“They’re called the Stygibora, and over the last year, they’ve mercilessly attacked several human settlements across the republic. According to a recent press release from the AHF, several worlds have fallen to this threat, but soldiers are working around the clock to protect what remains. If you live on or have heard from someone on the following worlds, please reach out and let us know if you need help.” — from News at Nine with Jenny Blake

  Jack’s mind drifted as he gazed across lush rolling hills that gave way to mountains on the horizon. Weeks spent exploring the forests and caves that speckled the pristine Erochean landscape were exactly what Turaspeir squad needed to recover. When the orders first came down for the company to garrison, he believed they were being punished for their failure during their last mission into the heart of the Serum factory. In time, Jack realized it had nothing to do with the choices he’d made and everything to do with the trauma they’d experienced.

  Society told him that overcoming pain was best done by avoiding triggers and protecting himself from exposure to past trauma. It taught that solitude was the only way to move forward, to spend his nights with a bottle in hand as memories of failure plagued his mind. People claimed it was how everyone dealt with past trauma, but his time in the AHF taught him differently.

  His feet dangled from the side of the garrison fortress, tapping lightly against the stone wall as he took in natural sights that were long ago destroyed on Earth by corporate greed. A breeze swept across the rooftop, cooling his back as it carried the salty smell of the ocean. In the distance, puffy white clouds clung to the mountaintops, drifting away like the souls of the dead.

  “Motherfucker,” Alec shouted as a breeze swept up a hand of cards lying atop an air conditioning unit.

  “What are you mad at? You were just going to lose that hand, too.” Candice laughed, picking up a chip and tossing it into the pile. They’d played poker on this rooftop for nearly six months and had decided early on that if the wind scrapped a hand, they would add to the pot and re-deal.

  “Was not. I had a great hand.” Alec grumbled, picking a chip from his ever-dwindling supply and throwing it into the pot.

  “Sure. You keep telling yourself that, and we’ll keep taking your money,” Dave added his buy-in to the pile. “Hey Jack, you want in on this?”

  Pulled from his thoughts, Jack stood from the edge of the building and fished a chip from his pocket. “Why not?”

  “Don’t cheat this time, or we’ll kick you out again,” Nessa said, dealing a round of five-card draw. “Not that you need to. Alec is so bad, it's almost mathematically impossible for him to lose this many times in a row.”

  “Even if I lose, what was I going to spend the money on anyway? I don’t have very many needs the AHF doesn’t provide.” Jack commented, dropping the chip in the pile and waiting for his cards.

  “Speak for yourself. Those villagers have some of the best handmade products I’ve ever seen. Let’s not even mention the number of books they have in their database. I went down there last night and bought about a hundred. Ellie is already complaining that my library is getting unmanageable.” Thea said, referring to her personal AI as she closed the cover on her data-pad.

  “How much did that run you?” Warren added his bet and laid two cards facedown.

  “More than I want Jack to know about,” she said, placing a chip and tossing one card down.

  “You know, I would rather you get whatever you want while we’re down here rather than back on the hub-ship. The prices up there are always higher.” Jack said, forging a connection to the other players and folding immediately. After seeing the table, it was clear he would win if he played the hand. By folding, he guaranteed Alec would win.

  “Talking about books and stuff, did you guys see that new kaiju movie the commander downloaded to the ship last week?” Alec said, throwing away three cards that were necessary for him to win the round.

  “I saw it in the day room last night. Honestly, those movies are all the same. Just a big lizard attacking a bunch of cities until some guy in a giant robot comes around to kill it,” Dave said, placing his bet and tossing away a card. “What I wanna know is how they deal with the bodies after. I mean… if the meat is any good, you could feed a country for a month. But if it’s not, you can’t really expect the citizens just to smell a rotting monster for a year. You gotta do something with it.”

  “Dave,” Alec said expressionlessly, “you’re not supposed to look for the logic. It’s a movie about a big-ass lizard getting blown up. There is no logic.”

  “Whatever, play your hand,” Dave replied.

  After the last round of betting finished and all hands were revealed, Jack had to suppress a smile at the look on Alec’s face when he didn’t win. Part of the sergeant wanted to tell the dragoon that he’d almost won, but decided against it. If he rubbed too much salt in the wound, Alec might quit, and that would mean actual competition amongst the friends.

  “How long do we have left down here? I stopped paying attention a month ago and have just been going with the breeze.” Dave said, tossing his buy-in and starting another round.

  “A few weeks at best.” Nessa answered, shuffling the cards and passing the deck to the next person in the circle.

  “Two weeks. Griffin sent me a message the other day. She wants us to start packing up. Anyone who bought clothes or other items needs to have them on the ship the day before we leave. If you have an apartment or a rented room, you’ll need to settle up as soon as possible.” Jack explained. He’d intended to wait until after PT the next morning to hand out this information, but the opportunity had presented itself and he was not one to waste it.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Alright, so that’s two hours of packing and a conversation to handle my bills. I’ll take care of it Tuesday and enjoy my time until then,” Warren said, accessing his HUD to set a reminder.

  On their improvised table, Dave dealt the cards and started the game. Most faces remained impassive when they saw their hand, keeping the gambler's mask in place as they tossed their bets. Without hesitation, Jenkins folded, tapping out and leaving the game for others with more luck.

  “Easy for you to say. I have to either sell my bike or convince Smith to let me stash it in the armory until we get to the hub. Couldn’t they give us another month or two?” Alec grumbled, clearly unhappy that his vacation was ending.

  “We’ve been off work for almost six months now. It’s not like you didn’t know they’d be calling us back to the field.” Nessa said, glancing at the players to glean information as best she could. Jack hadn’t folded, and Cecile just upped the ante. Either Jack was truly refraining from using his power, or he had a winning hand and was hoping the others would expect him not to cheat.

  “I knew we’d be called back, but I can always hope the Senate called off the wars and disbanded the AHF overnight. It wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

  “They won’t disband the AHF. Just look at how much they use us; I would be honestly surprised if they let us out of our contracts when they expire.” Cecile said, speaking more truth than most were willing to hear. “I mean, really, why have the Steel Brigade if they don’t plan to put us all in Li-Tech bodies eventually?”

  “As someone who’s had to come to terms with being part machine, it takes a little getting used to. But I have to say, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Nessa said, rapping her knuckles on the metal surface before folding her hand. “I still miss my leg from time to time, but it's all mental. The integration is nearly flawless, and I get a bit of protection no one else does.”

  “I’m glad to see that time off helped. You’ve made some serious steps forward in the past six months.” Jack observed, “But back to the point. We’ll be returning to active status in a few weeks. Enjoy the time you have, because there’s no telling how long it will be until we get more.”

  Thea tossed her cards down and stretched her arms over her head. “Speaking of enjoyment. I have an idea that’ll be good for all of us.”

  The rest of the table copied Thea’s flop, stepping back from the air conditioner as they waited for her explanation. Distracted by the prospect of one last hurrah, Jack didn’t notice that most everyone else had folded.

  Cecile smirked and revealed four of a kind. She’d noticed the brief glazed look that signified Jack’s ability use and countered the move accordingly. Instead of looking at her cards and giving the Optic a chance to cheat, she randomly picked two cards to be redrawn and never looked at her hand. Luckily, her ignorance had given her exactly what she needed to come out on top and now she was forty credits richer.

  “Go on,” Dave chuckled at Jack’s loss.

  “I’m thinking some time on the northern coast. Jack and I took a few weeks of hiking up there, and we found this awesome inlet that would give us total privacy and a chance to just have fun. If the motor pool sergeant is willing, Alec can fly us there and back on a skid so we don’t spend the whole time hiking.”

  “What’s the catch?” Alec said, shuffling the deck and slipping it back into its box.

  “It’s a bit of a walk even with the skid. About six hours to the nearest landing zone, everything else is way too rocky or just straight covered in trees.”

  “So, a six-hour hike to this inlet where we what, just sit there and party on the beach?” Cecile excitedly asked.

  “It gets better.” Thea smiled, “There’s also about a 400-foot rappel to get to the beach. But it’s got the whole package: tall cliffs, deep water, and not too many big rocks.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me I’ll get a chance to cannonball into the ocean?” Dave said, grinning at the idea of doing something incredibly stupid.

  “I wouldn’t advise it. You are still human.”

  “I can literally wrap myself in a bulletproof shell. I’ll be fine.”

  Jack smiled. He remembered the place she was talking about, and she was right. It would be a perfect location to spend their last few days of relaxation. They could bring mostly everything they needed and use their abilities to hunt or fish for the rest. If they could get authorization to use a skid and allow the squad to miss a week of formations, they could be on the water by the end of the day.

  “Top, I need to make a request.” Jack sent, connecting to First Sergeant Summers’ HUD.

  “What’s up, Monroe.” The response came a few minutes later. “If it’s anything about training, it can wait two weeks until we are back in orbit. I am on a beach with an incredibly tasty drink in my hand and cannot explain how much I don’t care about training right now.”

  The mental conversation consumed all of Jack’s attention. He could hear his squad, but only as an indistinct murmur. “It's not about training. I need rights to miss formations for a week and a skid signed out under my name.”

  “Go on.” He replied, sounding interested but still distracted.

  “I want to take Speir on a week-long trip to the north coast before we launch for the hub.”

  “Fine. Have your AI forward me a strip map with your stopping points and an emergency plan for getting back in case something happens. Smith will have your authorization by the time you get to the motor pool.” He said, terminating the connection and leaving Jack to celebrate the victory.

  “Bob, can you take care of that for me? I also need you to contact Smith and ask him to meet Alec to get the sled.” Jack said, addressing his AI.

  “Understood. I’ve already drafted the required paperwork and forwarded it to the First Sergeant. If you give me a few nanoseconds… and done. Smith has your request and will be waiting. Is there anything else I can do for you, Master?” Bob replied in his usual sarcastic tone.

  “No, thank you. And quit with the ‘master’ shit.” Looking up at the assembled crew of off-duty soldiers, Jack interrupted their conversation. “Alright guys, we have the next seven days free from formations. Alec, head down to the motor pool and grab our vehicle. Smith will be there with the assignment shortly.”

  “Wait a minute, you pulled that off already? Did you and Thea plan this ahead of time?” Cecile said, crossing her arms to stare at the couple in suspicion.

  “No. I just know who to contact. Top sends his blessing, so get down to your room and pack a week of clothing. I want us in the air in two hours.” Jack said, turning to the rooftop access door. It wouldn’t take him long to pack. Between him and Thea, they’d traveled so many times during their time at the garrison, they’d become very comfortable with last-second packing.

  Each member of the squad understood this trip would probably be the last time they would experience peace for a long while. Truth be told, there was a chance it would be the last time they experienced freedom with their own bodies; they were soldiers, and soldiers always risked death and dismemberment on a battlefield. In the end, the only way to move forward with that knowledge was to embrace life with every chance they had.

  Securing the permission to leave was worth every second for a chance to step back and feel human for a few more moments. Yes, they would fight again—probably sooner rather than later. But when they had to put on that armor and enter the field of battle once more, it would be as humans, not just soldiers.