care if Mars has it for their flag motto too. The UHN Marine version is said twenty times better and ten times more spirit.”

“As I recall, they don’t have that last sentence either,” Bekra added.

“True. Fuck I wish you could get a tattoo of it for your body too,” Zalika said. “Too bad, your body can’t hold the ink well.”

“I can get a scale ... Ummm ... I don’t know the word for it in English ... it is basically laser surgery on the scales that leave a picture or words. Some of our people have it.”

“Your people can’t have tattoos?” Chuang asked.

“Yes, we can on our fronts, but my face, arms, legs, back, and tail can’t. We still have that laser ... thingy we can do.”

“We use lasers for tattoos, so I can imagine it is pretty much the same thing anyway,” Zalika replied. “Still wish you could get one. Bekra is a little shy on the whole art department.”

“That isn’t true,” Bekra protested. “I like art. I just ... don’t want it on me.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Zalika shook her head. “See? Even Chuang is going to get one, and we haven’t even been here for thirty minutes! Chuang is going to get along with everyone just fine.”

Chuang looked around the road as they were getting to a clearing just ahead. The small base in the forest was coming into view. He could see the walled up fence but see the two main buildings.

“And here is home sweet home for you,” Zalika explained as the vehicle was slowing down more and more. “We already have a room assigned for you. You can request to live off base and in the other buildings, but you will need approval from the COC before you can.”

“I understand,” Chuang replied.

“Trust me. You will love it here.”

Chuang seemed more curious about everything than anything else. He watched as the gate slid open when it scanned the vehicle. It was basically some military outpost in the middle of a densely packed forest.

“You know, I haven’t considered the fact that you hadn’t seen many trees before,” Zalika commented.

“It is true,” Chuang said. “I have only seen a few in museums at Batrice with my brother. It is ... weird.”

“Growing up on Oshun, you have nothing but ocean. There are no trees there either. All the oxygen comes from the ocean wildlife. It was an adjustment for me, as well.”

“What about you, Bekra?” he asked as the truck pulled into the base. The gate closed behind the vehicle as the wheels were finally touching pavement.

“My planet that I was born from, New Atrea, it had trees that were much taller than this,” Bekra replied. “Some areas were forests, but I actually grew up in the desert area of my home planet.”

“New Atrea is the capital world of the T’rintar clan,” Zalika added. “Don’t confuse it with Earth, by the way. I know the T’rintar clan just got done renaming it to Itrea, the new word for Atrea. I have had to correct soooo many people on that.”

“That is right,” Chuang said. “I know that you Itreans are dinosaurs from former Earth. It is so crazy.”

“To come from the same planet? Fuck yeah, it is.” Zalika said.

“To some of our people, Itrea is a sacred home,” Bekra explained. “I don’t mind going to see it once, but I don’t want to live there.”

“Yeah, because we got done fucking it up, and now you guys are having to clean it all up.”

“No, it isn’t that. We terraform planets all the time. I grew up in New Atrea. New Atrea is my home. Itrea is just another planet to me.”

“Same with me,” Chuang said. “Batrice is my home. I care for it instead ... even if there is some ... bitterness from my home over handing Earth to the T’rintar clan.”

The truck came to a stop near the main building. It was one of the two vehicles in the base as the three began to undo their seatbelts.

“Honestly, who cares about handing over a chunk of worthless rock to the T’rintar? ... emm no offense, Bekra,” Zalika said as she perched her arm on the seats and looked at Chuang. Bekra simply seemed to shrug.

“I don’t care either,” Chuang said. “I know my father has been upset with the idea. I won’t go into it any more than needed, though.”

He decided to stop the conversation since they had arrived at their destination. He examined the scenery and the base. He could see another truck that was painted brown similar to the configuration as the black truck he was in.

“Well...” Zalika said. “We got a full schedule for you today. Ready to head inside and meet your team?”

“Yes,” Chuang said, nodding his head. He went and grabbed his belongings as the doors began to slide open.

“Alright ... Let’s go.”

It was a few hours as Chuang had a chance to orient himself with the base. Chuang, Zalika, and Bekra were in the lounge together. Zalika was pointing to all the people that were relaxing and eating for lunch. There were food and drinks that were on the table for everyone to eat and sit down. Most of the people in the room were getting a chance to relax. The room itself was a little bit dirty after the unofficial party the night before but still tidy. Chuang was about to grab a sandwich when Zalika was pointing out the various people that were in the room.

“The man with the red hair is Corporal Felix,” Zalika said. “Mind his accent. Mine is better.”