Deployment

New Job

Mars used to be the next step in the solar system, first was the moon, then Mars. In Mars, humanity found a lot more than expected. So much, that the planet ended just an outpost of science. Everything interesting was over Titan or the famous BN Station on the Ort Cloud. Here in Mars, one only must watch for the famous red storms. John was stationed in the illustrious Mars Ewithian Archives, where the knowledge of a past alien civilization was stored for the sake of humanity. His job was very boring and the only interesting thing was looking at the red storms pass from the monitors. His post was a door where only scientists passed every now and then. He knew that this was just training, the first step on his military career. The red wind announced the storm and he just passed through the door to watch something in the TV while eating his ration. The group of scientists was very reserved, he only knew their names because he could read them in theirs IDs. Luckily, his time in Mars was about to end, his new assignment was on the frontiers of human space, in the new worlds of humanity. He wanted to go to Terra or Avalon, but he was happy with the end of his training and do something useful for a change. After cleaning his boots, John walked to the commander's office. Everything was metallic and shiny, behind the commander were a few pictures of his family and a big picture of a military crew in the ramp of a ship. He saluted with respect in the same way that was taught in the academy.
"At ease, Valentine." The commander said with indifference. "Did you clean your uniform?"
"Yes, sir." John seriously replied. "There is no new information on the storm, Sanches took over my shift a few hours ago."
"Good." Said coldly while looking through the window. "You got assigned to Elysium, frontier world in the border of the Sagittarius Arm, just in the fringes of Alliance Space."
"I know little about it, I think they have a big shipyard and a few corporation subsidiaries." John thought at loud. "One of the earth-like paradises..."
"Exactly, you will be under the charge of Col. Arthur J. Dirac. You depart tomorrow with the Manhattan, be ready at noon."
"Yes, sir." Replied instantly.
"You are way better than your reputation, Valentine." The man calmly said. "Keep it that way."
"I wonder my reputation is, sir." John carelessly replied. "Sorry, sir."
"Don't worry about that, today is your last day here. I don't want errors or complaints about you. You are dismissed." Said before spinning away from him.
John saluted before walking through the door wondering what his new job meant for his career.

After shaving and checking his luggage, John put his combat armour. It was green, exactly like that any other rookie would wear, it was in perfect shape because it didn't saw any action. The icon of the EAN was etched just above his heart. His helmet was clean, and his oxygen was fully charged. The port was lonely, and a fine red dust covered everything, something that he'll rapidly forget. The sky of Mars was beautiful at that time of the day. He got no friends on the planet and was happy to move on and leave Sol behind. The Manhattan was a Cruiser-Class Ship from the old days, when the first interstellar human ships started to travel across the galaxy. Only one person was in the ramp, a guard. The man was curious about the only passenger from the red planet. It was time to leave the red dust behind. John saluted the crew while looking at the details of the ship, it looked modern from inside. His HUD took him to a little room in the passenger wing. The crew was very relaxed until the scanner shows them his file. The black accent always had the same effect. People started to avoid him in the instant they learnt about his abilities. John sat down in a window to watch Jupiter pass by, waiting to see de BN Station, where they would enter FTL travel speeds. The physics were too much for him but knew enough to say that it was interesting. He knew about the secret of all, only massless particles could travel faster than the speed of light. The other part of secret was transforming the ship into something like that. John loved travel at subluminal speed, loved hearing the sounds of the ship and watch the space go by. Pluto vanish instantly when he felt the ship acceleration into FTL. At those speeds space became a tunnel of light, the light was the starlight that surrounded the ship, elongating because of the famous Einstein effect. When he opened his eyes, the NDT Station was just in front of the window. He picked up his pack to walk through the indifferent glances of the crew. He received a greeting from a woman while was blinded by the port lights. He never liked the holographic lights; They made everything seem to be unreal, like you could blink their existence away. Sepia was the favourite colour in the station. John entered a tiny bar to watch the people go while waiting for his ship. He only noticed humans in the station. In the TV was a match between Manchester United and Chelsea, and looked like the owner was one of the red devils. He got a nice lunch and a proper can of water. He had three hours to kill and decided that tourism was the best way to do it. There was an amazing view in the other side of the station. The star was an enormous blue supergiant, but the interesting part was the construction orbiting it. It was a portion of an ancient Dyson sphere constructed by the natives of the fourth planet of the system. The windows filters were designed to show the public the ruins while completing the image with the projection of the whole thing. The planet was called Desertus, as it was a big desert right now, but the ruins of their lost civilization were the home of a big group of Alliance scientists. The view was marvellous, and he liked to imagine what kind of people would take the time and resources to build something like that. He kept walking until hitting an end, finding himself in a lonely lookout. He turned down the sound simulators to watch the silents ships go. His HUD announced the arrival of his ship in forty minutes, he was happy watching the ships flyby. Someone was beside him.
"A fellow ship lover." The man said.
He was taller than him, and both were looking at the same ship.
"Kinda rare in these parts."
"We have few ships on Mars... and they are really noisy." Replied jokingly. "Stupid atmosphere."
"Lt. Muzyamba, at your service." The man greeted politely.
"Pvt. Valentine..." Replied carelessly. "I hope this is not your spot."
"I can share, boot." Muzyamba said jokingly. "Going to your new post?"
"Yeah, Elysium." Replied while getting back to watch an enormous cruiser. "Mostly Alliance ships in this station."
"We are in deep Alliance space, boot." The man said at loud. "Mars, eh? Boring first job for a man like you."
"It was... illuminating. I learned a lot about the gear, meet some people of the stars... I hope that the Starrail don't end there."
"Well, you're going to get a lot to do in Elysium, boot." He was smug about it. "Pirates, rogue corporations, espionage... Where are you from? Earth?"
"Yeah, South of Buenos Aires."
"With that name?" Muzyamba was astounded.
"Well, they named me in honour to some renegade soldier from NATO, or at least is what I got told when I was a child. John A. Valentine."
"Ah, probably from the fourth..." Muzyamba was trying to recall something. "I'm from Lusaka, working at the barracks here."
"Never been in Africa..." John said at loud. "Kinda stupid now I think about it, training in Titan, working on Mars, and I only visited Brazil once."
"It happens, light years of travelling away from home. Do you run security?"
"Yeah, well my boss used to, I just guarded doors against the red dust." John replied while picking his helmet.
"I hope you get a good look at the Dyson." Muzyamba said at loud. "Maybe listen to the presentation."
"Yeah, I prefer ships, though. Mechanic?"
"And pilot." Clarified the man while leaning against the rail. "You should move or lose your ship, boot. If I visit Elysium, you'll invite one of those coconut beers."
"Promise, Lt., thanks for the company." John replied while passing beside him.
This ship was a little frigate, was white and he couldn't read its name. The crew was expecting him and got out immediately. After training in the hangar, John was ready for a little nap, but ended watching the ship fly though space through his window. Elysium would be just like Earth if was not for his three satellites. It got two continents, and the same class designation than Earth. The port was enormous, and his HUD indicated the way to go. He saluted the guards to pass directly to immigrations, his ID make the process short and ended in a fast train to his destination. The fort was in the skirts of the city, the trains doors only opened for him. John stopped near the gates to watch the sun in the sky. He loved the combination of technology and nature in there, the whole planet was a big nature reservoir, everything was planned since the beginning of the colonization. The beach was near, and he watched a strange group of birds pass above him. They got long feathers behind them and where of a shiny purple colour. He read the pamphlet on the ship, supposedly, the biosphere of the planet was just finished recovering from a mass extinction event, so the colonization was seamless as programmed. The fist guard to look at his ID did the same face as everyone else in the past. The sun was behind him when entered the reception, there someone scan him to let him pass to the medic wing. A nurse guided him directly to the doctor's office. The name in the plaque was in ignician, the language of the famous red ladies of the galaxy. His HUD translated the name instantly, but he wanted to hear it from her. The letters remind him of the old Norse blended with Korean and were display in holographic fashion like anything else the galaxy. The doctor coat was long and white, she was writing something in her pad, and her name was again in her front pocket. The nurse vanished behind him while he looked at her. She was taller than him if he counted the horns, her skin was a deep red and the freckles in her face were a shade of purple, her eyes were orange and her smile was sharp, her canines prodded just a little bit outside of her mouth. Besides that, she was just a red woman. She smiled when their eyes crossed. John only meet a togran before and never spoke with one of the other citizens of the stars.
"What we have here?" The doctor loudly said.
Her voice was stern and soft, and her English totally surprised him. He was ready to learn about translation incoherence, but this person talked in perfect English. John knew little about them, just the basics from school. Ignicians have long lifespans and their race were female mammals. Historically, they were the founding member of the galactic community and the leading civilization in terms of exploration and seniority, mostly thanks of their early adoption of interstellar travel. They were the only civilization to reach the stars without the technological jump of an ancient spacefaring civilization, like happened with humanity in the first manned journey to Mars in the seventies. John was lost in his thoughts when the doctor's drone started with the scan. It was heavily personalized and have a cute animation of a flower dancing around him.
"Name?" Asked while looking into her pad. "Well, I already know that, Valentine. Don't let me talk alone, please."
"John A. Valentine, doctor." Replied instantly. "Reporting for duty."
Her orange eyes open widely with surprise, it was different from everyone else's reaction to his file.
"Oh, a human black folder. Were you hiding from me?" Asked with enthusiasm.
"That's new." John was shocked with her reaction.
"What? I'm happy to meet you, John. You are most interesting human I ever meet." Her smile was broad and beautiful. "I'm a neuroscientist and I'm more than happy to meet the first human with biokinetic abilities in the galaxy. Show me..."
She was excited, her drone was fixed on him without making any sound.
"Is that necessary? I'm just her for my..."
"Show me." Said with eagerness. "Where are you from? Last time I was on Earth there were none of you in the Alliance."
John lifted his arm to point his hand to a holographic projector. His hand shone in a deep purple for a second. The slab of metal ended in his hand while the doctor applauded full of joy. She was encouraging him like a mother to child who is learning to ride a bike.
"Again." Said with a smile and clapping softly.
John brought a glass from the table, he amazed himself, no water ended on his armour.
"Amazing!" The doctor shouted. "You are..." She stopped suddenly to read his pad. "Impossible!"
She started walking around the room while he was just standing still.
"You have no implants!" Shouted at him while gasping his face with her soft hands.
Her perfume was sweet, and her hands were softer that he expected. Her nails were deep black and looked very sharp. The drone was over his head blinding him with a deep scan.
"From now on, you are my favourite human in the galaxy!" Announced with enthusiasm. "Why did they hide you from me?"
"I wouldn't know, doctor." Replied calmly. "I got told that I'm a freak of nature when enlisted, then I was sent to the academy."
"Ah, I knew they must have one of you... We are the ones to teach races how to deal with biokinetics, thing is... you only have a few children now... well, and you, I guess. Sit, please. We are going to be friends, John. My name is Son'kyashi'alathis, AKA, Doctor Son. My friends call me Kyashi..." Added while sitting. "When do you discover your abilities?"
"I don't remember, they told me that I throw away some teenager that was bulling me when I was five." Replied instantly. "I remember little, they... studied me a little, then I get branded with that black thing and everyone thinks I'm some kind of monster."
"Well, it happens. Don't worry about that here, people get used to see us parading with our telekinesis everywhere. Must be hard on Earth..." The doctor was thinking of something else. "It usually took like three or four generations to get adjusted to people like you."
"Well this is the only thing I can do. I got told that I would never do anything else." John clarified with haste; he didn't like to talk about his freakiness. "Can we continue with the exam?'
"Not at all, you are mine now, sir." Kyashi said with a big smile. "What did exactly they tell you?"
"That I would never do anything like you ignicians do." Responded with ease. "That I could only move some little things around."
"Well, what do they know?" The doctor said at loud. "Don't limit yourself, Johnny... no, you are a John only kind of guy. Do you train sometimes? Get headaches if you don't?"
"Not anymore, I only move things when I'm alone." John instantly answered, he wanted to move on with his day.
"Do you got military training with your ability?"
"No. Just regular training, ma'am."
"Hmm..." The doctor inclined over the desk to look more closely to him, her dress was more revealing in that angle. "I'm going to make a fuss, John. They shouldn't have hidden you from me, now you lost a lot of time. You remind me of my little niece, she is four." She was full of happiness. "Would you like to improve?"
"No." John instantly replied.
"There is nothing wrong with you, mister." Kyashi was loud and full of energy. "You just got an... evolved brain, nothing else. That's what your ability is, just an evolutionary perk. You just got it early, and... well, perfectly. Those children will need implants and a lot of training to do what you will do in the future. Maybe in a few generations they would be functional in combat or work situations. Do you know how biokinetics work?"
"Not really, something about connecting with the energy of some quantic field or something like that." John just wanted to move on.
"Well is a very complicated subject but, in a few words, you can say that biokinetics can put an arrow in the energy of the quantum void. Your body can interact with the field thanks to a quantum process known as macroscopic recoherence. Basically, allow cells to have quantum properties that are not seen in the macroscopic scales." Kyashi was an excellent teacher. "Do you get any of that?"
"I think so." John replied. "I don't want to be disrespectful, but I don't really care about biokinetics."
"I know, they made you feel like a monster, but I want you to be the first human to master the craft. You got extremely rare genes, John. You must seize the opportunity to improve." Kyashi was looking closely at him. "I think you were expecting something else from me?"
"Maybe, you are the first ignician that I have met, and I just ended talking about my crappy abilities." John was obfuscated with the issue, mostly because he was not used to talk about it.
"Ah, sorry..." Her smile was beautiful. "What do you want to know? You probably heard a lot about the red ladies of the stars. Ask me anything, John, I want you and me to be friends."
"Don't need to ask you any..."
"You probably are wondering about my age, is the first thing that humans like to ask." The doctor said without a care in the world. "Well, I'm a little girl. Just ninety-seven years old. I'm in what you would call first adulthood. I have a degree in medicine, a master in neuroscience and engineering."
John was impressed, he heard about that ignicians have a lot of professions, but that was a lot more than he expected.
"I like to travel around and I'm dedicating a few decades on helping humans like you. I got this post last year..." She was talking without a care in the world. "I like these flowers you brought from Earth and those pretty chubby insects with yellow and black stripes."
"Bees?" Asked with surprise.
"Those, I just love them. I learned apiculture just to have them here." Replied with joy. "What else would you like to know? Hmm... I guess you were expecting a warlike woman, well, you would be right in the vast majorities of cases, scientists are rare at my age, but I just love science in general. Young ignicians tend to be curious and full of violence. I just manage my eagerness differently."
"I don't..."
"You are in perfect heath, John. Expected from a boot like you." Added carelessly. "Can ask you a favour? I want to install some software in your suit. It would give me some extra readings beyond the standard ones. Mostly about your wonderful brain."
John was full of doubt.
"I wouldn't mind, doctor." Replied after a few seconds.
"Just authorize my software, John. Call me Kyashi." Replied with joy.
The software installed instantly after the authorization. The digital firm was from the EAN.
"Thank you, John. I would like to take you to your new boss." Said while taking his hand. "Do you like men?"
"No." He was surprised with the question but answered instantly.
"You humans took little time to break your interspecies conventions." Said jokingly. "I'm just teasing you..." She was looking closely to him. "Or not, you are kind of cute."
"Must be my biokinetics." John seriously said. "I know where to go."
"Maybe... I just want to make a fuss; they shouldn't have hidden you from me." Said with a smile.
Kyashi give him a tour through the fort, they look at the barracks and greet some people on the way to the office. John noted that her hair was some shade of deep blue. Everyone knew her. His superior office was little and got some marine paraphernalia in the walls. The man was in his eighties, his hair was mostly white and have a rigid posture. His uniform was covered with medals and insignias. Col. Arthur J. Dirac were the words in his plaque. His uniform was bluish and had shoulders decorated in gold.
"Doctor, welcome. Is this my new rookie?" Asked carelessly.
He shook his hand with eagerness.
"Arthur, this is Pvt. Valentine. Did you know about him?" She was full of malice.
"Just today, with that ominous black folder. Did you enjoy de journey, John?" Asked with a smile.
"Yes, sir." Replied instantly.
"He has a lot of decorum." The doctor jokingly said. "You train them well."
"At ease, boot." Arthur said with a smile. "You are not on duty at the moment, and I don't like ass kissers under my command."
John was a serious person, nothing he could do to change it.
"I'm just like this, sir." Replied without a doubt.
"Yeah, he told me that people looked funny at him after reading his file..." Kyashi said at loud. "Why do you hide him from me?"
"Brass told me that they didn't have the resources to train him properly. So, they started the Shepard Project faster to start finding people like him. Also, it seems like he was the only one of his generation, your previous commander was happy with you, John. You have amazing stats in your file."
"I forgot to look at them..." Kyashi said while reading her pad. "You should have sent him with the A11, Arthur..." She was amazed.
"That's the reason he is here. We wanted him in a proper post instead of guarding some ship in safe space."
John felt that they didn't want him in the conversation.
"Pricks, that what you all are... He should be trained by us... by me." Said loudly. "Too late now. John, I will call you, already have your tag." She whispered the end of the sentence while walking away.
"I never seen her like that before. You are dismissed, John. I want you to be here early tomorrow, you'll learn about your duties and get your new equipment."
"I will be here, sir." Replied with haste. "I'm pleased to meet you."
"Can you... move something for me?" Asked timidly. "I never seen one of us doing something like that."
John put the chair in its place before saluting his new boss.
"Amazing!" Said at loud. "Good evening, Valentine."
John did not expect the day he was having.

The sunset was beautiful in that part of town. His apartment was in a housing complex of the EAN. The shield of humanity was there, stars, the sun, and the silhouette of the first human ship to fly in extrasolar space, The Normandy. For some reason he got a department from the EAN, the complex was made of pre-fabrics and was decorated with plants and he could see a little park for kids just in front of his apartment. The plant life was earth-like, but the differences were there, he was too plain to see them. Dusk came when he was finishing with his groceries, the sea was near, he could hear the water in the distance. The market was a very lively place with a fountain in the centre of a park. In the first ring were the local's farmers with their fresh products while in the far end were the big supermarkets. He was happy with his shopping and was a few blocks from his new home. John stopped in front of a basketball court to see the kids play for a while. Nobody knew him there and wanted to start anew in the frontiers of Alliance space. The door opened for him and only took a few minutes to put everything in their place. The beach was beautiful and full of life he was walking the shore along with some people. He saw many kinds of people there and ended up in a pier looking a ship pass by. Under him was a little dock with a few boats and the bench was free for him. In the water were some shining lights passing through, he lifted his arm to read the publication about them, he learned that those animals were a kind of toad instead of a fish. A couple of valkirians were near him. They were very tall and, like he noted before, wore their battle armours. He could not tell if they were a man and a woman or a combination of that. Before he could finish with his stealthy analysis, the couple walked beside him. John liked the ambience of the beach but was ready to go home and get a full night of sleep. He turned around to leave when a woman pushed him against the balustrade, he dodged her with a sidestep while two other persons run in the far side of the pier. The woman was in her plain uniform and was very blond. She was an officer but there was no time to look at her. Her rifle expanded between her hands in the moment she crouched behind the bench. It was an AR-137, the standard weapon of any soldier in the EAN. He was unharmed and waited a little to try to help. The goons were looking for her with a lot of caution. The soldier was ready to take them down when he picked up a trashcan with his hands and thrown it to his enemies. The first goon was stumbling when took his high kick with his face. The other one did not have the time to react to his speed. John took his arm to disarm him, ending in the ground with a powerful lock. The goon was crying in pain when the woman tied their arms to a light post. She was looking at him with a smile. Her hair was short. Her blue eyes were fixated on him while she applauded in front of him.
"Nice moves, boot. Thanks for your assistance." Said while tipping something over her right forearm. "Varya Cherenkov." Added while doing a silence gesture with her and. "Got the location of their operation, Gonzales. Go there with the TAC-T and wait for me."
People of the EAN was obligated to show their IDs to anyone, so he was reading hers in his HUD. It was heavily redacted, like expected, and he only get her name and country. She was born in Uyandi, Russia. In the picture her hair was long.
"My name is John." Said after the end of the conversation. "I can watch them if you want."
"Why so accommodating, boot?" Asked loudly while reading something that was over her forearm.
She have an advanced military HUD. They were called holotools, the pinnacle of army communication tech. He always wanted one of those. Her face changed when look at his file, but, like all day in Elysium, she was no annoyed by the black folder.
"Ah, you are the new guy. Welcome to my city." She was careless and unrefined. "Kinda cute for an Argentinian. And I was thinking you were helping me because of my beauty. First day?"
"That would be tomorrow."
"A man of few words, I'm starting to like you, kid." She said jokingly.
She was in her early thirties.
"Black folder... Kyashi must be happy with you." Added while looking at her forearm.
John knew what she was about to say. He lifted his arm to put the trash can in it is place with his telekinesis.
"Amazing." She was clapping with a smile. "We are not supposed to do that yet..."
John was not expecting be treated like a circus animal, but it was better than the alternative.
"That was kung fu? aikido?" Asked with curiosity.
"A bit of both." Replied drily. "I can look after them, ma'am."
The woman got closer to look at his eyes.
"You are too tight, boot." Said carelessly. "I'm going to take on your offer." Added while opening her comms. "Guys, the goons are in custody under Pvt. Valentine, be careful, he knows kung fu." She turned around to look at the criminals. "After months of investigation their business is going down... I see you tomorrow, kid. Good night."
John knew that his new job was going to be a lot more interesting than Mars.