Gabatrix: The Warrior of Silence

The chief nodded. "I know, Stone. Those gangs I stopped were because two rival gangs were using children to beef up their groups. I was in the front line, just as much as you were."

"Well......" Stone continued as he fished out of his pocket the card. "I have something to add to the pot now." He slapped the unknown card he recovered earlier onto the desk. "I recovered this from Bakara's apartment."

"What is this?" The chief commented as he sat down on his chair. His vision was glued to it.

"Some sort of card identifying something. I can't figure out what it's supposed to represent, but I have seen it before."

"You recovered a piece of evidence from a crime scene and didn't tell me about it?"

"Do you recognize this card in any way?"

Zuri shook his head. "No. What is so important about it?"

"I was watching him during the hostage situation. He was eyeing it a lot like it was more important than his own wife."

"Hmmm......" the chief put his hand to his chin. "I don't know this. Could be anything. It's possible that it is gang-related, but gangs can come and go. They get swallowed up by new ones and disappear the following week. When did you first uncover the other one?"

"It was lying on the street in an alley."

"Do you have it?"

"Yes."

"Stone......I might recommend checking out Bakara's past," Zuri remarked as he put his hand to the table. "Past employment history." He tapped the card on the desk. "I am sure that this is nothing, though."

The marine was not convinced that this was anything but nothing, but it was true that he needed to evaluate the history of Bakara's employment. Unfortunately, most of what he had was just a brief summary with little time to consider it further.

"Ah....." Zuri said with a yawn. He put his hands behind his head again. "I very much need to go home tonight. Today has been another fine police day." The sarcastic tone was evident. "We will discuss this further tomorrow when we have the time."

"I will use the remaining time to check it out further," Stone said as his eyes narrowed on the card. He retrieved the card from the desk and stuffed it back into his pocket. He stood up from the chair and proceeded to leave the room.

"Oh and......Stone?" the chief called out to him.

"What?" the Master Sergeant asked in an aggravated tone. He stopped to turn his head in Zuri's direction.

"Here you are, ready to hop out of the room, and I hadn't even dismissed you yet," Zuri explained with a smile. "Looks like we are getting an added member of the family. It actually pertains to you."

"What?......" Stone turned his body to look at the chief. There was a scowl on his face as if he was not amused.

Zuri went and pulled out his tablet and placed it on his desk. "Seems that I received a message this afternoon from Oshun UHN Command. Apparently, they are stepping things up in the T'rintar clan alliance. They are wanting to assign members of the clan to work with us. More specifically.....you," he said as he pointed at him.

"What are you talking about?" Stone's face grimaced.

"I'm saying that you are getting a partner. Your command apparently feels that this is a cozy enough job to have her work well in."

"I don't need a partner!"

"Ha, ha....." Zuri laughed. "Stone, you do realize that most of the officers in this precinct are partnered up with someone? We have to back each other up."

Stone walked up to the desk as he clenched his fists up. The scowl deepened as he gave the chief a dirty look. A part of him even wondered if this was a joke that he was pulling, but he was far from laughing. The idea of working with an Itrean or another human was, to him, a slap in the face.

"I don't want a partner!" he raised his voice to the point it left the closed doorway. "She will get in the fucking way!"

"Aww.....Stone.....Stone....." Zuri said as he shifted his chair back and forth. The severity in his tone was gone as it was replaced with raw amusement. "Let me tell you this.....we don't always get what we want. You need a partner more than anything. I would do it with my team.....assign Leredi to you......maybe.....but I have a feeling that even she wouldn't last long with those outbursts of yours."

"This is an outrage!" Stone screamed as he slammed his fist onto his desk. His powerful arm hit the piece of furniture so hard that the chief's medal bounced in its case. Yet, the chief remained composed and jovial.

"Your assigned partner's name is Ioren, and she will be coming to the beach right here," he tapped the tablet that he had to pass along the data to Stone's computer tablet. "She was originally assigned to the T'rintar clan submarine patrol unit here, but she will be assigned to the UHN Oshun unit for this precinct. I think that she will make a good friend......maybe."

"Have her work somewhere else here! Don't hand her over to me to fucking babysit!"

"Stone.....let me tell you this....." he clasped his hands onto himself. "I have you because the UHN tells me to. I have Ioren because the UHN tells me to. It wasn't my choice to have you here, but now you have no choice in getting her. Take up your issues with the command.....although.....I don't think it will be that bad." He started to laugh a little bit again.

"Fucking son of a bitch!" Stone said to himself as he walked out of the room. The chief simply smiled as he watched the master sergeant exit the door.

As Stone exited the Chief's door, the two receptionists pretended that they didn't see him leave. From their peripheral, they could see him clenching his fists while he was cursing under his breath. He walked away and back to his office.

"You owe me two mard," one of the receptionists said with a slight sense of victory.

"Yeah...." the other one agreed as he prepared to pull out his tablet.

*******

It had been a long day as Stone walked into his apartment. The small makeshift room only consisted of a basic kitchen, living room, and restroom. The living room and bedroom were both one. Unfortunately, the amount of space available limited the local residents of Oshun. If anything, it was so small that it was actually close to comparable to his office cubicle. The living room consisted of a large single twin bed, a small cabinet, wall mounted moderate-sized computer display screen and a green two-person reclinable couch. The couch lay next to the restroom and the kitchen. The kitchen was just big enough to have a computer desk, appliances, and a small refrigerator.

"Son of a bitch....." Stone remarked quietly to himself as he entered the apartment. As the door slid closed, he walked up to his cabinet. He pressed a small button as it opened itself up. Inside were a number of different items from folded up clothing, picture projectors, memorabilia, and a box.

He plucked the small box that was used to store ammunition. He opened up the cardboard to reveal two of the 50 AE rounds that were left inside.

"I need to get more ammo......." Stone told himself in a grumbled voice. He sighed as he looked up. Above him were plaques dedicated to medals and UHN awards. He didn't pause as he continued forth.

He then unholstered his magnum and ejected the magazine. He took one of the rounds from the box and snapped the hardened caseless round into the magazine before shoving it back into the mag well of his gun. He then put the box back into its place and was just about to close the cabinet when something caught his eye.

Stone's eye was looking at one of the picture projectors. He was undoing the holster on his belt while he stared at the small disk-shaped like device. Then, he walked over to his made-up bed and stuffed the gun and holster underneath his pillow like he always did.

He had but a single destination after work, and it seemed to be a constant for him. Only with the fact that he needed to fully reload his gun was that cycle altered for the late afternoon. The fact that the cabinet was open made him reach in and grab the disk projector. He then closed up the cabinet and walked into the kitchen. With one hand, he opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer. The Cebravin brand alcohol was particularly strong even for beer and was made from ingredients that only grew on the planet.

He closed the refrigerator door with a hard thud as he proceeded back to the couch. He plumped himself down like a rock. Even the furniture almost seemed to grown, having his weight and power plunged onto it. He gently pressed the projector on top of his knee as he reclined the couch back. His attitude was only calmed the moment his feet and boots were stretched out. He hardly showed any relief, but it only seemed to relax once he used his free hand to snap the bottle top off without barely any effort.

Stone tossed the cap onto the carpet as he began to down the beer at an average pace. The moment the burning liquid hit his throat was when he showed genuine relief like he had been separated from a beloved friend. His eyes closed as he relished the thoughts of the day.

When he reopened them, he could see the dried blood that was still on his boots. He took another chug of his beer before he finally concluded that he would have to clean them.

The master sergeant then tapped the disk-like projector. A three-dimensional image popped up from the emitter. It showed a still shot of a group consisting of three people. One was himself that was slightly younger. The red star of Aphadus glowed overhead in the background. In the picture, he had a slight grin on his face.

He took another swig of his beer as his eyes befell the two other individuals in the photograph. Both of them were women, with one looking similar to him. This had to be a person that was related to him due to his similar pale complexion and facial features. However, unlike Stone, this woman was smiling.

The other woman had a brown complexion to her. Her hair was long and black, and her facial features were similar to that of a woman from former India. However, she had a wonderful smile on her face. Her beauty was forever stunning to Stone, and she had her arms wrapped around the massive muscle of the marine.

Stone took another swig of his beer. "Where are you, beloved?" he asked the photo image. "Where are you to stop me?"

For a moment, his lip curled on itself. He looked at the bottle and considered hurling it at the wall as hard as he could. Instead, he just downed it all. With the empty bottle, he let it fall to the carpet as if all the strength left his body.

"I miss you, Gagana......" were his only words as he tried to rest his back to the couch.

A part of him considered looking at the tablet to plan for the next day. Still, in his work clothes, it was as if it was his only clothes that he wore at all. He knew that he had to meet his partner the next day. He was thinking about looking at the tablet to learn more about this Ioren, but it disgusted him. Instead, his thoughts went to the picture of his beloved Gagana. He closed his eyes as he felt the need to sleep.

Chapter 3: Partnered Part 2

The following morning consisted of vague dreams and the monotony of everyday life. The marine was parked by the beach not far from the precinct in his small electric police car. The car was nothing extravagant to look at. It had the same colors as most of the Oshun police officers' uniforms, with black being a dominant color. It had enough room for a person, passenger and enclosed barrier back seat for arrested individuals.

The day was beautiful as it always was. Blue sky, white clouds, and a bright sun almost disguised the fact that this was not Earth at all. By now, even Stone was used to this type of environment. The crowds of surfers, beachgoers, humans, and the Itrean aliens were coming and going. The great ocean was beautiful to look at it, and in the vast distance, Stone could see one of the cruise liners that was sailing the waters.

Not far from the beach was a small dock for ships and vessels. With his extraordinary vision, the marine could scan the entire area to the smallest of details. His car was parked along a row of other cars. Technically, only those with special permits could park in this area, but he was also in a police car which overrode those rules. This was official police business, and working for the Oshun police department had its advantages.

From here, even Stone would feel that Oshun was an illusion of itself. From this spot, you would think that the planet was lavished with luxury. Even the tourists wore bikinis, swimwear, and other attire that was relatively hard to create and obtain. This wasn't just typical everyday swimwear but things that cost thousands of mard to make. The ships and vessels that were coming and going consisted of luxury yachts that only the rich could afford. Not far from the beach was a casino and high-star hotels. He knew, though, that the factories were struggling to keep up with financial troubles beyond those buildings. The further and further you got away from the beach, the more reality set in of where you were.

For the Itreans, Stone knew that they came from different backgrounds. Some were soldiers that were part of the local assigned defense forces to help protect the planet. Their attire was obvious, consisting of the green and black semi-tight uniforms. Others were vacationers, potential or existing wives to the men and women of the planet. Their background was somewhat of a mystery for many, but the worlds were apparently similar and beautiful. By now, most of the population was fully aware of the Itrean existence. The idea of a race of nothing but reptilian or shark-like women appeased most human bachelors. Even if not all of them were aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the fact that more human men were single and looking for a woman was more than they could ever desire. In so many cases, the Itreans were compatible with humans and held a generally similar personality trait. The loss of the Itrean male population due to a dreaded disease naturally drove the T'rintar clan to ally with the humans in hopes of acquiring bachelors. Human genes introduced resistance to the disease that allowed male Itrean children to be born again.

Of course, the concept naturally somewhat disgusted Stone. Even with a seemingly perfect alliance, it wasn't one without question. The Itreans were prone to violence and engaged in genocidal wars with one another. Even with similar personality troupes to humans, that alone put the marine in a state of unease. He had seen his share of people and hated it. If they were similar to human beings, the Itreans would be just as guilty of performing crimes and misdemeanors as anybody else. Even if he saw a smile on their face, would they be as likely to turn their guns on every human being? Was the alliance just a farce where the Itreans would turn their claws and blades on their husbands the following day? Only time was the true answer to that question, and at the moment, it seemed unlikely that the T'rintar clan were lying. Pregnant Itreans was a sign to many skeptics that the alliance was here to stay and validated the noble claims. The marine was fully aware of this as well, but the idea of having a partner sat in his stomach like the mild hangover that he was undergoing. The one thing that he at least did was clean the boots from the previous day's blood.

It was not that far after breakfast. The marine sat in the driver's seat with a mild annoyance. The music of Oshun was the only hint of him trying to keep himself composed as it played in the car. Most of the piece consisted of former African themes but mixed with modern-day aspects. This would often create hybridized instrumentals, with some being rock, electro, dance, or even slow country styles to fit every person's desire palettes. It clearly reflected that in the tourist industry, even if some famous Martian and Cebravin music naturally worked its way into the radio stations.

Stone could internally control his augmented eye's vision at will. It showed as he scanned the ocean surface. The splashing waves would come to and fro. The eye was trying to go further in its sight. The red outlines would only appear if they were beyond the visual spectrum of the average human eye. Just below the surface of the crashing waves, the marine could even see some of the fish-like marine wildlife that swam around, but it wasn't enough to see the bottom either.

"I regret not sending my complaint to the UHN command yet," Stone said to himself in a quiet, angered tone. "Make me the fucking babysitter....."

His words were interrupted as he could see the outline near the dock. The T'rintar clan attack submarine, which was similar to shuttles, including size, could operate at extreme depths. The cylindrical silhouette appeared in his vision as it moved near the surface with perfect precision. It produced no wake to them and had a hydrodynamic drive and pump-jet configuration. It moved surprisingly fast like a shuttlecraft but only coming up from the surface. Stone could even see a Shal'rein soldier outline that was part of the patrol as it was coming up to the surface. The aquatic race could easily breathe in and out of the water without any problem. It was apparent that this soldier was a part of the patrol unit.

The submarine reached the dock as it surfaced. The greenish hull poked its head out of the water. A bridge in the center was the first thing that could be seen, but a top bow-mounted light railgun turret appeared, not including the torpedo tubes that adorned the bow section. The Itreans were used to war, and having to fight on all-terrain was paramount. A few onlookers even had a chance to remark upon the aesthetic beauty of the ship.

It didn't take very long as the water ran off the metallic organic hull of the vessel. Once that happened, a hatch behind the submarine opened up. A small elevator rose up from the inside carrying a single passenger. From a distance, Stone could see her perfectly. The Itrean woman looked at the dock and leaped off the submarine onto the slab of concrete. Even with her small belongings, it didn't impede her progress to move around. Nor did they need to extend a platform to the vessel.

Ioren appeared to be from first aspects to be an Aksren with feathers, but that was with a quick scan. Even Stone's eyes widened as he scowled.

"An Aksren?" he said as he gripped his hands hard to the steering wheel. "They are assigning an Aksren to me? The same people that conquered Cipra? I will have more to add to the complaint now......" his scowl came to a stop, though. "Odd......for an Aksren, she doesn't have the same features....."

Suddenly, the marine had a mild regret in not reading the profile of his future partner the day prior. Instead, he continued to note her looks and appearances. This Ioren should have been Aksren but looked more and more like a Yutilian now. The Aksren typically had the prominent cranial head crest or nose crest that covered the top section of the snout. This ridge would protrude upward, giving a look that followed the ancient descendants of oviraptors. Ioren did have a similar ridge on her nose, but it was shorter. Her snout was slightly longer but didn't end in the sharp downward beak that most Aksren had. Her appearances also had a Yutilian like appeal. She had feathers like the Yutilian that covered her top head just past the crest that went down her back. They also existed on her arms and tail. Most of them were a myriad of green and red. She even carried a similar Yutilian light-scale feather pattern as well. Generally, she was a brownish color. She wore human-style civilian clothes like she was prepared to be out in the open environment. This consisted of a black and red shirt that covered her breasts and green and blue shorts with a neatly cut hole for her tail to wave around freely.