Gabatrix: The Silver Rain

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."