Gabatrix: The Silver Rain

"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."

"Hey! I heard that!" Felix replied from across the room.

Zalika then pointed to another man that was in the lounge. "That man with the pale complexion and long blonde hair is Lance Corporal Harper. He comes from Cebravis, and man he can hook you up with the best weed."

"Yeah, man!" Harper said as he raised his glass to him. "Let me know, and you can enjoy the best stuff, Chuang."

Chuang smiled as Zalika pointed to another man. "The woman with the blonde hair is Ruby. Might as well point out to Darshit next to her. Yeah.....the man from Aphadus with the darker skin. Don't get any ideas with Ruby. Those two are joined at the hip."

"Just like you and Bekra!" Ruby cried out to Zalika with a smile. Darshit turned his head to look at the man next to her. "Chuang, it's fine. I always don't mind meeting new people and fellow marines."

There were a lot of people in the division, even for the small base. All the new faces seemed daunting to meet, and it was a goal to learn about all of them.

"The brunette one who always watches the display is Cassidy," Zalika said. "She has a mean streak and will kick your ass if you are not careful."

Cassidy shook her head as she waved at Chuang.

"Hey....., who is the pipsqueak?" another female voice came up from behind them. She had a drink in her hand and spoke with a Russian accent. Chuang turned around to greet her.

"This here is Private First Class Chuang," Zalika handled the introduction. "Chuang, this is Corporal Karine. She is my friend and fellow asshole rolled up into one."

"Hello," Chuang greeted her.

"Friend and asshole that she wishes she could kiss," Karine called out in response. "If it weren't for Bekra here, Zalika would be all up in my trunk."

"Haha," Zalika joked. "With people like you, I wouldn't be a lesbian anymore."

Karine chuckled a little bit as she came up and shook Chuang's hand. "Just ask Zalika about the nice watch she is going to have soon."

"Oh, fuck you!"

Karine laughed a little bit more. "Watch was real nice last night too. I heard they plan on doing fleet exercises in orbit the day of your watch. You won't be able to play your games on watch either. They will need you completely armed up."

"Oh, son of a bitch!" Zalika exclaimed with a stomp. She held up her hands in the air as she walked to a nearby table to grab a sandwich.

"Have you had a chance to meet the rest of the COC yet?" Karine asked Chuang.

"I had a chance to meet Master Sergeant Wei and Major Marshall when I was brought into the near building," Chuang replied. "I hadn't had a chance to meet the rest of the staff yet."

"Those are the two most important people of the base but have you had a chance to meet Staff Sergeant Kole yet?"

"No, he hasn't," Bekra answered. "Kole is on watch."

"He should be finishing up soon. He may be a Staff Sergeant, but he is the third-highest rank of the base."

"Hey, here is the new guy," another male voice erupted. He was a heavyset man with a large mustache. His pale complexion and jovial smile seemed to take Chuang by surprise.

"The jolly fat man here is Corporal Carlos," Zalika said as she came back and stood next to Chuang. She held a glass of water and a sandwich in another. "Carlos is the lead weapons guy here at the base. If he isn't working on the planetary defenses, he is most likely banging the T'rintar women here on the planet."

Bekra lightly smacked Zalika in the arm in protest. Karine backed away and sat back down in a lounge chair to eat. Chuang shook Carlo's hand.

"That isn't true, but I do have a wife here," Carlos said with a Spanish accent. "Couldn't say no to the Yutilians and their need for husbands, though."

"You were one of the prisoners of the T'rintar clan?" Chuang asked.

"Yes. After I was returned, I resumed my work. The ones that held me captive now help me get the defenses ready against the other clans. Speaking of which, you are an engineer. I wouldn't mind having your help getting the power regulator for the railgun all setup. It is operating at 80%."

"Yeah, I can help out on that."

"Good, that will be our first job for tomorrow. You take care of yourself, Chuang. It was nice meeting you." Carlos gently slapped Chuang on the arm as he began to walk away. He had a big smile on his face as he grabbed two sandwiches from the table before heading down to have a seat.

Zalika went and pointed with her glass at a man that had long black hair. "That man is Lance Corporal Adrian. He is also from Cebravis, but the man is quieter than space itself."

Adrian that was sitting and watching the TV screen turned his head around to acknowledge Chuang. He could tell that the man might have descended from China on former Earth. He said nothing as he turned to look back at the screen that was on.

Zalika continued as she pointed to another person with her glass. "The other man on the other side of the room that even challenges my skin tone is Lance Corporal Hakizimana. He is from Oshun but to be honest. I don't really know him." She raised her voice directing it to him. "I try to, and he just walks away!"

Hakizimana turned his head and looked at Chuang. He gave a simple nod of his and said, "Sup?" before he turned to look at the TV that was on.

"And that is about it for here," Zalika finished up. "More people will come and go before continuing on with their work."

"Who would I talk to when it comes to my quarters?" Chuang asked.

"Kole takes care of that," Bekra answered him. "Do you wish to live off base?"

"I am thinking about it. The barracks here is.....it isn't as good as my home on Batrice."

"Ah.....not even a day, and you are complaining about the rooms here," Zalika said. "Man, I thought boot camp would break any form of snobbish attitude."

"Well? Don't you like living here?" He countered.

She smirked and looked at Bekra before looking back at him. "Fuck no. I hate the rooms here."

"I don't have a problem with this place," Bekra countered. "I like the people here."

"You can like the people, work here, and still live off base. All I am asking is having a room to ourselves instead of having people possibly spy on us. I know Cruz has an augmented eye.....probably been watching us......" She stopped before finishing the sentence as she looked at Chuang. She almost seemed to regret what she just said. There was a deserted table that she decided to go and have a seat. She wasn't going to say anything else as she went and had a bite of her sandwich.

Chuang himself decided to go and have something to eat. Bekra walked over to the table and saw some cooked chicken. She went and took it and walked back before having a seat. They all focused on their eating as Chuang was filled with more questions.

"What else is planned for today besides my indoc?" Chuang asked.

Zalika swallowed as she looked at him. "We pretty much finished up with indoc. Each day is going to be you being exposed to more and more of what is going to be happening around here. Today is Thursday. Friday is a half-day, and we will be done by lunch."

"Chuang was asking what else is going to be happening today," Bekra told her as she began to eat her chicken. Her beak carved large chunks of the cooked meal as she began to chow down on it.

"I know, I am just telling him that he doesn't have much to worry about this week," Zalika replied back to her. She looked back at him. "No....actually we have one more thing that we will be doing today after lunch that will be taking up the rest of this afternoon. We need to get those M30 thruster packs delivered to Doctor Ericson and her pet robot Miranda."

"Minerva," Bekra corrected her.

"Minerva, damn it," Zalika said, almost slamming her fist to the table in frustration.

"She isn't a robot, either."

"Ugh.....whatever." Zalika shook her head. "Anyways, we have these thruster packs for the military vehicles. Minerva....." Zalika looked at Bekra in annoyance before looking back at Chuang. "Her and the doctor are going to be running this experiment. Honestly, I don't give much of a crap, but they need those thrusters to make it happen."

Chuang was eating his sandwich as he listened to her explain more. Once he swallowed, he decided to ask his question.

"The M30 APC? I didn't see any armored vehicles at the base. How do we have them?"

"We were supposed to, but it got severely delayed," Zalika explained. "Priority is getting our planetary defenses up and running. There is a massive operation set to begin next month in getting more personnel on this planet and more weapons to provide defenses in case the orbiting fleet gets wasted. You are just the beginning of this wave that is going to be coming in. Military vehicles aren't much good if you have a bunch of ships in orbit that can rain death from above anyway. Hell, even marines can't do much, but they shipped a bunch of parts for the M30s a few months ago. They plan on shipping a bunch more, including an M30 and an M31 mobile artillery vehicle. It is going to be a lot of fun once those vehicles start coming in, though. We can all sorts of new drills."

"Wow, an M31?"

"Yep, they will need more than that, though. Artillery and an APC are good, but those Itrean assault carriers, including those that attacked this planet, have aircraft that it brings with it. The aircraft can easily rip the base to pieces. They need to get an M32 shipped here to help that, but....." she shrugged. "I guess all that will come sooner than later. For now, we got spare thruster packs, and Doctor Ericson could use them."

"We will be shipping them to him today?"

Bekra nodded. "Hopefully, more. I am looking forward to their experiment today."

"Yeah...." Zalika added. "Enjoy today, Chuang. We will be one of the few to watch some companion bot run some experiment. Honestly, I couldn't give much of a shit."

Another man entered into the room before Chuang could say of think much else. The man had the rank insignia of that of a Staff Sergeant. He had a mixed ancestry's facial features between someone from China and North America of former Earth. He had short black hair, but Chuang knew immediately who he was the moment he saw him based on his rank alone.

"Is that?" Chuang seemed a little bit nervous to ask.

Zalika and Bekra turned to look at the man that walked in. He seemed a little bit tired and almost didn't even notice the new marine that was in the room.

"Ah....there he is," Zalika said as she put down the rest of her sandwich on the table. "Hey, Staff Sergeant!"

The man turned his head. He gave a little bit of a sigh as he finally saw Chuang. A smile grew on his face as he approached the three sitting at the table.

"Oh, there is the new guy," the man addressed to Zalika and then Chuang. "I just finished up my watch. My name is Staff Sergeant Kole."

The man's energy was unique. His voice was deep, and he seemed to have a certain charm to him. The way he spoke was respectful and professional but also laid back at the same time. It almost threw off Chuang when he saw the higher rank come and shake his hand so freely, unlike the others. He smiled at him briefly, as well.

"I....umm.....sorry Staff Sergeant for not saluting you," Chuang nervously replied.

"Ah," Kole said, waving his hand at him. "Don't worry about it. Fresh out of boot camp, you worry about everything. Marines, it is good to be ready and prepared, but if you keep your head on a swivel and do your job, that is all that fucking matters. Corporal Zalika and Centurion Bekra have been good to you?"

Chuang nodded his head. He seemed to calm down a little bit. "Of course, Staff Sergeant," he told him. "Zalika has been.....pretty good to me. Bekra has been professional to me."

"Ah, just by hearing those words alone," Kole said with some mockery in his voice. "I can tell Zalika has been doing a phenomenal job as your indoc buddy." He turned to look at her. "I trust, of course, she hasn't been giving you a hard time already today.....right?"

"Oh, it is just great," Zalika replied in her own mocking way.

"Don't worry, Staff Sergeant," Bekra added in. "I have made sure that she has been on her best behavior."

"Now, who is being the babysitter?"

Kole patted Zalika's shoulder as he looked at Chuang. "Private First Class, I am sure you have already met Major Marshall and Master Sergeant Wei. Are you qualified with the M70 Pistol?"

"Actually.....I am qualified with the M81 Pistol, Staff Sergeant?" Chuang replied.

"Really? They finally switched over to those M81 pistols. About time. Those M70s sucked in getting a grenade launcher attachment to them. You would think that the Battle of Aphadus would have taught us to do so. No offense Bekra, but those seeker grenades are.....wow."

Bekra gave a series of quick nods. She understood well about the Itrean seeker grenades. With a simple toss in an open environment, the grenades would fly and home in on their targets. Only decoy grenades were one of the few defenses against them.

"Well, that is good to hear," Kole explained. "The watches at our base require you to be armed for it. We barely have enough people to man one watch on the base alone. You will be put on the watch bill next week."

"I won't be alone for my first watch, will I?" Chuang asked.

"No, you will be shadowing the first three watches until I feel that you are qualified. Probably have you shadow Penn next since he is really good at it."

"It isn't hard," Zalika added. "Just boring as fuck."

"Yeah...." Kole said, gently smacking her shoulder as he looked at her. "The only time I will get mad is if you do what she does and fall asleep during the watch......, which I have caught quite a number of times. By then, I will start assigning more arduous tasks. Speaking of which....Zalika, have you finished cleaning up the septic and waste recyclers yet."

Zalika almost rolled her eyes. "Of course, I did."

"Bekra?" Kole asked looking at her.

"She did, Staff Sergeant. She completed it yesterday."

"Good," Kole said as he looked back at Chuang. "I promise a good system here at this base. We are in an outpost next to paradise. Our goal is to make sure that you are qualified and ready for whatever happens here. Eutera has only been attacked once, and we want to keep it that way. We are the deterrent, no matter our numbers. Understand?"

"Oh yeah!" Carlos cried out upon hearing Kole's words. "UHN Marine Corps! Redder than Blood!"

"Blood for Life!" every marine in the room cried out at once. The words echoed from the room and out to the hallways. Even Chuang showed some determination in how he said it. Bekra smiled and almost whispered the words.

"Good," Kole continued to explain. "How are your qualifications on the PDW-20 rifle and M18 Heavy Assault Rifle?"

"I was made qualified on the M18 and the Mark 5 Marine Power Suit," Chuang answered. "They let us fire the PDW-20 a little bit at boot camp, but that is it."

"Well, at least they made sure you can use the power armor at boot camp. They still have the Zero-G Combat Simulation test in Mars orbit?"

"Yes, although I think they are talking about using Phobos as the new area for it."

"Shame that they lowered down on training marines on how to fight with the PDW-20. They just pass it to the UHN crew and tell them to use it as they give the marines the power suit and M18s."

"Isn't the PDW-20 worthless against the armor anyway?" Zalika asked.

"Yes, but that isn't the point. The rifle is still excellent in case we don't have the suits. The suits don't make us. It is the training in how to fight. Next week, we will get you qualified with the PDW-20. I also want you qualified with the M136 AM rifle, the M70, the T'rintar Y-6 assault rifle, and the LLR-58."

"Wait. Did you say the Y-6? You want me qualified with an Itrean rifle?"

"Why not? The Itreans use very similar weapons as we do. A T'rintar clan soldier can drop their rifle, and we can still pick them up and use. Shal'rein weapons maybe bio locked to each soldier's signature, but the Yutilians and the Aksren are not. Zalika is qualified with the T'rintar clan's Y-6 and AKT-1. Bekra also is well experienced with her guns as well. They will make sure they get you up to speed on all that."

"Looks like we are going to have a lot of fun next week," Zalika said. "Nothing like going out into the forest and start blasting." She held up her hand almost to whisper to him. "We just grab a bunch of targets and every gun in the armory and shoot all night long. The Euteran colony can't complain shit about it."

"I would be happy to teach you our firearms and ways of combat," Bekra added.

"Well....." Kole said as he walked over to get a sandwich. "Hey, Zalika. You got those thrusters loaded up in the truck?"

"No, I don't."

Kole took a bite out of his sandwich as he tried to keep speaking to her. "Doctor Ericson is waiting on those thrusters. It is the only thing needed to run the experiment."

"Don't worry, Staff Sergeant," Zalika said. "He and Miranda will get those thrusters."

"Minerva...." Kole and Bekra corrected her.

"Ugh....." Zalika sighed. She gritted her teeth in frustration. She said nothing more as she ate up the last of her sandwich.

Bekra began to finish her chicken as Chuang was finishing up his lunch as well.

"One thing to always remember, Chuang," Kole told him. "Our goal is to be ready, but this isn't boot camp either. Boot camp throws all the heavy shit at you. I want us to fight the enemy and be ready to die, but I also want us not to go crazy either. We do our work, but we have fun here too. In about a month, things will start to change around here. It is going to become way more busier as the base is going to be turned into a full UHN military base. UHN doesn't want this planet to be as vulnerable as Aphadus turned out to be, even if this place has fewer people and resources. Eutera is going to become more and more of a fully laden colony."