Author's Note: I think this is the longest chapter in the book. / sorry. According to my computer, this chapter is nine pages long with font size 11. Thanks for reading.

10.

1900 Hours, January 9, 2441

Taut Nui System, Venus II, Monger Military Base

That night, Zach Malor walked down the long corridors of Monger Military Base. Although some of the massive facility was above ground, it went below ground for several dozen stories. He wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel that he had slung over his shoulders.

He went to the room that he stayed at, and keyed in his code to access the hatch. The hatch opened and he walked in. He ordered the lights to turn on, as he entered the small bathroom in the room. He turned on the facet and tossed the towel in the corner. The entire afternoon had been a work-out. First Class Lieutenant Kensuke Usagi had drilled Zach even harder than he had at Camp Biloxi.

But there was a difference in the way Lieutenant Usagi and Zach looked after performing something that required the conditioning. Lieutenant Usagi wasn’t worn out and tired after everything that he did, Zach was.

Zach heard something move in the other room. He leaned out of the doorway of the bathroom and looked toward his gel rack. Sitting there was none other than Paul Shepherd.

“Paul?” Zach asked, puzzled. He stepped out and walked toward Paul, who was hunched over. “You okay?”

He looked up at Zach. “Julianne going to die… Zach.”

Zach took a deep breath. “It’s… its okay, Paul.”

Paul shook his head. “I’m going back.”

“What?”

Paul looked up at Zach. “I’m going back, Zach. I’m going back to Giltabar.”

Zach nearly choked in surprise. “What? Why?”

“Would you believe me, if I told you something?”

“What?”

Paul sat up, and looked hard at Zach. “Ancient Integrel murals found in the Audubon Caves show something healing the physical and spiritual body, according to cryptologists that have studied the murals. I’m going to try it.”

Zach shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to come with me.”

Zach shook his head again. “You’re asking me to go AWOL with you? Never.”

“If you won’t, I’ll ask Jett.”

“Jett wouldn’t. And… he KIA,” Zach said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Then I’ll ask Victor.”

“As his commanding officer, I’ll order him not to assist you in any way.”

“I’ve already asked him. He wants to come. But, Zach, we’re going, even if you are gonna be an ass about it.”

“I won’t let you.”

“What are you gonna do Zach? Tell my father?”

“I might.”

“Go ahead,” Paul stood up, and turned around. “Zach, I was asking you as a friend to help me. Not to go against military rules.”

“I won’t break the code, not even for you. She doesn’t love you Paul.”

“I know she doesn’t. But…” Paul turned around. “I still love her. Bye Zach.”

In a flash, Zach was on his feet. Paul had expected Zach to protest and he stood ready. What he didn’t expect was for Zach to use the conditioning, duck underneath the well aimed kick, snatching his K-bar as he ducked and pinned Paul against the wall, the K-bar almost touching Paul’s throat.

“What the hell are you doing Zach?!” Paul cried out. He couldn’t fight Zach off of him.

Zach realized he was entering a rage-stage, something he hadn’t done for a long time; thanks to Sergeant Mitchell. He released Paul, who gripped his throat and rubbed it.

“That was not a move I was expecting, Zach.”

Zach stumbled backward, and fell down on his bed. His body released a new wave of sweat, and he gasped hard.

“You okay Zach?” Paul asked concerned.

Zach shook his head. “I’ll… be… fine.”

“I’m going to call for medical assistance,” Paul turned and nearly ran to the hatch. He turned. “Good-bye Zach.”

Helplessly left alone on his gel rack Zach’s mind felt besieged with thoughts. He eventually passed out, and when he awoke he was in the Monger Military Base Medical Station, lying on a gurney.

Victor Kurbanov came in when Zach regained consciousness and had his hands behind his back. Zach saw some gray hair growing at his temples.

“Hey,” Victor said, weakly raising his hand in a friendly gesture. Zach knew something was up. “Long time no see.”

“What’s wrong?” It wasn’t a question, it was order.

“Its best if you see it yourself,” Victor brought his other hand in front of him, holding a mirror. “The doctors said that it might freak you—”

“Just give me that mirror, Victor.”

Victor swallowed and handed Zach the mirror backwards. Zach turned it around and looked at his reflection. Sure enough, there was gray hair at his temples that streaked all the way back to the scalp.

“What happened?”

“The doctor’s aren’t sure yet, but I think it has to do with the chemicals in the water here—”

“Where’s a doctor?” Zach sat up, and stepped out of the gurney. He began to move, but one his arms were held back. He looked back and saw an IV in his forearm. He yanked it out. “DOCTOR!”

Victor tried to stop him. “The doctor said that it might be good for you to remain low for the first three weeks.”

Zach threw the mirror at him. Victor ducked and it shattered against the bulkhead. “DOCTOR!”

A short man ran to Zach. He wore a lab coat, and carried a datapad. He cringed when he saw Zach.

“What’s happening?” Zach demanded.

“We’re not sure yet,” the doctor squeaked. “This is something entirely new to us doctors. Other marines, like yourself, have the same problem. It’s like a rapid disease. We’re trying to quarantine all of the marines, just in case this is an infection.”

“I’m not some type of sickly monkey passing germs around,” Zach informed the doctor. “I was trained to be an ape at boot camp. I’m checking myself out.”

“I won’t allow it.” The doctor stepped in front of Zach. “I’ll call the MP.”

“I’d like to see you try it. C’mon Victor.”

The doctor saw Victor standing behind Zach. “What’re you doing here? You should be in containment.”

Victor shrugged. “The door was wide open… I couldn’t resist.”

Zach tried to walk past the doctor. The doctor blocked Zach. “You leave me no choice than,” he pressed a small button on his datapad. “The MP are on their way.”

Taking the doctor’s shoulders with both hands, Zach pulled him out of the way and walked out of the room. Victor followed behind.

“We gonna take on the MPs?!” Victor asked excitedly.

“No. But we’re going to leave.”

“I’m right behind you,” the MPs ran into the hall. “But not for another five seconds.”

“I’ll give you three.”

The MPs lined up, some took a position kneeling. They raised some type of stun gun.

“Place your hands behind your head now,” one ordered.

Victor complied immediately. “I surrender!” he cried out. “It was his idea the entire time—”

“Shut up!” Zach and the MP Officer said at the same time.

Zach however did not obey the orders. The MP repeated himself. A couple of MPs slowly came closer to Victor and Zach.

Reaching for his conditioning, Zach felt nothing. Like it was never there, a hollow spot inside his heart. He tried again—still nothing. The MPs overtook him, and apprehended both Victor and Zach.

They were taken to security watched rooms and remained there for several weeks. As the weeks went by, Zach’s hair continued to grow grayer to whiter. When he was released, the problem still not solved, if he didn’t know how old he was he’d say he was almost fifty.

After asking around, he heard that Paul had in fact gone AWOL, stealing a Ram-19 along with Julianne’s body, and that’s all anybody knew.

Four months later, the war came to a stalemate; neither side was taking any more planets, despite the thin amount of troops defending the worlds—although the Allied and United Alliance seemed to have the upper hand. In the first month of the war, the Alliances took over five of the fifteen colonized outer worlds, (those being out of the Sol System) although one world was still partially held by the Twenty. Neither had reached each others core system.

On April 15th, Zach and the Seventieth Battalion were aboard the TWSN Galley-class Altair, which was awaiting permission to NOVA-jump to Cornith. There were 600 soldiers in the Seventieth Battalion, which was broken up into four different Companies, then into smaller platoons, then squads.

He walked into bridge section of the Altair with Victor Kurbanov, his XO, who immediately started flirting with one of the midshipwomen that was on the bridge. She appeared a little unenthusiastic about talking to a man who looked like he was fifty when he wanted her Satinet number. Captain Adam Veers walked up to Zach and saluted. Captain Veers was a tall man, with balding hair, wore a spectacle, and had a gray mustache.

Zach snapped off the salute, and saw Captain Veers eyes drift slowly to the scar on his cheek, followed by a short glance at the hair.

“Master Sergeant,” Captain Veers finally said. “I’m glad to be escorting you today to Cornith. As you know, Cornith is an important planet, because of the shipyards. If those Alliances fortify Cornith, it’ll be hell getting it back.”

“Yes, sir, it would,” Zach concurred.

“You know what you’re supposed to be doing, correct?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“Good.”

“Sir!” one of the communications pilots called out. “We’ve been granted permission to jump.”

“Excuse me, Master Sergeant,” Captain Veers said. “I must take command of my ship.” He turned around after saluting, and sat down in the Captain’s seat, and called out in a fashionable way, “Initiate nova-jump in thirty seconds. Nova-coordinates set?”

“Nova-coordinates set and ready,” a pilot replied.

The Altair and TWSN Crustacean-class Nautilus in unison entered the NOVA-jump field and exited one-hundred and thirty light-years away in the Atlanti system, above the Saturn-like planet Cornith.

There was no enemy starships in orbit of Cornith, the Nautilus sat and watched out for the Altair,as the Altair moved quickly to get in low orbit of it to insert troops to the surface of the planet.

The first waves of troops to be inserted was one of the Twenty’s special force teams, called Delta Orbital Reconnaissance Mobile Nightstalkers (DOBRMNs; said Dobermens). Zach wished he could’ve been in the ship hangers of the Altair that moment to watch these courageous, although insane, marines. DOBRMNs didn’t need to use Ram-19s to be deployed, because they used their unique meshes for deployment.

DOBRMNs were conditioned marines that spent months of vigorous training for drops and black ops behind enemy lines. They couldn’t simply will themselves down to the planet below, for the distance was too far, and would definitely kill them. Instead, they simply jumped from the ship hangers while meshed, therefore receiving the nickname Jump Troopers. Their meshes were specially designed to withstand the immense heat and pressure they would have felt during the drop through the atmosphere.

When they were near enough to the ground, they would then will themselves to the ground without any harm. Then they would clear out the area for the rest of the insertion.

“Dobermens away,” a pilot declared.

Zach called up a satellite image to watch fifty DOBRMNs fall through space, enter Cornith’s atmosphere, and vanish underneath the clouds.

“Sir,” the pilot said to Captain Veers, minutes later. “The Dobermens have touched ground.”

“Good,” Captain Veers said, then looked at Zach. “You better get your men ready. The fortieth division doesn’t take long to clear out an area.”

“Yes, sir!”

Zach turned to go out of the bridge, and Victor followed him, after finally getting the midshipwoman’s Satinet number.

“Did you see her?” Victor asked after they went through the hatch. “Wow, she’s got the looks.”

“She’s married.” Zach informed him.

“What? How do you know?”

“I saw her finger.”

“Oh…” Victor looked distraught. “Well, it doesn’t hurt a guy for trying.”

Zach laughed. “It will if her husband is a Dobermen.”

“Now that’s not funny,” Victor said sternly, pointing a finger at Zach.

Victor had run into a DOBRMN earlier that day when they loading equipment onto the Altair. Those guys were mammoths. Even though the DOBRMN stood a head taller than Victor, Victor began cussing at the marine telling him to watch where he was going or he’d have to take him out.

The DOBRMN bluntly told Victor he’d like to see him try. Then two more DOBRMNs stepped up, and Victor backed off.

Then all three DOBRMNs began laughing like a bunch of teenage friends at a joke, the DOBRMN finally told Victor that it was cool, and he was sorry for running into him, even though it was Victors fault. After that incident, Zach had checked up on the DOBRMN protocols. He found it was against their regulations to fight with another comrade, unless the comrade had turncoat.

When they arrived at one of the hangers on the bottom of the Altair, several Eagle-12 ATCs were waiting for the Seventieth Battalion to board the vessels and go down for insertion. There were over seven hundred people in that hanger; six hundred of them were Zach’s people.

“Sir!” Gunnery Sergeant Dave Matthews called out, running up to Zach. Matthews was the Company Commander of the Yankee Company. “Gunnery Sergeant Matthews reporting; all Eagle-12s have been inspected and are ready for dust off.”

“Good work, Matthews,” Zach said. “Get your men aboard, dust off is in approximately… five minutes.”

“Yes, sir!”

Matthews bounded off, calling in his platoon leaders to tell them to get in the ATCs. Zach sent a communication link to the other three company commanders. All three of them responded at the same time, and Zach’s PCD COM screen broke up into three different sections, each of the company commanders standing in attention somewhere in the same hanger.

“Sir!” all three of them said in unison.

Gunnery Sergeant Quinton Cook, company commander of the Kilo Company stood at the bottom right of the screen; a helmet hid his face from Zach. But underneath Zach knew that the Gunnery Sergeant’s blond hair was still long and wavy. Gunnery Sergeant Sarah Marsh, the company commander of the Delta Company, was on the top of the screen, her brown hair was tied up in a bun, and blue her eyes darted back and forth as if expecting an attack on the Altair at any moment. Gunnery Sergeant Danny Walker, company commander of Upsilon Company was on the bottom left of the screen, and the entire crown of his head was bald, although he was only eighteen.

“Get your men aboard the Eagles,” Zach told them. “Dust off is in four minutes and forty-seven seconds.”

“Yes, sir!”

Then Cook asked: “Sir, are there any major problems down below?”

“Negative,” Zach replied. “The Dobermens are securing an area for drop off. The situation is under control.”

“Yes, sir!” Cook nodded.

“Any more questions?”

“What are we supposed to be doing, exactly, sir?” Marsh asked.

“We’re going to destroy any and all enemy presence.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes. Now if there aren’t any more questions, you are all dismissed.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” they all replied, and saluted, before the communication screen flickered black.

“Let’s go and get in those Eagles,” Zach told Victor, and they began walking. Zach’s PCD alerted him that he had an encrypted COM request waiting. He tapped a button on his tactic and Gunnery Sergeant Walker appeared in his PCD.

“Permission to speak, sir,” the boy older than Zach asked.

“Permission granted.”

“I don’t think it should be this easy, sir. The enemy should have a defensive fleet over Cornith, as it was just recently taken. The Allied Alliance isn’t showing any signs of resistance whatsoever except against the Dobermens, but as you said ‘The situation is under control.’ I think they want us to invade Cornith.”

Zach thought a moment, then agreed. The Allied Alliance hadn’t been showing much of a resistance. “Point taken, Walker. But orders are orders; we’re dropping down and taking whatever we can.”

“Yes, sir.”

“See you at the drop off rendezvous point.”

Walker closed the link.

“What was that all about?” Victor asked.

“Walker is expecting some type of ambush.”

“Like a Giltabar ambush?”

Zach shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

They boarded a Eagle-12, which could have held five hundred soldiers alone. But, the entire 70th Battalion went into six Eagles. They could’ve taken six Rams, which were smaller and faster, but weren’t as strong.

Zach didn’t sit down in a jumpseat, instead he walked to the cockpit which had several pilots driving the Eagle. The view glass was curved so that the pilots could see in a 180° view outside of the Eagle.

The Eagle began a V/STOL, along with the other six ATCs. They went through the energetic walls that were on the ground of the ship. Zach felt the ship go through and shoot down to the planet below.

“Would you like a seat, sir?” a pilot asked, looking back at Zach.

“No, I prefer standing on my own two feet.”

“Have it your way, then.” The pilot looked back at the display of computers.

Cornith had an asteroid ring surrounding it. The ATCs went above the asteroid field and entered the gray surfaced planet. Zach could see the colony Zygion from where the Eagle was in orbit. They went through the atmosphere, and the ship began to bounce.

“Entering the Heterosphere. Eighty kilometers till we reach the surface,” a pilot announced over the PA.

Zach watched them approach the ground with great intent. His cerebral memory for information about Cornith. He found it all right and it popped into his head: Cornith, fifth planet located in the Atlanti System. Red dwarf, 73 light-years from Earth. Surface gravity: .970. Atmosphere: hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Terrain: rocky, with traces of rivers and a single ocean. Primary colonies: New Plymouth, Sloor, Zygion. Chief exports: steel, iron, and large abundances of vodka. Brought into Colonial Alliance powers in 2189. Famous people born here: Not any. Cornith is also a shipyard for starships and—

Zach shook away the rest of the information.

“Just went through the Mesosphere,” the pilot notified them. “And we’re in the Stratosphere.”

They were thirty miles from the surface of Cornith. Distinctive shapes began to take form, as well as explosions and what appeared to be miniature fires, which had to be big for Zach to see from where he was at.

“I think those Dobermens got them,” Victor muttered. “They got them good.”

When they entered the Troposphere, Zach could see the small bodies of humans moving across the surface of Cornith. The miniature fires were bigger now, and most of the buildings in Zygion colony were in flames or demolished.

Minutes later, the Eagle-12 slowed down, directly above an starport tarmac. The Eagle-12s extended their landing gears, and came to a complete land before lowering their large ramps. Zach ordered his people that were aboard out. The Eagle’s remained there, coming to an eventual land. When Victor exited the Eagle he took in what he saw.

The entire starport was demolished, and there were over a dozen bodies strewn all over the tarmac. Victor took it all in and then said, “Those Dobermens do one helluva good job,” he commented. “But I think its time moved over to allow Space Marines do their job.”

Zach grinned and jumped off of the ramp. “I’m sure they did a better job than we could, Victor.”

Victor gave Zach a goofy grin. “I know.”

A DOBRMN ran up to Zach, dressed in a loose dark gray battle uniform, his black visor hid his face from Zach. But underneath that visor, Zach knew the soldier was looking at the birthmark and hair. He saluted instantly.

“Sergeant Kingsley reporting, sir!” he said. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions; but let me take you to C&C first.” Kingsley turned and led them the way he came from. “This way, sir; two Huvvees are on their way.”

Zach meshed and got onto the command channel. “I want the company commanders and their second-in-command to follow me,” he said. “Tell your men to get meshed and be ready to fight.”

He glanced at the left side of his PCD, expecting some lights to flicker on. It was still a habit that he had from being squad leader of Team Shadow. But now, the lights would no longer flicker on.

Zach following Kingsley then asked, “How’s the battle going, Sergeant?”

“The Alliances are hardly putting up a fight, sir.”

“That’s good, Sergeant.”

“Yeah, good job, Sarge,” Victor inputted. “I bet you destroyed the mess.”

“Negative, sir,” Kingsley replied, glancing at Victor. “That’s where the Alliances are putting up the most fight.”

“Great…” Victor muttered.

Two HUVWVs pulled up, hovering a foot above the ground. The DOBRMN that sat in the drivers’ seat saluted. Zach climbed into the vehicle, as well as Victor and Sergeant Kingsley.

The driver stepped on the acceleration and drove the car manually. Vehicles in those days were programmed to drive themselves, but people could take responsibility and drive the cars themselves—as long as they liability for it.

They arrived at a four-story office building, ten minutes later. The building had battered holes on one side of it from heavy artillery fire. Nearly every single window glass was shattered. DOBRMNs surrounded the entry doors, two at every station.

“We’re currently working on getting those holes filled in, sir,” Kingsley told Zach. “It will be at least another hour or so.” He held out his tactic for one of the DOBRMNs to scan at the entrance. The DOBRMN gave him a thumbs-up, and Kingsley led Zach, Victor and Captains Cook, Marsh, Matthews, and Walker through the front door.

Kingsley led them into the front room, which Zach could tell had once been a grand entry way. A chandelier lay shattered in the center of the room; the tile floor below it was smashed. Two desks sat on both sides of the entry way, fried computers smoked behind them.

“This is the Command and Control building,” he told everyone. “The second story is R&R. I wouldn’t recommend using the third story. The fourth story is currently holds five Dobermen snipers, which guard this building.”

“Sergeant, you did a great job at keeping this building intact.” Zach remarked. “I’ll make sure that the squad that secured this building gets three days leave.”

“Yes, sir,” Kingsley saluted. “Permission to be excused, sir?”

“Permission granted,” Zach saluted. “You’re dismissed, Sergeant.”

Kingsley turned and went out the door. Victor threw himself onto a couch that was covered in glass from the massive window that had shattered above it.

“Nice place,” he observed. “I think I’m in love with this couch.”

Zach shook his head. “We need to make a battle plan, Kurbanov. Now is not the time to sit and relax on your butt while there are still men fighting out there.”

Victor sat up. “Yes, sir…” he said sounding very irritate.

Within thirty minutes the six officers had devised a plan to wipe out the remaining troops, by which time the DOBRMNs had cleared out the mess—much to Victor’s delight. There was still no news about an Alliance fleet from the Altair, or Alliance reinforcements from the DOBRMNs. Zach had checked the SIS with Satinet frequently for any sign of enemy backup. There was nothing, it seemed that the Alliances were going to freely hand over Cornith to the Twenty without putting up a real fight.

Zach and Victor remained at the C&C while the four companies went to clear out New Plymouth with three Eagles; three squads from UpsilonCompany remained behind to guard the C&C building.

The DOBRMNs that had been positioned on the fourth story and the roof were given permission to leave and join their respective squads.