Part 3: The Coming of Battle       J.T. walked into Admiral Winfield's ready room with smile on his face. It seemed like ages since he had seen him. "Reporting as ordered, Admiral" Winfield turned to face him "I thought I had finally managed to lose that title, guess I was wrong. How are you J.T.?" Winfield extended his hand, Marsh shook it. "About as well as can be expected under the circumstances." "That is what I'd like to talk to you about, J.T., the circumstances." began the Admiral. "As of now the fleet is up to half the strength it was before. We were caught off guard at Mars and the aliens took full advantage of it. Now I am faced with a difficult decision." J.T. tensed, somehow he knew he would not want to here this but he had to ask. "What decision are you talking about, sir?" Winfield gave him a hard look, "One hour ago we received a distress beacon from Mars. Apparently there are some survivors who have managed to evade capture and want us to bring them home. Given our estimate of the firepower each of the alien ships carries, we cannot afford to commit the fleet to a direct confrontation with the aliens. I would also prefer not to leave those people out there to die. Therefore I have decided to send a small strike force to retrieve them." "Able Squad?" offered J.T. "Not just Able Squad," corrected Winfield, "these people are on the ground so you'll need ground troops to look for them. Able Squad will function as a patrol unit, to warn and defend our ground forces." "Who are we covering?" asked J.T. "Jumptroop Charlie Five. I know the troops in it are new, but their commanding officer is the best we have. That's what we need for this mission, the best we have, and that's why Butler and you are going. You'll leave in a few hours aboard the pirate vessel Victorious, avoid contact with the enemy under any circumstances. Your primary mission is to retrieve those people and get home. I will deploy the fleet as if we are getting ready to attack the their ships on the opposite side of the planet. This should provide the necessary diversion so you can slip through their defenses, but if you get into trouble then chances are we won't be able to help you." The admiral looked at J.T. with worried eyes, "There is no evidence to suggest this J.T., but it might be a trap. Watch yourself out there." "You can count on us, sir." said J.T. as he snapped a solute. "I always have, good luck." Admiral Winfield returned the solute and J.T. started to leave the ready room but hesitated, "Admiral, there's one more thing I'd like to talk to you about." * * *       Life is good thought Kaz as he walked to catch his shuttle to the Victorious. He met a beautiful girl, they hit it off, and he has a date when he gets back. The only thing that could screw it up would be if he or she doesn't come back. Kaz had to admit, he wasn't thrilled to find out Charlie Five was coming with them. The Jumptroops weren't exactly known as a low risk outfit. But then again, neither was being an Exotrooper. Ellen will hold her own, I'm sure of it. When Kaz arrived at the shuttle, he found most of the squad waiting for him. Only Nara, J.T., and Bronski were missing. * * *       Nara hurried down the corridor to the shuttle. She was late, she hated being late. But she had one of her seizures and it couldn't be helped. Coming up on the hanger, she spotted Bronski talking excitedly with someone. It was Eve Hanley. As she drew closer she picked up the conversation. "I'm telling ya, Eve it was the darndest thing I ever saw! She just waved her hand and poof, we had more fruit." Eying Nara, Bronski caught her arm as she tried to get by. "Nara, help me out here." "Help you where?" said Nara innocently "Hi Eve." Eve smiled and greeted Nara warmly, "Wolf here seems to be convinced that you can preform miracles, bread into wine and that sort of thing." "Really?" said Nara, the picture of innocence. "Oh come on Nara, tell her how ya made the fruit grow." Nara turned to Bronski and flashed him a wicked grin, "Well you see Eve, first I get the seeds, and then I plant the seeds, and then..." "No, no, no!" interrupted Bronski, "Tell her how you made them grow with a wave of your hand!" "I'm sorry Bronski, agriculture just doesn't work that way." said Nara in an apologetic tone. Looking concerned she placed her hand against his forehead, "Are you feeling okay?" "That's what I was wondering too" said Eve. "Stop that!" Bronski said as he swatted her hand away. "Get some rest Bronski, it was nice to see you again Eve." Nara then continued on her way towards the shuttle, trying not to laugh. Behind her she heard Bronski's repeated attempts to add veracity to his story. As she rounded the corner she ran into J.T. "Running a little late are we?" he said. "Sorry J.T., I had some...personal problems." replied Nara. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, you're off this mission." said J.T. "What?! But J.T.!" started Nara. "Easy Nara, you wanted some time off and I put in a word with the Admiral. He's agreed to give you a leave of absence." "But the mission J.T.!" persisted Nara. "Don't worry about the mission, we have a replacement pilot waiting for us on the Victorious and I will handle Able Squad until you get back." said J.T. calmly. "Alright, but how did you convince the Admiral?" she asked. "I didn't need to, medical informed him of your condition. He wanted you off the mission from the start." "But why?" asked Nara, sounding hurt. "You're prone to having seizures, we can't have you freezing up in the middle of a fight. So Winfield has agreed to relieve you from duty until you find a way to deal with it." explained J.T. "I understand J.T., and thank you. I should go." Nara started to walk away when J.T. stopped her. "Before you go I'd like to know what you plan to do." Nara looked blankly at him for a second, he's not going to like this, but he can't stop me, and he did ask. "I'm going back to the Amazon." J.T.'s eyes widened, "Are you crazy! You can't go back to him, who knows what he'll do to you this time!" "I am going back J.T. and you can't stop me." J.T. opened his mouth to speak but Nara cut him off. "Look, maybe there's something that you forgot, this isn't happening to you! You aren't the one who cried herself to sleep for a month wondering what she might look like in the morning!! You aren't the one who has to endure the pain and uncertainty that comes with the knowledge that your own body is betraying you!!! I can't live like this!!!! Ketzer may be twisted, but he is the only one that can help me!!!!! One way or another this will be finished when I come out of that jungle!!!!!!" Nara's voice boomed throughout the hanger, Bronski and the others watched her from the shuttle. She had not realized she was yelling until she heard the echo. Shocked by her own behavior she tried to apologize "J.T., I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." J.T. put his hand on her shoulder, "Its OK Nara, your right, its not happening to me. Just be careful, alright?" "Sure, you too OK?" * * *       The prison guard looked up, from down the corridor came a guardsman in full battle armor. His wings were retracted to make passage down the corridor more easy. In his hands was a tray of food, some type of meat, a green liquid and some bluish slop. The guardsman stopped in front of the prison guard and spoke, '(I have the prisoner's dinner.)' The prison guard looked it over and replied, '(Very well, observe the rules. The prisoner is absolutely lethal, do not take your eyes off him, and always keep one cannon on him at all times. Under no circumstances are you to retract your armor, understood?)' '(Understood)' replied the guardsman. The door was opened and the guardsman went inside. The door closed behind him and he looked towards the room's center where the prisoner sat waiting. '(On your feet! Put your hands in the air and keep them where I can see them!)' the guardsman ordered. Taqueza got to his feet and put his hands in the air. The guardsman carefully placed the tray on the floor just inside the perimeter of the cell. He kept his eyes and right cannon trained on him at all times. Just as the guardsman was about to leave the cell Taqueza spoke, '(Do not forget to remove the tray from lunch.)' '(Do not tell me how to do my job, traitor.)' the guardsman snapped back. Keeping his forearm cannon trained on him he bent down to pick up the tray. Unnoticed by the guard, Taqueza had wound a thread from his prison uniform around the glass in his lunch tray. The thread was tied around his ankle. As the guardsman bent down to pick up the lunch tray Taqueza picked up his left foot and pretended to scratch the back of his right leg. The movement was not seen as unusual by the guard but it had the unseen effect of pulling the glass off the tray as it was lifted. The glass fell to the ground with a clatter. It did not break, but the guardsman looked down to see what had happened. '(A fatal mistake)' said Taqueza. It was the last thing the guardsman ever heard.       Outside, the prison guard heard the clatter of a cup but nothing more. He tensed, it might just be the cup or it might not. He turned to face the door and drew his weapon. After a minute the wall dissolved to show the guardsman still in full battle armor. '(What happened?)' the prison guard asked as he holstered his weapon. '(I dropped a cup. He did not try anything. He was sleeping so I quickly switched trays.)' The prison guard looked past him into the room, the prisoner lay on his bunk his back to him, apparently asleep. '(Good, carry on then)' said the guard. The guardsman walked down the corridor. As he cleared the corner he deposited the tray in a recycler unit and hurried down to the elevator to get below decks. Taqueza knew it would not be long before his absence was discovered. When the guardsman failed to report back, it would not take long to figure out what happened to him. Arriving below decks, Taqueza returned to his quarters. His section would be getting ready to go on patrol so no one should be around. The corridor was empty as expected. He opened the door to his quarters and stepped inside. Taqueza then disengaged the battle armor he was wearing and threw it to one side. He reached under his capsule and retrieved a small rectangular case. He opened it. Inside was an exofleet uniform, it had once been his mother's, he modified it to fit him. Looking around the room Taqueza grabbed a few things and threw them into the case. A terran weapons belt, a terran style sidearm, and an odd-looking device. It was about six inches long with a 'T' shaped handle at one end. It had three buttons on top and one on the side. It was a mini-grappler. Taqueza then sat at his terminal and downloaded a number of files onto a portable data storage unit. The files were kept under the heading, '(Heritage)'. He had put them there a few nights before, after he had a nightmare. The data storage unit then went into the case, which was closed and sealed. He picked it up and left the room through an irregular shaped hole in the ceiling, the ventilation shaft. * * *       The Victorious had proven to be something of a surprise to Kaz. He had expected it to be full of bloodthirsty pirates that would kill their own mother for a shot at the aliens. Instead he found a bunch of battle weary souls who just wanted a rest. Just like the people that make up exofleet, I guess we're not so different after all. Kaz thought as he checked over his exofighter for about the 45th time in as many minutes. It wasn't unusual, the rest of squad was doing the same thing. The odds were stacked against them as it was, no one needed faulty equipment to make things worse. Sealing the hatch over his communications array, Kaz noticed the new Charlie Five squad starting to set up across the way. Kaz scanned the squad for a particular red-head. He saw her already looking at him, he gave her a wave which she returned and he went back to work. After the 46th check-out of his fighter, Bronski strode up next to him. "A bunch of newbies, lets give'em a welcome...exosquad style" DeLeon, who overheard the conversation, rolled his eyes in disgust. Kaz gave the newbie squad a look and answered, "I don't think so Bronski, their probably scared enough as it is." Bronski looked at Kaz like he sprouted a second head. DeLeon smiled and said, "Well wonders never cease, its about time you grew up." "Shut up DeLeon" snapped Bronski, "What's wrong with you kid? This is tradition, we always raze the newbies." "I don't see why we should add to their problems, that's all." Kaz and Bronski looked at the squad. A girl, a red-head, smiled at Kaz and he smiled back. "Yeah, I see too" said Bronski, "Don't want to tick off your new girlfriend, now do we?" "Kaz has a girl?" chimed in Torres, "About time kid, I was a little worried there for a while. Who is she?" "She's nobody" insisted Kaz. "The red-head over there" said Bronski, enjoying his revenge. The rest of the squad had gathered around by now. "J.T., make them stop, please?" begged Kaz. "Stop them from what, there's nothing wrong with looking" replied J.T. Across the way, the red-head, sensing that something was up had started over to Kaz. "Think we'll get to meet her?" teased Maggie. "I think so." said DeLeon, "Here she comes." She stopped short of Kaz, who was on the outer fringe of the group. "Something got your attention?" she asked. "In a manner of speaking" replied Rita. "So you're her, huh?" added Bronski. "Her who?" she asked. Kaz broke in, "Uh, guys this is Jumptrooper Ellen Wright, Ellen this is Able Squad." "I figured as much," Ellen said wryly, "But you didn't answer the question. Her who?" "Why the girl of his dreams, of course" stated Bronski matter-of-factly. Maggie, unwilling to let the opportunity slide, added her two cents, "Oh he talks about you constantly, Ellen this, and Ellen that, the boy is in love." "Really?" said Ellen with a cock of the eyebrow. Kaz, who had by now gone through several different shades of pink, looked for a avenue of escape, "Uh, Ellen I'd like to see your gear, could you show me?" "Would you now?" Ellen's eyes flashed, hinting at a completely different interpretation to the question that Kaz had asked. Kaz, finally turning red, quickly replied, "You know, your exo-armor, I'd like to see it...now." "Well, I would kind of like to hear what else your squadmates have to say." she teased. "No you wouldn't, they're boring and, uh, Bronski has fleas, lets go!" Kaz said giving her a gentle shove in the right direction. As Kaz and Ellen walked away, the audible sound of laughter filled the hanger of the Victorious.       Turning back to his normal color, Kaz listened carefully as Ellen showed him her exo-armor. It had the standard jet-boots and jetpack. The helmet wasn't unusual either, it had a breathing filter and inlet for an air supply. It offered a good amount of protection too. The face plate had only two relatively small lenses and the rest was covered with armor plating. She carried a couple of small side arms strapped down to her thighs. She also had a knife strapped onto her belt. Her main weapon was a large combination repeater rifle. She carried the thing, with the aid of a shoulder strap, in her right hand. It looked like it could do some damage too, Kaz noted it had a grenade launcher attached under the repeater portion of the rifle. Her backpack was no less impressive, it had an over-the-shoulder missile launcher built into it. She could sling it over her left shoulder to fire it and when not in use it pivoted onto her back where it contracted like a monocular. "I've never seen a pack like that before." said Kaz. "They're new, so I thought I'd give it a try." Ellen said "The pack stores up to 12 SAM/SAS missiles." "That's some serious firepower, does the concept of overkill mean anything to you?" said Kaz half serious. "Not where war is concerned, I like to be prepared. Besides this gizmo can work against me too." Ellen replied. "I don't see how, Wright." Kaz shot back. "I'm carrying 12 high-powered missiles on my back, one stray shot and its 'adios bye, bye' to me and anyone else stupid enough to be around me when I go." she said. "I see your point" said Kaz talking a step back. "Wise guy" she muttered. "Naw, Wright, he ain't too smart at all," said a large bald man with arms the size of Kaz's legs, "Isn't that right flyboy? Why don't you wander back over to your panzy ass outfit and let us do our work?" Kaz was clearly getting irritated and moved to face the guy, Ellen stepped between them. "Listen Poedowski, we were having a conversation, go bother someone else." she said. "I would, but he's the only flyboy here" answered Poedowski. He used his not-inconsiderable bulk to push her out of the way. Kaz, angered by her treatment, rushed forward to catch a fist in the stomach. Kaz went down to his knees. Poedowski taunted him, "Aw look, the fairy fell down!" Enraged, Kaz broke to his feet jamming his shoulder into Poedowski's stomach. He then picked him up off the ground, much to Poedowski's surprise, and slammed him into a wall. Poedowski grabbed Kaz by the midriff and threw him to the floor. Kaz, not giving up, kicked at the back of Poedowski's knees bringing him down. They then began to wrestle on the ground. By this time, the fight had attracted the attention of everyone in the hanger. Some of the Jumptroopers called out, "Fight! Fight!"       J.T. jumped down from his frame and raced across the hanger, the rest of Able Squad followed him. When the got there they saw a man easily twice the size of Kaz, on top off him, and repeatedly smashing his elbow into his head. Before J.T. could act someone intervened.       Poedowski brought his arm up for yet another vicious elbow to Kaz's already bloody face. As his arm descended a hand reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. Poedowski felt himself get hoisted up off of Takagi and thrown backward into the wall again. Poedowski righted himself to be confronted with a rather large Neosapian. "Is there a problem here?" the Neo asked. Poedowski, knowing he was outclassed, backed down. "No sir, no problem." Just then Avery Butler showed up, "Poedowski! What the hell do you think you're doing?" "Um, I, uh, that is..." Avery cut him off, "Don't talk back to me grunt, you are supposed to be fighting the aliens, not your air support! Mathison!" A man of medium build with chestnut brown hair cut short stepped forward, "Yes sir!" Butler stepped to face him, his reflection visible in his blue eyes, "Jumptrooper Poedowski has some excess energy to burn, I want you to run him around the hanger until he drops, and then do it again! Am I understood?" "Yes sir!" answered Mathison who grabbed Poedowski by the arm and lead him away. Kaz, in the meantime, was noting the subtle intricacies of the floor as he attempted to get up. Ellen was trying to help him, but to no avail. The Neo who saved Kaz earlier gently brought him to his feet. "Thanks fella, I owe ya one." he said. "That would bring the count up to 2 wouldn't it?" Kaz focused his vision and recognized the Neo, it was Thrax. "Hey, long time no see, good thing you're on my side." he said. "I'm amazed you can see anything at all" said Ellen as she tried to wipe the blood out of his eyes. J.T. had finally managed to get though the now dispersing crowd. "Kaz, are you alright?" he asked. "Just peachy, sir" Kaz answered as he leaned on Ellen for support, perhaps more than he needed to. Ellen quickly blurted out, "It wasn't his fault, sir. Poedowski started it!" "It definitely seemed that way" added Thrax. "I know" said J.T. "Wright, help get him to medical, and Thrax, thanks." "Your welcome, Sir." said Thrax. Kaz coming to his senses said, "Hey wait a minute, what is he doing here?" J.T. turned to the rest of Able Squad, "You all already know that Nara won't be joining us for this mission, so we needed a replacement pilot. I contacted Marsala on Earth and he sent us the first Neo to be accepted into Exofleet since the war. So say hello to Lt. Thrax, your new wingman." On to Part 4